Admiral Henry Braid Wilson

1861-1954

"Admiral Henry B. Wilson was the most celebrated Camden citizen to contribute to America's war effort in World War I. Born on Mt. Vernon Street in 1861, the son of Camden postmaster, teacher, and legislator H. B. Wilson, young Henry graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1881. Wilson worked his way up the ranks, becoming commander of the American fleet in French waters by the First World War. Admiral Wilson convoyed troops and supplies to France during the war without the loss of a single life.

In April 1919, Camden welcomed Admiral Henry B. Wilson to the city with receptions, motorcades, planked shad dinner, and a reception at the Third Regiment Armory. Prosecutor Charles A. Wolverton addressed the banquet gathering. "It was a Camden officer, in the person of Admiral Wilson," Wolverton told the guests, "who taught the Kaiser and his war lords that there is no such word as 'impossible' to be found in all the historic records of the American Navy.""

Source: Camden County, New Jersey, 1616-1976: A Narrative, by Jeffrey M. Dorwart and Philip English Mackey. Camden County, NJ: Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission, 1976. [Note that Professor Dorwart's has written a new book, Camden County, New Jersey: The Making of a Metropolitan Community, 1626-2000.]

Go to BJ's Camden Hall of Fame.

BJ Swartz
kelta@keltaskavern.com
Created 12 August 2001, updated June 6, 2007