Lucius D. Wilson was a resident of Vernon on April 19, 1861 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. B of the 1st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. The first shots of the Civil War had been fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, one week previously. President Lincoln issued a proclamation for 75,000 volunteers on April 15, 1861 and Governor Buckingham issued a call on April 16th. On July 20, 1861 at the First Battle of Bull Run, the first Connecticut was ordered to advance at 10 A.M.; they met and repelled a body of infantry and cavalry. They were in action until 4 P.M. and retired from the field in good order. Lucius Wilson was honorably discharged on July 31, 1861.
He enlisted as a Sergeant in Co. B of the 7th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, on August 19, 1861 from Mansfield, less than three weeks after his discharge from the 1st Connecticut. On December 11, 1862, he was discharged for disability in Beaufort, South Carolina.
The descriptive muster roll of the 7th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 21 and his occupation as wool sorter. He is described as 6’ tall with a fair complexion and blue eyes and light hair.
He was born November 11, 1839 in Mansfield to Thomas and Marcia (Hilliard) Wilson. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 20 year old operative in the household of Thomas Wilson. His brother, Reuben E. Wilson is also living in this household; he enlisted in Co. B in September of 1861. Lucius Wilson married Mary Jane Abbott on December 1, 1864. Children include: Reuben Herbert Wilson, born October 6, 1867; Howard Abbott Wilson, born February 16, 1875 and Lucius Everett Wilson, born September 27, 1877. Lucius Wilson worked as a wool sorter in a woolen mill, first in Coventry, Connecticut and later in Maynard, Massachusetts. He moved to Maynard between 1880 and 1900.
On May 13, 1880, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 371,619 that was granted under certificate No. 257,575 His widow filed for a pension on November 17, 1917.
Lucius D. Wilson died on October 10, 1917 in Maynard, Massachusetts and is buried at the Glenwood Cemetery in Maynard, Massachusetts.