Thomas Wilson was a Southern American business entrepreneur and magnate.
Wilson immigrated to the United States in the 1850s from Scotland, where he had been raised by his grandfather, a Scottish laird.
He was hired on as an apprentice boilermaker and rose quickly along the corporate ladder.
By the end of the American Civil War, Wilson owned a chain of foundries.
His land holdings included all of what is now Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.