My Genealogy Hound

HON. DIEDRICH WILLERS, a distinguished figure in New York politics, and widely known as one of the leading men of the state, was born November 3, 1833, in the town of Varick, Seneca County, and passed his childhood and youth under the instruction of a father no less distinguished in his sacred calling. He was the son of Rev. Diedrich Willers, D. D., who was born in Walle, near Bremen, Germany, and who wrote his name in indelible letters upon the records of the Reformed Church in this and adjoining counties.

Dr. Willers was born February 6, 1798, and entered the German army to resist the aggressions of Napoleon when only sixteen years of age, and served therein with marked ability. He participated in the great struggle of Waterloo, in June, 1815, and counted it a mercy of Providence that he was not killed or injured on that dreadful day when his company and battalion were almost destroyed, his immediate company losing all but twelve privates and two non-commissioned officers out of one hundred and twenty officers and men who entered the battle. The battalion of four hundred men was reduced to less than eighty men. He served in the army of Hanover for five years, and when discharged received a silver medal for conspicuous bravery. In 1819 he came to America, landing in Baltimore, Md., at which time he had only a few dollars in his pocket; but he had a vastly more valuable capital in unshaken courage, a good education and a Christian character. Later he found employment as a teacher in York County, Pa.

In early life Dr. Willers made some preparation for the ministry, completing his studies in Pennsylvania. He entered upon his ministry in Seneca County, N. Y., in April, 1821, and in October, 1821, was ordained to the ministry of the Reformed Church of the United States, formerly known as the German Reformed. He served Christ Church at Bearytown for sixty years and eight months consecutively, and at the same time had a widely extended ministry throughout all the adjacent country. To reach his remote appointments he was compelled to take long journeys on horseback, and it is estimated that during these sixty years he traveled more than eighty thousand miles. He was devoted to his calling, and only retired from it when absolutely compelled to by his failing health.

During these years Dr. Willers bore a conspicuous part in the history of this country. He earnestly battled against the Mormon delusion, at the time when Joseph Smith first organized in Fayette, in 1830. July 4, 1826, he preached a sermon on the semi-centennial of American Independence, and lived to assist in the centennial service of 1876. He took an active part in arousing patriotic sentiment at the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861. He was honored and beloved by thousands of personal friends, drawn to him by the fervor of his preaching and the purity of his heart and soul, and his name is a heritage nobler than money or lands to his children. His degree of Doctor of Divinity was received from Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, Pa. Dr. Willers died May 13, 1883, at the age of eighty-five. His wife was a descendant of a Palatinate German family, which located at New Holland, Lancaster County, Pa., where she was born November 28, 1797. She died November 24, 1879, aged eighty-two.

Rev. Dr. Willers and his wife had a family of eight children, of whom two died in infancy. Two sons and four daughters attained years of maturity. Margaret Amelia, who was born July 25, 1825, married Charles Bachman, of Fayette; she is still living, and has one child, Carlton W., of Rochester, N. Y. Emma C., whose birth occurred December 7, 1826, became the wife of John S. Reed, of Fayette, and at her death, February 15, 1872, left two daughters. Frances S., born June 3, 1828, married George Pontius, of Fayette, and died May 22, 1859, leaving three daughters and one son; the latter, George W. Pontius, of Seneca Falls, recently served a term as District Attorney of Seneca County. Next in order of birth is the subject of this sketch. Caroline Lydia, the youngest daughter, was born May 21, 1836, and became the second wife of John S. Reed, of Fayette; she is still living.

Calvin Willers, who was born December 9, 1840, was the youngest child in the family. He received an academic education, and in early manhood taught for a number of years in district schools of the county. In the spring of 1867 he was elected Supervisor of Varick, and in 1868 was re-elected without opposition. In November, 1868, he was elected Clerk of Seneca County and served a term of three years. In January, 1874, he entered upon the duties of Chief Clerk in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany (then filled by his brother), and this position he held until his death, April 9, 1875. During the latter part of his life he studied law and, had he lived, he would have been admitted to the Bar at the session of court the month following his demise. In April, 1872, he married Miss Elizabeth Kennedy, of Covert, who, with a son, Diedrich K., and daughter, Calvina, survives.

Diedrich Willers, the subject of this sketch, was brought up by his father with the design of making him a minister. He was carefully instructed in the German language and in classical literature, but his life did not conform to his father’s planning. At sixteen he began to teach school for $12 a month, out of which he had to board himself. When twenty-two years old he entered a printing-office with the expectation of becoming a journalist, but this occupation did not agree with his health, and he turned to the study of law as affording a more desirable field of labor. He was admitted to the Bar, but never practiced. In politics he found his most congenial career. In the year 1856 he was a strong supporter of James Buchanan, and in the following year was no less active in behalf of Gideon J. Tucker, who was running as candidate for Secretary of State. He was elected, and his young and enthusiastic supporter was rewarded with the appointment of a clerkship at Albany. This position he retained until 1863, when he was selected by Gov. Horatio Seymour to act as his Private Secretary. This was during the most trying period of the Civil War, and the questions and responsibilities that met him were difficult and onerous, but he discharged them with such distinguished ability that he won the warm personal friendship of the “Sage of Deerfield,” a friendship that he retained as long as that great statesman survived. When Governor Seymour retired from office Mr. Willers came back to Varick, where he remained for two years. During this period, in 1865-66, he was elected Supervisor of Varick, and officiated as Chairman of the Board, rendering valuable service in the settlement of accounts growing out of the Civil War.

In 1867 Mr. Willers was appointed Deputy Secretary of State by Hon. Homer A. Nelson. This position he held for four years, and met its responsibilities in so capable a manner that he was nominated for the office of Secretary of State in 1871. He failed of election, but it is recorded to his credit that his vote exceeded that given to any other candidate on the Democratic ticket. The next year Governor Hoffman made him Assistant Paymaster-General, with the rank of Colonel. The following year he was chosen one of the secretaries of the Constitutional Convention, then in session at Albany, and the same year, 1873, he was renominated as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, being elected by more than ten thousand majority, his opponent, Mr. Thayer, being one of the most popular Republicans of the state. On the occasion of his second nomination Mr. Willers received a most flattering and complimentary commendation from Governor Seymour. He was pronounced an ideal candidate and a faithful public servant. In 1875 he was again solicited to be a candidate, but declined. The state census of the latter year was taken under his direction.

Mr. Willers availed himself of his freedom from public affairs to visit Europe the following year, and devoted much time to his father’s birthplace and native country, and while there visited the battlefield of Waterloo. He spent some three months in this delightful way, and returned home to quietly live on his farm in the midst of his friends and neighbors, who were proud of the energy and capacity that had lifted him from obscurity into fame and honor. In 1877 he was elected to the State Legislature, serving a year in that body, and doing much hard work for the state. He has manifested rare powers in solving difficult questions and bringing order out of confusion. His intellectual abilities are of a high order, and have been recognized not only in a practical way in the affairs of life, but also by institutions that are purely educational. In 1875 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Union College, and at a later date the same degree from Hamilton College. He took an active interest in the Seneca County centennial celebration, held in Waterloo in 1879, and compiled the historical account thereof, published by the Waterloo Library and Historical Society. He has devoted much time to historical research, and delivered the historical address at the centennial celebration of the town of Romulus, June 13, 1894. Mr. Willers takes a deep interest in the welfare of the old church in which his father so long officiated, and of which he is a member and officer.

Mr. Willers married Mrs. Mary A. Randall, of Varick, March 16, 1892. They have no children, and make their home on the old farm where he was born. During the active years of his life he was known as Diedrich Willers, Jr., but the suffix to his name has been dropped since his father’s death.