George Willard

George Willard, engraving from 1874

George Willard (born March 20, 1824 in Bolton , Chittenden County , Vermont , †  March 26, 1901 in Battle Creek , Michigan ) was an American politician . Between 1873 and 1877 he represented the state of Michigan in the US House of Representatives .

Career

George Willard attended public schools on the one hand and was privately tutored on the other hand by his father. In 1836 he came to Battle Creek, Michigan with his parents . Willard then studied at Kalamazoo College until 1844 . He then taught as a teacher. After studying theology and being ordained as a clergyman of the Episcopal Church in 1848, he also began to work in this profession. Until 1863 he worked in churches in Coldwater , Battle Creek and Kalamazoo . In 1863 and 1864 he taught Latin at Kalamazoo College . In the following years he got into the newspaper business in Battle Creek.

Politically, Willard was a member of the Republican Party . Between 1857 and 1863 he was a member of the Michigan State Education Committee; from 1863 to 1872 he was a board member of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor . Willard was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives in 1866 and 1867 . In 1867 he was also a member of an assembly to revise the state constitution. In 1872 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia , where President Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for re-election. In the congressional election of 1872 Willard was elected to the United States House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the third constituency of Michigan , where he succeeded Austin Blair on March 4, 1873 . After a re-election in 1874, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1877 .

In 1876, George Willard renounced another congressional candidacy. After leaving the US House of Representatives, he resumed his previous activities in the newspaper business. Until his death on March 26, 1901, he was the publisher and editor of the "Battle Creek Journal".

Web links

• George Willard in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• George Willard in the database of Find a Grave (English)