Wilkins was born on December 20, 1779, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to Captain John Wilkins, a captain in the American Revolution, and Catherine Rowan. Wilkins attended the Pittsburgh Academy, the forerunner of the University of Pittsburgh. He read law in 1801 and graduated from Dickinson College in 1802. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1801 to 1806. He was "second" in a duel in 1806 which resulted in the death of a Mr. Bates. It was the last recorded duel in Pennsylvania before the Pennsylvania General Assembly outlawed the practice. Bates was very popular and Wilkins left Pennsylvania due to the duel to live with his brother Charles Wilkins in Lexington, Kentucky. He continued private practice in Lexington, Kentucky from 1806 to 1807. He resumed private practice in Pittsburgh from 1808 to 1815. He assisted in organizing the Pittsburgh Manufacturing Company in 1810. He was the first President of the Bank of Pittsburgh. He was President of the Pittsburgh City Council from 1816 to 1819. He was a Federalist member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1819 to 1820. He was President Judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial District from 1820 to 1824. In the 1820s, Wilkins and George M. Dallas were leaders in the Family Party faction of the Democratic Party. The faction was named Family Party since Wilkins, Dallas and several other key leaders were all related by marriage. The Family Party had political strength and were able to place the defeated governor William Findlay as a U.S. Senator in 1821.
Wilkins was appointed as the 19th United States Secretary of War by President John Tyler, serving from 1844 to 1845. Wilkins was aboard the USS Princeton when one of its guns exploded in 1843 near Mount Vernon. The explosion killed two member's of John Tyler's cabinet. Wilkins had expressed disapproval of the firing and had moved away from the gun moments before the explosion. He resumed private practice in Pittsburgh starting in 1845. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 22nd district from 1857 to 1858. He again resumed private practice in Pittsburgh from 1858 to 1865. He was a major general of the Pennsylvania Home Guards in 1862.
Death
Wilkins died on June 23, 1865, in Homewood, now a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, and was interred in Homewood Cemetery.
Family
Wilkins married Catherine Holmes however she died in 1816 and he was remarried to Mathilda Dallas. Wilkins' brother John Wilkins Jr. served as a Major General in the United States Army. His sister, Nancy, married Ebenezer Denny, the first mayor of Pittsburgh. His nephew, Harmar Denny, was a U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania. His nephew, Ross Wilkins, was a notable jurist in Michigan.
