Joseph Ruggles Wilson, Sr. (February 28, 1822 – January 21, 1903) was a prominent Presbyterian theologian and father of President Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 and of Joseph Ruggles Wilson, Jr..

Biography

Wilson graduated from Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802....

 (now Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

) in 1844.
He taught belles-lettres

Belles-lettres

Belles-lettres or belles lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. However, the boundaries of that category vary in different usages....

 at Washington & Jefferson. Wilson was later employed as a Professor at Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...

 and left the school just before the birth of his son, Thomas Woodrow Wilson in Staunton, Virginia

Staunton, Virginia

Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....

. In late 1857 after performing the wedding of his brother-in-law, James Woodrow, he moved his family on the week of Thomas' birthday to Augusta, Georgia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2904

He died in 1903.

Children

• Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924), US President
• Joseph Ruggles Wilson, Jr. (1866-?), an editor of the Nashville Banner
  Nashville Banner
  The Nashville Banner is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998...
  
  
• Anne E. Wilson Howe