Sylvester Willard

Sylvester Willard (1798 - 1886) was an American physician and industrialist.

Willard was born in Saybrook, Connecticut on December 24, 1798. He was educated at the New Canaan Academy and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He married Jane Frances Case in 1830. Williard practiced medicine in Connecticut until 1840, when he moved to Chicago. In 1848, Willard moved to Auburn, New York. Willard was one of the organizers of the Oswego Starch Factory in 1848 and served as its president until his death.

Willard was the first physician at the Cayuga County Asylum for the poor, a trustee of the Young Ladies Institute, and of the Elmira Female College. He was a donor to the Auburn Theological Seminary, of which he served as secretary to the board of trustees for over thirty years. The Willard Memorial Chapel on the former seminary campus was a gift in honor of their father from Georgianna and Caroline Willard. A building on the campus of Maryville College in Tennessee also bears his name. Willard's Greek Revival residence in Auburn has been the home of The Cayuga Museum since 1936. He is buried in Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn. [http://www.cayuganet.org/forthill/willard/syl.html Retrieved 2008-06-10.]

A scholarship named for Dr. Willard supports students from Auburn, New York who study at Hamilton College. [http://www.hamilton.edu/applications/catalogue/scholarships2.html Retrieved 2008-06-10.]

References