Carey J. Wilson is superintendent of insurance for the State of Kansas. His is one of the busiest offices at the State Capitol and practically every minute of his official time is taken up either with the broader policies of the state insurance department or with the immense amount of details pertaining to the ability of companies to meet solvency requirements, as well as the general conduct of business within the state.
To this office Mr. Wilson brought years of practical experience in the insurance field. He had been solely identified with insurance since he left college.
Though a native of North Carolina, Carey Josephus Wilson had lived in Kansas since early infancy. He was born at Burnsville in the Old North State February 21, 1868. In 1870 his parents, George Washington and Elizabeth (Erwin) Wilson came to Kansas, settling in Brown County. They now reside at Ottawa, Kansas. His father is a Baptist minister and during the Civil war served as chaplain in the Confederate army.
Carey J. Wilson grew up in the country around Powhattan, attended country schools, the academic department of Ottawa University and the Liberal Arts Course of the University of Kansas, graduating from the State University with the degree Bachelor of Arts in 1899. His early experiences were those of a Kansas farm boy, and in the intervals of acquiring a liberal education he taught for three years. Since leaving the university he had been entirely engaged in the insurance business. Mr. Wilson was in the life insurance field from 1899 to 1911. In January, 1911, he was appointed assistant state superintendent of insurance, an office he filled four years. Thus it was not only with the broad general knowledge of the insurance field but with special exporience in this particular office that he entered upon his duties as state superintendent of insurance, after his election in November, 1914. His first term began January 11, 1915, and on November 7, 1916, he was re-elected, his second term commencing January 8, 1917.
Mr. Wilson had been a lifelong republican. He is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Knights and Ladies of Security, Fraternal Aid Union, the Improved Order of Red Men, and Topeka Lodge No. 204, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His church associations are with the Church of Christ Scientist.
On November 27, 1907, at Topeka, Mr. Wilson married Miss Gertrude Tracy, daughter of Samuel and Sarah A. Tracy. Mrs. Wilson, particularly in social circles at Topeka, had long been known for her exceptional musical ability and at the time of her marriage she was teacher of piano at Washburn College.