Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM LADD WILLIS
William
Ladd Willis was born in New York City,
the son of Charles T. and Jane S. Willis. One great-grandfather, on his
father's side, was Lyman Hall, one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, and the other, who lived at Newton,
N. J., spent his fortune in raising and equipping a troop of horse for the
patriot army, and was a friend of General Washington. The latter passed through
Newton on his way north in 1779 and
stopped to take dinner with his friend. It happened that it was the time of
christening the son of his host, and Washington
became one of the sponsors, and the boy was named George Washington Willis. The
mother of the subject of this sketch was the daughter of one of the early
merchant princes of New York,
Thomas S. Walsh.
Charles
T. Willis died when his son was seven years old, and the family moved to
Unionville, N. Y., where the son grew to manhood. His school education was
gained at various academic institutions and at Troy
(N. Y.) university. In the winter of 1860-61 he embarked in wholesale business
in New York City, but the Civil war
breaking out in the spring the general depression of business and the failure
of many western firms to whom his firm had extended credit, forced him to close
up his business at a heavy loss. He embarked in various lines for some years,
and in 1871 came to Sacramento county, where he engaged in farming near Elk Grove, and
teaching, until 1892. He then became a member of the editorial staff of the Record-Union, and continued the
association for thirteen years. In 1879 he was tendered an appointment on the
county board of education, of which he remained a member for twenty-three
years, or until his removal to Auburn, where he resided for nearly two years
and then returned to Sacramento, this city having been his home ever since.
In
1886 Mr. Willis was selected by the state board of education to compile the
state speller, which had been in use in the schools for twenty years. He also
assisted in the compilation of the first set of state readers. In the past four
years he has been connected with the Carmichael Company in the real estate
business. In 1872 he married Miss Emily Haines of Middletown, N. Y., by whom he
had three children, Mrs. Jennie L. Brothers, now of Berkeley; Mrs. Clair
Morrill, of Suisun, and William B. Willis of New York, an architect in the
office of McKim, Mead & White.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento
County, California, Pages 593-594. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.
© 2005 Sally Kaleta.