History of the Willard Family Association of America
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Simon Willard and his family; his brother George, and his sister Margery, left Horsmonden, Kent, England and immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634/35, and were blessed with numerous descendants, including many distinguished clergymen, educators, reformers, entrepreneurs and a host of other respected and honored citizens.
A group of their descendants formed the Major Simon Willard Descendants organization in 1908 to perpetuate historical information of our Family; then incorporated under the name "Willard Family Association of America, Inc." in 1958.
The organization began as a family association, with a primary interest in collecting, preserving, and disseminating historical and genealogical information concerning descendants of the three immigrant siblings. This purpose has evolved to include an interest in all bearing the Willard surname (regardless of its spelling) and their descendants (which includes descendants of daughters no longer bearing the surname), as well as others interested in researching their family history.
Our Story
In 1858 Joseph Willard (1798-1865) compiled and published the WILLARD MEMOIR, The Life And Times of MAJOR SIMON WILLARD.
A group of Pennsylvania Willards formed the first Association in 1907, and the Simon Willard Association was formed in 1908 in Winchester, NH, and have met yearly to perpetuate historical information of the Willard Family.
We have an account of the Family Reunion in 1912 at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mass. In 1959 the Association formed a Corporation in Massachusetts under the name "The Willard Family Association of America" and adopted the Association's Constitution and Bylaws in 1967.
Later, the Willard Genealogy; Sequel to the Willard Memoir, edited and compiled by Charles Henry Pope, was published in 1915.
The first supplement to the 1915 Willard Genealogy was the Descendants Of Josiah-2 Willard, Of Wethersfield, Connecticut, the first son of Maj. Simon Willard. This book was compiled and edited by Stephen Frank Willard, Jr. and published in 1972.
The compilation of the Descendants of Henry Willard, of Still River, Massachusetts, the fourth son of Maj. Simon Willard, is the second supplement to the 1915 Willard Genealogy. Stephen F. Willard, who compiled the first supplement also started to compile this book, but he was unable to continue and turned the work over to Compiler Lorene J. Lyon, and with the assistance of Editor Ruth H Willard, the book was published in 1989.