Political activities

He served as delegate to the Osawatomie convention in 1859. He also served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860, serving as chairman.^{[citation needed]}

Civil War

He served as a captain in the Kansas brigade for one year in the Civil War.

Congress

Wilder was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-Eighth Congress (March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865).

Later career and retirement

He again served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1864, 1868, and 1872. He returned to Rochester, New York, in 1865 and published the Morning and Evening Express until 1868, when he retired from active business pursuits.

Wilder was elected mayor of Rochester in 1872, but resigned in 1873.

Death and burial

He died in San Francisco, California, December 22, 1875, while there for his health. He was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York.