James Wilson (February 20, 1787 – October 17, 1850) was an Irish-American journalist and politician.

Wilson, who began his career working for the Philadelphia Aurora, later purchased the Western Herald and founded the Pennsylvania Advocate.

He settled in Philadelphia, where he found work as a printer in the office of the Aurora, a Jeffersonian newspaper edited by William Duane.

[4] In 1832, he founded the Pennsylvania Advocate, a newspaper serving Pittsburgh; he owned and edited it for a year before turning it over to his oldest son William Duane Wilson.

[5] Though not a lawyer, James Wilson served for several years as an associate judge for the Jefferson County common pleas court.