Joseph Edward Willard

Joseph Edward Willard
United States Ambassador to Spain
In office October 31, 1913 – July 7, 1921
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	Henry Clay Ide
Succeeded by	Cyrus Woods
Member of the Virginia State  Corporation Commission
In office October 1, 1905 – February 18, 1910
Preceded by	Henry Fairfax
Succeeded by	J. Richard Wingfield
19th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office January 1, 1902 – February 1, 1906
Governor	Andrew J. Montague
Preceded by	Edward Echols
Succeeded by	James Taylor Ellyson
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Fairfax County
In office December 6, 1893 – December 4, 1901
Preceded by	R. C. Triplett
Succeeded by	R. E. Lee, Jr.
Personal details
Born	Joseph Edward Willard (1865-05-01)May 1, 1865 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	April 4, 1924(1924-04-04) (aged 58) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouse	Belle Layton Wyatt
Relations	Antonia Ford (mother) Kermit Roosevelt (son-in-law) Mervyn Herbert (son-in-law)
Alma mater	Virginia Military Institute

Joseph Edward Willard (May 1, 1865 – April 4, 1924) was an American politician, philanthropist, and diplomat.

Early life

The son of prominent Washington hotelier and Union Army commissary major Joseph Clapp Willard (1820–1897) and former Confederate spy Antonia Ford, Joseph Willard had two brothers who died in infancy.

Career

Willard served for eight years in the Virginia House of Delegates, prior to his election as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He held that office from 1902 through 1906, leaving after an unsuccessful run for governor. The Virginia General Assembly then elected him a commissioner of the relatively new Virginia State Corporation Commission, where he served for four years.

In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Willard as the United States Ambassador to Spain. Upon the outbreak of World War I Willard was vacationing in the United States and returned to Europe aboard the USS Tennessee, although his daughter, Belle, was sick with typhoid fever (she would recover).^[1] Ambassador Willard held his position under successive presidents of both political parties until shortly before his death.

Personal life

Willard and his wife, Belle Layton Wyatt (1869–1954), had two daughters, Belle Wyatt, (1892–1968) who later married Kermit Roosevelt on June 10, 1914, and Mary Elizabeth, (1898-1979) who later married The Hon. Mervyn Herbert, third son of 4th Earl of Carnarvon, in 1921.

His daughter, Belle, and Roosevelt had four children:

1. Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (1916-2000); married Mary Lowe Gaddis (1917-2013) and had four children.
2. Joseph Willard Roosevelt (1918-2008); married (1) Nancy Thayer/Cummings, daughter of poet E.E. Cummings and had two children; married (2) Carole Adele Russell and had three children.
3. Belle Wyatt Roosevelt (1919-1985); married John Gorham Palfrey Jr., grandson of John G. Palfrey, 2nd great-grandson of William Palfrey, and grand-nephew of Francis Winthrop Palfrey; had three children.
4. Dirck Roosevelt (1925-1953)

Willard had at least 12 grandchildren, including Mark Roosevelt; his great-grandchildren include Kermit Roosevelt III, John Palfrey and Quentin Palfrey.

Death

Willard died in Manhattan, New York, on April 4, 1924. His remains were returned to Washington, D.C.,^{[citation needed]} for burial at Oak Hill cemetery.^[2]

Sources

• Willard Family Papers, Library of Congress

This page was last edited on 24 July 2023, at 23:55