Josiah Flint Willard (November 17, 1805 - January 24, 1868) was an American dairy farmer, naturalist and businessman living in Janesville, Wisconsin, who served one term as a Free Soiler member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. [1] He was the father of suffragist Frances E. Willard.
Willard was born in Wheelock, Vermont, on November 17, 1805. [2] He originally moved to Oberlin, Ohio, to be part of the ministry there. He married Mary Thompson Hill, a schoolteacher. They lived in Churchville, near Rochester, New York, where their first son Oliver was born about 1834; a daughter, Caroline Elizabeth, died in 1838, and in 1839 came the birth of their daughter Frances Elizabeth Caroline. [3] A third daughter, Mary, was born about 1844.
In 1846, Josiah became ill. His doctor advised him to give up his theological studies and move to the open countryside. They moved to a 360-acre farm on a river in Janesville, in the Wisconsin Territory some few miles north of the Illinois border. [4] During the family’s stay in Wisconsin, they would convert from Congregationalism to Methodism, [5] a Protestant denomination that placed an emphasis on social justice and service to the world.
Willard was elected to the second session of the Wisconsin State Legislature, which convened January 10, 1849 and adjourned April 2 of that year, as one of five members from Rock County; he was the only one from Janesville. In the next session, the only Rock County State Representative from Janesville was William Tompkins, a Whig. [6]
He was a delegate to the "Union Democratic Party" (also called the "Free Soil Democrats") convention which convened in Madison, Wisconsin on September 7, 1849. He was elected Vice-President of the convention, and to the state central committee of that party. [7]
In 1849, Willard was elected the first Vice-President of the newly organized Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. In December 1851, Willard was elected president of the Rock County Agricultural Society. [8]
Willard was credited with getting the Wisconsin School for the Blind sited in Janesville, and was on its board of trustees from 1851-1857. [9]
In 1853, Willard and his neighbor built what is now known as the Frances Willard Schoolhouse. [10] The schoolhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Willard was an author of articles such as "Agricultural fences and enclosures", [11] and was one of two compilers (with Orrin Guernsey) of the History of Rock County and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics Institute (Janesville: Wiliam Doty and Brother, 1856).
In 1857, he was one of the 14 Janesville notables who helped form the first board of trustees of The Mutual Life Insurance Co., later to become Northwestern Mutual Life.
In 1858, the Willard family moved to Evanston, Illinois so that Mary and Frances could attend college and their brother Oliver could go to the Garrett Biblical Institute. The girls had attended Milwaukee Female College, where their mother's sister was a teacher [12] Frances would become a world-famous suffragist and first Dean of Women at Northwestern University.
Willard died in Churchville on January 24, 1868. [13]
Josiah Flint Willard was a 5th great-grandson of Simon Willard (1605–1676), a Massachusetts colonist.
Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Janesville–Beloit, WI Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615.
Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 and remained president until her death in 1898. Her influence continued in the next decades, as the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were adopted. Willard developed the slogan "Do Everything" for the WCTU and encouraged members to engage in a broad array of social reforms by lobbying, petitioning, preaching, publishing, and education. During her lifetime, Willard succeeded in raising the age of consent in many states as well as passing labor reforms including the eight-hour work day. Her vision also encompassed prison reform, scientific temperance instruction, Christian socialism, and the global expansion of women's rights.
John Winans was an American lawyer and politician in Janesville, Wisconsin. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, and served six years in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing Janesville and central Rock County. He also held several local offices, including two terms as Mayor of Janesville.
Frances Willard House may refer to:
Samuel Dexter Hastings was an American merchant, banker, real estate dealer, activist, legislator and reformer from Wisconsin who served two one-year terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
Otis West Norton was an American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served in the first three sessions of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing Rock County.
Riley N. Messenger was an American lawyer and teacher who served in 1848 as a Democratic member of the first Wisconsin State Senate.
John Moon Wells was an American farmer from Prairieville, Wisconsin who spent a single one-year term in 1849 as a Free Soil Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Waukesha County.
Parker Warren was an American farmer from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin who served a one-year term in 1849 as a Free Soil Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Dodge County.
The Frances Willard Schoolhouse is a one-room schoolhouse built in 1853 in Janesville, Wisconsin. Prominent women's suffragist and social reformer Frances Willard studied and taught there. In 1977 the school was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Joseph Spaulding was an American farmer from Rock County, Wisconsin who spent two one-year terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Rock County, first as a Freesoiler and later as a Republican.
Stephen Osander Bennett was an American merchant, farmer, and Free Soil politician. He was an early settler at Raymond, Wisconsin, and represented Racine County in the Wisconsin State Senate (1851–1852) and Assembly (1850).
Adam E. Ray was an American farmer politician from Troy, Wisconsin who served several terms in the Legislature of Wisconsin Territory, and a single term in 1851 as a Free Soil Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Walworth County.
Samuel Pratt was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was an early settler at Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, and represented his region in the Wisconsin State Assembly and State Senate for nine sessions between 1849 and 1874.
Philo Dunning was an American merchant and druggist from Madison, Wisconsin who held a number of local office, spent a single one-year term as a Reform Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Dane County, and served on the state fisheries commission.
Lathrop Burgess was an American carpenter and farmer from Brighton, Wisconsin who spent two one-year terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Kenosha County; the first as a Freesoiler, the second as a Republican.
Josiah D. Arnold was an American businessman, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 16th mayor of Portage, Wisconsin (1877–1881), and represented Columbia County in the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 1878 session.
Mary Thompson Hill Willard was an American teacher and social reformer. Her daughter, Frances Willard, was the founder and president of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) as well as president of the National W.C.T.U.
Henry Johnson was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was instrumental in the founding of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, and served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing eastern Kenosha County. Earlier in his life, he was a member of the New York State Legislature.
Charles Rickerson was a farmer from Medina, Wisconsin who served a single one-year term as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Dane County for the 1849 session.
{{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) LCCN 15-27575; OCLC 36164693(all editions).