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- Samuel, clergyman, born in Kingston, Jamaica, Wisconsin, in 1705; died in Kittery, Maine, 25 October, 1741, was the son of John, who was graduated at Harvard in 1690, and was a merchant of Jamaica for several years. After graduation at Harvard in 1723, the son was appointed to the charge of a pastorate in Biddeford, Maine, in 1730. See "The Minister of God approved: a Sermon at the Ordination of Mr. John Hovey, with a Funeral Sermon on Samuel Willard," by William Thompson, A. M., and a preface by Thomas Prentice (Boston, 1743).
Samuel's grandson, Solomon, architect, born in Petersham, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 26 June, 1783; died in Quincy, Massachusetts, 27 February, 1862, worked in his father's carpenter-shop, and farmed till 1804, when he went to Boston, where he followed his trade. Subsequently ha became an expert woodcarver, his first important work in that art being the colossal spread eagle that was placed on the old custom-house in Boston. He began to carve in stone in 1815, was employed in decorating many public buildings in Boston, and gave lessons in architecture and drawing. He was a founder of the Boston mechanics' institute. On 2 November, 1825, he was chosen architect and superintendent of Bunker Hill monument, his design having been accepted by the building committee in the follow-mg year. He was engaged on this work for the subsequent seventeen years, being frequently interrupted by want of funds and by disagreements in the committee in charge; but, on 23 July, 1842, the top-stone of the monument was laid, and on the anniversary of the battle in 1843 its completion was celebrated in the presence of the president of the United States, his cabinet, and a large concourse of citizens frown every part of the Union. Mr. Willard's other works include the United States branch bank, Boston, the plan of the soldiers' monument at Concord, Massachusetts, the court-house at Dedham, Massachusetts, and the Harvard monument in Charlestown, Massachusetts He introduced the free use of granite as a building material in this country, furnished the first granite paving-stones that were ever used in Boston, invented many ingenious plans for working stone, and, as carpenter, designer, architect, and builder, was greatly in advance of his contemporaries. See '" Memoir of Solomon Willard," by William W. Wheildon (Boston, 1865).
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