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, soldier and politician. Between 1875 and 1879 he represented the State of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

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

During the Civil War he enlisted in the Union Army. He was christened on August 22, 1862 a commission to captain and served in Company H of the 119th New York Volunteer Infantry. On March 25, 1863, he was promoted to Major. He took his leave on March 9, 1864. At that time, he had as a Colonel in command of the 12th Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry. As a result, a reduced strength of the unit he could not take up his command as Colonel and handed on January 23, 1864, his resignation.

Then he went back to his work as a lawyer after. Between 1872 and 1878 he sat in the New York State Assembly. Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party. In the congressional elections of 1874 for the 44th Congress Willis was in the eleventh electoral district of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Clarkson Nott Potter on March 4, 1875. After a successful election, he suffered a defeat in 1878 and retired after the March 3, 1879 from the Congress of. As a Congressman he had presided over the Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department ( 45th Congress ).

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