Benjamin A. Willis

Benjamin A. Willis

Benjamin Albertson Willis (born March 24, 1840 in Roslyn , New York , † October 14, 1886 in New York City ) was an American lawyer , officer and politician . Between 1875 and 1879 he represented New York State in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Benjamin Albertson Willis was born in Roslyn about six years before the outbreak of the Mexican-American War . In 1861 he graduated from Union College in Schenectady . He studied law . He was admitted to the bar in 1862 and then began practicing in New York City.

During the civil war he enlisted in the Union Army . On August 22, 1862, he received an officer license as captain and served in Company H of the 119th New York Volunteer Infantry . On March 25, 1863, he was promoted to major . He said goodbye on March 9, 1864. At that time, as a Colonel , he was in command of the 12th  Regiment of the New York Volunteer Infantry . As a result of the reduced strength of the unit, he was unable to take command as Colonel and submitted his resignation on January 23, 1864.

Then he went back to his activity as a lawyer. Between 1872 and 1878 he was a member of the New York State Assembly . Politically, he belonged to the Democratic Party . In the congressional elections of 1874 for the 44th Congress , Willis was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the eleventh constituency of New York , where he succeeded Clarkson Nott Potter on March 4, 1875 . After a successful election, he suffered a defeat in 1878 and resigned from Congress on March 3, 1879 . As a Congressman, he chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy ( 45th Congress ).

After his time at Congress he went back to his practice as a lawyer, but also pursued real estate transactions. He died on October 14, 1886 in New York City and was then buried in Friends Cemetery in Westbury . His remains were later reburied in Woodlawn Cemetery .

Web links

• Benjamin A. Willis in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Benjamin A. Willis in the database of Find a Grave (English)