Fonds BCHS001 - Samuel Willard fonds

Samuel Willard, son of Major Joshua Willard, was born at Petersham, Mass., on December 1, 1766. He was the fourth child in a family of ten; the other children were: Abel, born in 1758; Nahaim, 1760; Lucretia, 1761; George, 1768; Elizabeth, 1769; Sophia, 1771; Lucy, 1772; Alexander, 1774; and Sally, 1776.
Samuel married Lucinda Knowlton, daughter of the Hon. Luke Knowlton, of Newfane, Vt., on February 24, 1791, with whom he had two daughters. He was first a general merchant in Newfane, Vt., later moving to Sheldon, Vt. In 1800, he took up his grant in the Township of Stukely, Lower Canada.
His wife died the same year and in 1802, he married Elizabeth Patterson, of Quebec, with whom he had two sons and five daughters. Although he owned several thousand acres in the Townships of Stukely and Orford, and was engaged mainly in farming and general merchandising, he was also a Justice of the Peace and a captain in the Militia. Willard was interested in the building of roads, especially to Montreal, to extend the market for local products. His other main activities were the organizing of schools and the promotion of religious services for the community. He died at Stukely on October 29th, 1833.
His son Abijah, whose name appears throughout these papers, carried on the business after Samuel Willard's death.