Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Joseph Lapsley Wilson was an American railroad executive, author and horticulturalist. A Civil War veteran, he wrote two histories of Philadelphia's First City Troop. Son of William Wilson, a merchant, he was educated at West Chester Academy in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1862 he enlisted in the Union Army, becoming a member of C Company Grays Reserves. He saw fire in July 1863 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. At discharge, he held the rank of sergeant.