Benjamin A. Willis
Benjamin Albertson Willis was a United States [House of Representatives|U.S. representative] from New York.
Biography
Willis was born in Roslyn, New York, the eldest son of Charles Willis and Abigail Albertson. He graduated from Union College in 1861, where he had studied law. He was Admission to [the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar] in 1862, and commenced practice in New York City. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army in 1862. He served as captain in the New York Infantry Regiment">New York (state)">New York Infantry Regiment, and subsequently colonel of the 12th New York Volunteer Infantry. He was honorably discharged in 1864. He resumed the practice of law and was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1872 to 1878.Willis was elected as a Democrat to the 44th [United States Congress|Forty-fourth] and 45th [United States Congress|Forty-fifth] Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States [House Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department] during the Forty-fifth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress. He engaged in the practice of law and also in the real estate business. He married Lillie Evelyn Macauley, daughter of William Macauley and Mary S. Underhill, and had three children: Kate T. Willis, Portia Willis and Benjamin A. Willis Jr. He was a relative of California State Senator John S. Enos.
Willis died in New York City on October 14, 1886. He was interred in Friends Cemetery in Westbury, New York, and later reinterred in Woodlawn Cemetery.