#52 Ancestors Week 27 - "Independence"

Late with post #27 because I've been celebrating Canada's Birthday and American Independence Day. Woo hoo!😊 This week I have been finding out more about the Willards. They are a family with a long and proud American heritage, and I was unaware of my connection. I recently discovered the Willard Family Association, who helped me verify which line my ancestors belonged to. The Willards were amongst the first European Americans, 10th great grandfather Simon Willard making the voyage from Kent, England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634/1635. His descendants formed the Major Simon Willard Association in 1908 to "perpetuate historical information of our Family". In 1958 the Willard Family Association was formed to include the two other immigrant Willard siblings and their kin as well. Currently the "WFA" has evolved to include anyone bearing the surname Willard and their descendants. They're a very well organized and helpful group! They even offer up five student scholarships to any graduating high school senior who is a US citizen. If your family tree includes the surname Willard, definitely make a connection with them.

The first person to pique my interest about the Willard surname was my paternal 3rd great grandmother whose name was Eunice Willard (Treleaven). She impressed me because she and her husband pulled up stakes and moved from Amherst Island, Canada to Cypress, North Dakota at the age of 68 in 1892. Not for the faint of heart. This is a photo of her and her daughter Alvina Loretta Treleaven on January 1, 1904. She would pass away 9 months later on Sept. 10, 1904 at 80 years of age. She was the first female Willard in my line going all the way back to the first immigrant Simon Willard. She married into a huge family of immigrants from Cornwall, UK. They settled in Canada. I guess this is how the link to the Willards got lost in my family.

The Willard Family Association has so much information detailing the lives of their ancestors I keep getting side tracked by fascinating people and stories. In the interest of getting this post published I want to give a salute to Major Simon Willard, my 10th great grandfather. I'm thankful for his independent spirit in crossing the ocean with his two siblings, Margery Willard Davis and her husband, and his younger brother George. As I learn more about this tree branch, I'll better focus on individual members. It's another one of those "How could I not have known this!" moments, a lot to take in. A link to some of his progeny here, from women's suffragette Frances Willard to actress Carole Lombard, spans the American experience. The Library of Congress archived "Simon Willard's Life in Concord (link) His name is etched on Endicott Rock, as he was one of the Commissioners of The Massachusetts Bay Colony. One of my favourite plaque dedications to him was erected by the town of Concord in 1935. It's located at the Willard Common in Nashatuc, Concord, Mass.:

FARM OF SIMON WILLARD

FOREMOST IN THE SETTLEMENT
OF THIS TOWN IN 1635
HERE HE DWELT FOR
TWENTY THREE YEARS
SERVANT OF TOWN COUNTY AND COLONY
TRUSTED BY THE INDIANS
MILITARY COMMANDER JUDGE
LEGISLATOR WISE COUNSELOR
BORN 1605 DIED 1676
ERECTED BY THE TOWN IN 1935

So much to discover still. Big thanks to Chuck Willard, Director and Membership Chair for the Willard Family Association. Their website with membership info link is here:

                       https://www.willardfamilyassn.org/