W. WILSON CRAMER
1873 - 1874

W. Wilson Cramer was Cape Girardeau County's first prosecuting attorney, taking office January 1, 1873 at age 25. He was born in Cape Girardeau on January 14, 1847, the son of George H. Cramer, who had been a Major in command of the Home Guard in Cape during the Civil War. During the war, teenage Wilson was sent to a preparatory school in Germany for four years. When he returned he read law in the offices of noted lawyers and was admitted to the bar in 1870. After serving two years as prosecuting attorney, he practiced law in Cape Girardeau County until his death August 30, 1926. He was elected to represent Cape Girardeau County in the Missouri State Legislature in 1920 and served one term. He always drove to the courthouse in his "topless buggy" and in his day "we had hitching posts instead of parking meters."

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