The Portland daily press., 1870-02-18
which he with unstinted hand performed for
those who went before him. J. A. p.
From the Portaid Daily Evening Advertiser Of
limos

those who went before him. J. A. p
From the Portiaid Daily Evening Advertiser of
IhursIayl
Among the pail bearers at the funeral of
George Peabody, little more than two weeks
ago, Mr. Willis alone was provided with a seat.
1t was only one among many tokens of his de-
clining strength, but so marked aud puhIic
that it could not be overlooked nor misnnder-
stood. A temperate and regular life had pre-
served his powers unimpaired to the last, but
his delicate constitution, worn with service
of nearly seventy-six years, was fast giving
way, and this morning at quarter past 9 he
passed away so quietly that his wife, sitting by
his bedside, did not know at what moment he
ceased to breathe. He fell asleep,
Like one that wraps the drarery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams
Mr. Willis graduated at Harvard
College in 1913, and returning to Portland be-
gan the study of his profession. In 1915 the
family removed to Boston, and in 1877 Mr.
Willis having completed his law studies. was
admitted to the Suffolk bar. Two years later
he returned to Portland to take charge of
Judge Melen's Office. Judge Mellen had then
a very extensive practice in every county in
Maine, and was appointed the first Chief JUS
tice in 1920. Mr.. Willis now renewed his ac-
quaintance with the young wits, whose lively
essays in the Portland Gazette had kept the
town in good humor Tor tour OF i've years the
Freemans, VIM. b. Sewal, Charles S. Daves,
Nathaniel Deering, who survives almost all his
old friends, Edward Payson, then preceptor of
the Portland Academy, Carter and Wright,
and others whose names he has preserved in
his frequent references to that period. When
Mr.. w Ills returned to Portland in 1919 Arthur
| Shirley, then publisher OF the Gazette, made
| an arrangement with him to furnish editorial
articles regularly, which lasted till 1922. 1t
| was the first instance in the history of the
town of the separation of the duties of publish
| er and editor.
On the 1st of September, 1928, Mr.. Willis
| married Julia Whitman, daughter of Ezekiel
| Whitman, Chief Justice of the Court of Com
| mon Pleas, and subsequently, Chief Justice of
| the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine Judge
Whitman was also one of the five Representa-
tives of the State in Congress, and in the fall
| of 1928 his term of service had Just expired.
Bridgewater, Massachusetts,. Mrs. Willis too
survives her husband and eight children.
| The Maine Historical Society was incorpor-
ated in 1922, and must even then have attract
ed the attention of the young man who was to
| become one of it's chief pillars. And what
time Mr.. Willis was elected member does not
appear in the publications of the society; but
| in 1881, when the first volume of the Collec-
tons was issued, it contained portion of his
| History of Portland, and he was then and Tor
| many years after, the recording secretary of
the society. A second volume, completing the
| DENLY in 1882 The second volume Of the Col
| lections was issued in 1S47, aud the third in
| 1858, both under the editorial supervision of
| Mr.. Willis, who contributed to the second vol
ume an appreciative notice on the character
and writings of William Ladl, of Minot.
In 1855, the Historical Society held its first
meeting at Augusta, and Mr.. Willis was cho-
sen to deliver public address which is pre-
served in the fourth volume of Collections
The remarkable range of information concern
ing the history of the State, displayed in this
a1draca xuao ofbin0 int dox 4
| rare in any, and did much to establish the
character OF the Society and awaken an intel
lIgent interest in its researches. In 1856, Mr..
Willis was chosen president of the Society,
and in March, 1857, delivered an inaugural adj
dress dedicated to the memory of his prede-
cessors in that chair. In 1858 he delivered an
other remarkable address on the Scotch Irish
immigration to Maine, giving incidentally a
| brief account of Presbyteriapism.
His contributions to the Society's Collec-
tions are found in every volume. He was from
the beginning member of the publishing
committee and always practically if not for
mally the chairman. The subject of his pa
pers not already mentioned, were the lam
guages of the Abnaques or Eastern Indians
and the Indians of Hudson Bay, the ancient
settlement of Sheepscot, Waymouth's voyage,
old coins found at Portland and Richmond's
Island, and obituary notices of deceased mem
bers of the Society. His last work for the
Historical Society was the supervision of the
publication last year of DR.. j. G. Kohrs
learned history of the Discovery of Maine.
These however are but part and relatively
a small part of Mr.. Willis's historical labors.
In 1849 he edited new edition of the journals
of Parson Smith and DR.. Deane, with copious
notes and ofher apparatus In 1868 he pub b.
lished an elaborate history of the Courts and
Lawyers of Maine thus discharging his duty
to a profession in which he was always honored
though he avoided the drudgery oft practice.
In 1865 he published new and enlarged edi-
If fla xrnfDo tlon1 xxrsn hr
his monument more enduring than Brass
During all this time he was frequent con-
tributor to the journals of the city. MethOdi-
cal and regular in all his habits, he had collect
ed vast fund of biographical and genealogi-
cal Information, all carefully arranged and
available at a moments notice. He seemed at
last to accept it as duty to write obituary
notices from time to time and if by accidental
absence or illness he was prevented, apologize
ed as punctually as if he had been sa'ared
writer, though the employment of the greater
part of his long life was really for the public
benefit without fee or reward.
His fellow citizens were not unmindful of
his merits. He was elected to the State SEN
ate in 1856, where he served with credit. In
1856 he was candidate for Mayor, and in 1857
was elected, his son Henry, since deceased,
serving in the Common Council at the same
time. In 1860 he was chosen member of the
Electoral College. His business talent was
recognized in his long connection with the
Merchants Bank, of which he was for many
years a director and Vice President But it
was with the social life of Portland that he
was after all chiefly identified. He was one of
the managers of the First Parish charity fund;
he was President of the Portland Benevolent
Society; he represented the First Parish from
time to time on the Board of Managers of the
Widows Wood Society; be was one OF the cor
porators of the Savings Bank; and he was
President of the Portland Institute, which has
given us something nearer public library
than we have had before, AID will do better
still one of these days. Two years ago he was
made Doctor of Laws by Bowdoin College. He
deserved 1t; but more creditable than any of
his works is the spirit in which they have been
wrought. OF retiring, scholarly nature, be
has not devoted his ample leisure to his books,
but has always remembered his duties to soce-
ty, and by hi active exertons no less than by
his pure example, has done much to make the
world better. One of the last subjects hat en-
gagged his attention was the establishment of a
General Hospital in Maine, for which he la
bored with characteristic fidelity and intelli-
gence,