US Congressman. He was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, to Judge Alexander Wilson and Jane Belch Wishart Acheson, and was educated at local common and public schools before attending the prestigious Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1875. After his graduation from college, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He commenced to practicing law that same year and continued in law until 1879. In 1879, he bought the Washington Weekly Observer Newspaper and was also the newspaper's editor for about five years before deciding to enter politics. On November 22, 1882, he married Jane Bushfield Stewart and they had five children (Phoebe was born in 1884, Alexander was born in 1885, Elizabeth was born in 1889, Janet was born in 1892, and Martha was born in 1896). He then ran for public office and was elected as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention and served in that position in 1884. In 1889, he continued his editorial newspaper pursuits and established a daily edition of the Washington Weekly Observer Newspaper. He then was elected as President of the Pennsylvania Editorial Association and served in that position from January 1893 to June 1893. He was then chosen as the Recording Secretary of the National Editorial Association in June 1893 and also served as a Trustee of his alma mater Washington and Jefferson College from 1894 to 1917. He then ran for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected in 1894. A Republican, he then served Pennsylvania's 24th District (Fifty-Fourth Congress and the six succeeding Congresses) in the United States House of Representatives from 1895 to 1909. He was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination in 1908. After his term in the United States Congress had expired on March 3, 1909, he returned to his editorial newspaper pursuits until his retirement from the Washington Weekly Observer Newspaper in 1912. During this time he had also worked as a Director of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company and was an investor in several other companies including the Greenville Water Company. Due to his heavy workload, failing health, and stress-related to his business affairs prior to his retirement and even after his retirement, this was believed to be a contributing factor in his death. He passed away from pneumonia at his home in Washington, Pennsylvania, at the age of 51. His wife Jane passed away less than one year after he died and the two are buried together. He was the brother of politician Alexander Wilson Acheson, nephew of Judge Marcus William Acheson, and a first cousin to politician Charles Louis Valcoulon Acheson.