Victor Willard Explained

Victor Willard
State:Wisconsin
State Senate:Wisconsin
District:17th
Term Start:January 1, 1849
Term End:January 6, 1851
Predecessor:Philo White
Successor:Stephen O. Bennett
Party:Free Soil Party
Birth Date:1813
Birth Place:New York, U.S.
Death Place:Waterford, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death Cause:Tuberculosis
Children:Clara Eva (Bain)

Victor Mauro Willard (1813December 10, 1869) was an American farmer and Wisconsin pioneer. He served as a delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention and was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate in 1849 and 1850, representing Racine County.

Biography

Born in New York,[1] Willard moved to the town of Waterford in the Wisconsin Territory in 1837.[2] He was elected as a delegate of Racine County to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention in 1846. At the convention, he worked on the committee to draft an act of congress which would ratify the admission of the state.[1] However, the constitution created by the 1st convention was ultimately rejected by the voters of Wisconsin.

In 1848, Willard was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate on the Free Soil Party ticket for the 1849 and 1850 sessions. He represented the 17th State Senate district which at that time comprised the territory making up present-day Racine County[3] - in 1849, this was only the northern half of Racine County. Kenosha County was created from the southern half of Racine County in 1850.

Willard died of tuberculosis on December 10, 1869.[4] [5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Memorial Record of the Fathers of Wisconsin . David Atwood . Horace A. Tenney . Horace A. . Tenney . David Atwood . David . Atwood . . 1880 . 183 . June 15, 2021 .
  2. Book: Stone, Fanny S. . Racine, Belle City of the Lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin . S.J. Clarke . . 1916 . 1 . 126 . June 15, 2021 .
  3. News: The Next Legislature . Watertown Chronicle. December 5, 1849. 2. Newspapers.com. August 5, 2015 .
  4. Report of Committees of the Senate of the United States (= Congressional Series of United States Public Documents, vol. 1667). 1876. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, p. cdxlvii.
  5. News: Wisconsin Items . . December 28, 1869 . 1 . June 15, 2021 . .