Willis, William, 1794-1870 - Social Networks and Archival Context (original) (raw)

Naval historian & lawyer.

From the description of Letter and portrait : of William Willis, 1822, n.d. [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647812178

Lawyer, mayor of Portland, Me., local historian, and director of many local clubs and business enterprises.

From the description of Scrapbooks, 1839-1869. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 70978864

Lawyer, mayor of Portland, Me., and director of many local clubs and business enterprises.

From the description of Papers, 1639-1870. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 70978848

William Willis was born in Haverhill, Mass., Aug. 31, 1794, and was the second child of Benjamin and Mary (McKinstry) Willis. In 1803 the family moved to Portland, Maine. William attended Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated at Harvard in 1813. He studied law in Boston and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1817 in which year he opened a law office in Boston. He became a law partner with Prentice Mellen until 1820. In Portland he then practiced by himself until 1835 when he became a partner with William Pitt Fessenden, with whom he practiced continuously for twenty years. He died in Portland on Feb. 17, 1870.

Nathaniel Deering was born in 1791 and died in 1881. Like William Willis he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from Harvard. He settled in Portland, Maine and worked for merchant Asa Clapp but then became a lawyer. He moved to Skowhegan but later returned to Portland. He was also known locally for his interests in poetry and drama along with William Willis and William Pitt Fessenden.

William Pitt Fessenden was born in 1806 and died in 1869, He studied law with Charles S. Daveis, of Portland and in 1835 entered into a law partnership with William Willis, an established attorney some ten years his senior. He later served in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1864 to 1865.

From the description of Papers, 1833-1845 (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 61141202

Historian, lawyer, and Portland, Me., official.

Willis lived fifty years in Portland, where he was mayor and also president of the Maine Central Railroad.

From the description of Letter : Portland, [Me.], [not before 1840], Oct. 8. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 40994368

Archival Resources

Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Scotch-Irish immigration to Maine, and Presbyterianism in New England, 1888. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Scrapbooks, 1839-1869. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. William Willis correspondence, ca. 1863. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Additional letters from various correspondents, 1824-1882. Houghton Library
referencedIn Woods, Leonard, 1807-1878. Leonard Woods papers, 1867-1868. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Papers, 1639-1870. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Church, Benjamin, 1639-1718. Map of the Eastern Country and letters relating to it, [ca. 1688]-1864. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Nichols, George, 1809-1882. Correspondence, 1827-1885 Houghton Library
referencedIn Noyes, Edward Deering, 1858-1944. Catalogue of books in William Willis' library, 1834. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Smith, Thomas, 1720-1788. Extracts from the journals kept by the Rev. Thomas Smith, ... from the year 1720 to the year 1788, ... Portland, 1821. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Portland (Me.). Mayor. Records of mayors, 1831-1894. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Thornton, John Wingate, 1818-1878. Papers, 1850-1876. Boston Athenaeum
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. William Willis street list, 1864, 1925. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Goold, Nathan, 1846-1914. Alice Greele's tavern, 20th century. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Portland Society of Natural History (Me.). Portland Society of Natural History records, 1850-1946. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Letter to Joseph Sabin [manuscript], 1868 March 14. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Nichols, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1869-1949. Benedict Arnold collection, 1850-1933. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Sewall family. Sewall family papers, 1799-1912. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Letter : Portland, [Me.], [not before 1840], Oct. 8. Newberry Library
referencedIn Lamson Studio (Portland, Me.). Lamson Studio collection of glass plate negatives, 1800s-ca. 1900. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Papers, 1833-1845 Raymond H. Fogler Library
creatorOf Hoadley, William F. Inscriptions in the old Eastern Cemetery, Portland, Maine : with historical facts principally from Willis' History of Portland, 1897. Maine Historical Society Library
creatorOf Willis, William, 1794-1870. Letter and portrait : of William Willis, 1822, n.d. [manuscript]. University of Virginia. Library

Bibliographic and Digital Archival Resources

Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Atlantic and St. Lawrence Rail Road Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Deering, Nathaniel, 1791-1881. person
associatedWith Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection (Newberry Library) corporateBody
associatedWith Fessenden, William Pitt, 1806-1869. person
associatedWith Freeman, Samuel, 1743-1831. person
associatedWith Giles, Henry, 1809-1882. person
associatedWith Goold, Nathan, 1846-1914. person
associatedWith Hoadley, William F. person
associatedWith Jones, Ephraim. person
associatedWith Lamson Studio (Portland, Me.) corporateBody
associatedWith Minot, William. person
correspondedWith Mitchell, Edward C. person
associatedWith Newberry Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Nichols, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1869-1949. person
correspondedWith Nichols, George, 1809-1882 person
correspondedWith Portland (Me.). Mayor. corporateBody
associatedWith Portland Society of Natural History (Me.) corporateBody
associatedWith Rumery, Samuel D., d. 1942. person
associatedWith Sabin, Joseph, 1821-1881, person
correspondedWith Sewall family. family
associatedWith Smith, Thomas, 1720-1788. person
associatedWith Thornton, John Wingate, 1818-1878. person
associatedWith Waite, John, 1701 or 2-1769. person
correspondedWith Willis, Julia, Miss person
associatedWith Wingfield, Edward Maria, 1550-1631 person
correspondedWith Woods, Leonard, 1807-1878. person