WILLARD, OLIVER (1802-1882)

WILLARD, OLIVER, tanner and currier, inventor, and businessman; b. at or near Farmington, Me, 1802; m. 1835, Sarah Ann Patten, a native of Nova Scotia residing at Kouchibouguac, N.B.; d. Newcastle, 12 Aug 1882.

Oliver Willard was one of a number of residents of Maine to migrate to Newcastle in the early 1820s. In 1830 he and his brother Asa Willard entered into partnership as A. & O. Willard, tanners and curriers. The business was dissolved in 1836, and in 1839 Willard was joined by Hiram Fish in Willard & Fish. The second partnership lasted until 1844, when Fish withdrew to continue in the tanning business on his own.

In 1852 Willard was advertising Willard's Butter Machine, a churn of his invention which was endorsed by Alexander Goodfellow and others. Later he engaged broadly in trade and was the holder of mortgages on properties at various locations in the county. The family was among Newcastle's most affluent, having two domestic servants and a general laborer in their service in 1861.

Willard and his wife, Sarah Ann Patten, had four children. Their son William P. Willard migrated to California at an early age and became president of a mining company. Their son George A. Willard, after being in business for a short time with Robert R. Call, also went to California, where he was head of a real estate and insurance firm. Their daughters S. Jane Willard and Anne E. Willard were the wives of Edward Sinclair and Charles E. Fish respectively.