James Grant Wilson (April 28, 1832 – February 1, 1914) was an American editor, author, bookseller and publisher, who founded the Chicago Record in 1857, the first literary paper in that region.

In recognition of his service, in 1867, he was named brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865.

Wilson was educated in Poughkeepsie at College Hill, and continued his studies in the languages, music, and drawing, under private teachers.

During the American Civil War, Wilson sold his journal and entered the Union Army im late 1862.

He edited Fitz-Greene Halleck's Poems (1868) and wrote his biography, published in 1869; and in 1876 his anthology Poets & Poetry of Scotland in four volumes .