Biographical Details
Date of Birth: August 12, 1826
Birth Location: Wayne County, IN, USA
Major Study: Law
Graduation Year(s): 1850
Degree(s) Earned: Bachelor of Laws
Date of Death: November 1, 1881
Death Location: Monmouth, IL, USA
Elias M. Willits
Life Experience
Born in Indiana, Elias M. Willits was the grandson of James Hannah, who came to the American colonies from Northern Ireland as an indentured servant. Hannah apparently gained his independence during the American Revolution and died in 1846. Willits graduated from IU with his law degree in 1850. He was a lawyer briefly in Muscatine, Iowa, then moved in 1851 to Mercer County, Illinois. In 1862, he moved to Monmouth, Illinois, where he became well known as a legal counsel and attorney-at-law. In 1870, he became judge of the county court, a position he held for the rest of his life. He was also involved in education. The Willits School in Monmouth was named after him. Willits died in 1881 in Illinois.
Marriage and Family
Willits married Elizabeth Fish in 1850. They had five children: son Oscar, daughter Anna, daughter Ardie, son Hugh, and son Orville. Hugh was born in 1860 and died at age two months. Orville was born in 1861 and died at age two months. In 1863, Ardie died at age four. The Willitses subsequently had two more children: daughter Ethel and son John. Their eldest son, Oscar, died of tuberculosis at age eighteen in 1870. In 1880, Ethel died at age sixteen. Youngest son, John, died at age fifteen, a year after his father. This left only Anna to survive past age eighteen. She went on to attend Monmouth College. Wife Elizabeth lived in Monmouth another forty-two years after Willits’ death.
Interesting Anecdote
Willits’ only surviving child, Anna, became the founder of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in 1900, which now has two hundred and sixty thousand members in the U.S. and Canada.
References
- Aledo Weekly Record 04/12/1864
- Ancestry.com
- Findagrave.com
- The Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois – 1877
- reviewatlas.com/news/20180101/rankin-file-monmouth-schools-namesake-got-little-respect
- Wikipedia
- Wylie