Editing Henry Wilson (section)

==Personal life==
On October 28, 1840, Wilson married Harriet Malvina Howe (1824–1870).{{sfn|Haynes|1936|p=323}} They were the parents of a son, Henry Hamilton Wilson (1846–1866), who attended the Highland Military Academy in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]].{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=55}} During the Civil War, the younger Wilson attended the [[United States Naval Academy]], but left before graduating in order to accept a commission in the [[Union Army]].{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=55}} He attained success in the 31st and 104th Regiments of [[United States Colored Troops]], and was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] and [[second-in-command]] of the 104th in July 1865.{{sfn|Haynes|1936|p=323}}  After the war he accepted a commission as a [[Second lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in the regular Army's [[6th Cavalry Regiment]], and served until his death from a ruptured appendix in 1866.{{sfn|Haynes|1936|p=323}}{{sfn|Heitman|1903|p=1046}}{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=55}}  Camp Wilson, an Army post in Texas was named for Henry H. Wilson; it was later renamed [[Fort Griffin]].{{sfn|Uglow|2001|p=106}}

In 1869 Henry and Harriet Wilson also became the ''de facto'' adoptive parents of a girl, Evangelina (or Evangeline), who was born between 1864 and 1866, and took the name Eva Wilson.{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=123}} In a complicated series of events, in 1869 a woman named Caroline Vreeland met Nancy Colbath, wife of Wilson's brother Samuel.{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=123}} Vreeland allowed Nancy Colbath to adopt the child, with the understanding that she would be raised by Henry Wilson and his wife.{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=123}} The child lived with the Wilsons until shortly before Mrs. Wilson's death.{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=123}} Nancy Colbath then kept the child, and received monthly payments from Henry Wilson for her support.{{sfn|Myers|2009|pp=123–124}} Details later emerged which indicated the likelihood that Vreeland had obtained a baby girl from an unknown parent or parents in Boston in 1866 so that her sister could use the baby to extort a man with whom she had had an affair.{{sfn|Myers|2009|pp=123-124}} Vreeland went to prison for a stabbing in the early 1870s.{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=123}} The child continued to live with Wilson, and by 1874 he had asked Nancy Colbath to again be responsible for her.{{sfn|Myers|2009|pp=123–124}} Wilson agreed to provide them a suitable home and financial support, but had not followed through by the time of his death{{sfn|Myers|2009|pp=123–124}}

Wilson requested that the executor of his will, nephew William Leander Coolidge, use most of Wilson's estate to ensure that Wilson's mother in law was cared for, and that Eva receive an education and financial support.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nason |first=Elias |date=July 1, 1878 |title=Biographical Sketch of Henry Wilson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4n1rJz1z8k8C&pg=PA267 |journal=New England Historical and Genealogical Register |volume=32 |location=Boston |publisher=David Clapp & Son |page=267}}</ref> Wilson had given Coolidge oral instructions and letters, and the situation became complicated because Wilson's death occurred before he had incorporated these additional instructions into his will.<ref name="Will">{{cite news |date=February 13, 1889 |title=Henry Wilson's Will |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59817448/will-of-henry-wilson-13-feb-1889/ |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Coolidge acted as a trustee for Eva, and by 1889, when she was more than 21 years old, she claimed she was entitled to the remainder of Wilson's estate.<ref name="Will"/> Other Wilson family members disagreed; because of the complexity of the details, Coolidge petitioned the Massachusetts courts for guidance.<ref name="Will"/><ref>{{cite news |date=February 13, 1889 |title=The Courts: Supreme Judicial Court – Feb. 12. Devens J.|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/massachusetts/boston/boston-post/1889/02-13/page-8 |newspaper=Boston Post |location=Boston |page=8 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The courts found in favor of Eva, by then married and known as Eva Carpenter, and she received most of the estate, which was valued at approximately $10,000 (about $239,000 in 2021).{{sfn|Myers|2009|p=233}}