Benjamin Albertson WILLIS, Congress, NY (1840-1886)

WILLIS, Benjamin Albertson, a Representative from New York; born in Roslyn, Queens County, N.Y., March 24, 1840; was graduated from Union College in 1861; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1862 and commenced practice in New York City; during the Civil War enlisted in the Union Army in 1862; captain in the One Hundred and Nineteenth New York Volunteers, and subsequently colonel of the Twelfth Regiment, New York State Volunteers; honorably discharged in 1864; resumed the practice of law; member of the State assembly 1872-1878; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy (Forty-fifth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress; engaged in the practice of law and also in the real estate business; died in New York City on October 14, 1886; interment in Friends Cemetery, Westbury, Long Island; reinterment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present