Willard Memoir

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. This work was prepared several years ago, without any definite purpose of publication. Having been urged to publish I con sented so far as to issue a Circular, addressed to the descendants of Major Simon Willard, and caused it to be very extensively dis tributed throughout the country, from north to south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Wherever I knew any of the family to reside. The response was feeble; SO much so, that I was about abandoning the project, when a subscription somewhat enlarged, and the pressing request of two or three gentlemen, whose united contribution nearly equalled that of all the other subscribers, induced me to yield my scruples, and consent to publish.