William Bauchop Wilson (April 2, 1862 – May 25, 1934) was an American labor leader and progressive politician, who immigrated as a child with his family from Lanarkshire, Scotland. After having worked as a child and adult in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, he became active as a labor organizer. Wilson is best remembered for his service as the first Secretary of Labor (1913–21) in the United States, serving through the years of American participation in the Great War. President Woodrow Wilson (no relation) nominated him to the office. Biography Early life William B. Wilson was born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was the third child of Adam Black Wilson and Helen Nelson (Bauchop) Wilson, and the first to survive early childhood. His father was a coal miner. During a mining strike in February 1868, the family was evicted from their company-owned home as the company tried to suppress the strike. His father Adam Wilson traveled around Scotland unsuccessfully trying to find other work. He ultimately decided to emigrate to the United States to find employment there, and left his wife and three children, sailing by ship across the Atlantic in April 1870. Adam Wilson found work in the bituminous coal region of Pennsylvania, settling in the little town of Arnot, located in Tioga County. After finding a job, he sent for his wife and family. Together with his father-in-law, they departed Glasgow for the United States in August 1870. Immediately after arriving in the United States, the boy William Wilson was enrolled in public school in Arnot. This interval proved to be short-lived, however, as his father began to suffer serious back problems and was unable to complete his work without assistance. At the age of 9, William was removed from school and sent to help his father in the mines. He continued to work as a miner for nearly two decades. In 1874, young William engaged in labor organizing for the first time when he attempted to launch a union for the boys who worked as trappers, manually operating the ventilation of the mines. When the fledgling union threatened a strike over a wage reduction, union representative Wilson discovered the limits of union solidarity. He was paddled by a foreman and the incipient strike was broken. The event proved to be a valuable learning experience for Wilson, who later recalled in his unpublished memoirs: His argument had been