Joseph Gardner Wilson (December 13, 1826 – July 2, 1873) was a U.S. Republican politician in the state of Oregon.

[1] His family moved to Cincinnati in Hamilton County, Ohio in 1828 and then on to a farm near Reading where Joseph attended the local schools.

[3][4] At that time the justices also rode circuit as trial judges, with Wilson holding court in The Dalles.

[2] Wilson was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives from Oregon in 1872 and served from March 4, 1873, until his death in Marietta, Ohio, on July 2, 1873, at the age of 46.

[2] He died while moving to Washington, DC, to assume office, just before he was scheduled to give a speech at his alma mater, Marietta College.