author

Hill Peebles Wilson

b. 1840

Best known for a forceful, deeply argued study of John Brown, this early 20th-century writer brought a personal and distinctly opinionated voice to one of the most debated figures in American history.

1 Audiobook

About the author

Hill Peebles Wilson was an American author born in 1840, known for John Brown, Soldier of Fortune: A Critique. Library of Congress records identify him as the author of that work, and the book was published in the early 20th century after an earlier self-published edition.

In the book's preface, Wilson explains that his interest in John Brown dated back to 1859, when he heard firsthand family recollections of the Harpers Ferry raid from an older brother who took part in the assault on the engine house. That personal connection helps explain the book's direct, argumentative tone.

Little biographical information about Wilson is easy to confirm from reliable online sources, so the safest picture is a narrow one: he appears to have been a late-19th- and early-20th-century American writer whose reputation rests mainly on this substantial historical critique of John Brown and his legacy.