Biography of Frank W. Willis, page 440 / 441.  History of Northeast Indiana; 
LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Vol. II, under the editorial 
supervision of Ira Ford, Orville Stevens, William H. McEwen, and William H. 
McIntosh.  The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago and New York, 1920.

   Frank W. Willis, whose honorable career as soldier, journalist, business 
man, and public official, is familiar to the people of DeKalb County, and 
especially to those of Waterloo, of which town he was one of the foremost 
citizens, was born in Syracuse, New York, June 13, 1842, and died at his 
home in Waterloo, Indiana, May 19, 1913, at he age of seventy years, eleven 
months and six days. He was a son of Henry and Emerline (Hewitt) Willis, 
and came to this county in 1844 when his parents located on a tract of 
land in Richland Township, where they resided until 1864, at which time 
they removed to Waterloo, when the senior Mr. Willis was elected sheriff 
of DeKalb County. Frank W. Willis was reared on the farm belonging to his 
father and attended the common schools.  In addition to this he attended 
the schools of Auburn and Waterloo, and also spent some time at the Orland 
Seminary. At the age of eighteen years he offered his services to the 
United States at the of the Civil war outbreak and enlisted as a member of 
company K, Forty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving his country 
for over three years.  During these years of service he spent the best 
part of his life for this country and engaged in the battles of Shiloh, 
Chickamauga, Stone’s River and other important engagements, and was 
wounded three different times, but was always ready to do his duty as a 
soldier.
  After his discharge Mr. Willis, was appointed assistant assessor and 
deputy collector of the tenth congressional district, by William Pitt 
Fessender, secretary of the treasury under President Johnson.  For four 
years he discharged his duties in this capacity with the full satisfaction 
of his superiors.  Soon after the war he commenced to practice before the 
Department of the Interior, and as a claim agent secured many pensions for 
older soldiers and their widows.   He was well known among the soldiers of 
the county and elsewhere, and had many comrades who thought of him during 
his illness and were kind to him.  After his return from the army he was 
stricken with violent illness and at times suffered greatly, due to his 
exposure in the service for this country.  At times regaining his health, 
he thought that he would become stronger, and for a number of year was much 
improved, but after the fire of 1896 he again lost his health, and from 
that date gradually failed, although he held on to life always with a 
tenacious grip, and his sturdy constitution gave him courage to live as 
long as he could, until he had passed the three score years and ten.  Many 
a time he seemed cheerful when he was suffering from severe pain.  He 
enjoyed his home and reared a large family.  On January 1, 1884, Mr. 
Willis formed a partnership with E.P. Dickinson, and the new firm bought 
out the Waterloo Press, then owned by C. K. Baxter.  For a number of years 
Mr. Willis had editorial charge of the paper and later bought out the 
interest of his partner and continued The Press, being in editorial charge 
until the time of his death.  In 1867 he purchased the book store of H, K, 
Davis and with C.K. Baxter, purchasing that of T.Y. Dickinson, the two 
then consolidated their business under the firm name of Baxter and Willis. 
In December, 1868, Henry Willis, father of the late deceased, purchased 
the interest in the book store of Mr. Baxter, and the firm was then known 
as Willis and Company, and remained so until 1896, when  in February of 
that year their business was destroyed by fire, including that of the 
Waterloo Press. It was at this time that Frank W. Willis and his son, 
Herbert C., formed a partnership and continued the publication of the 
Waterloo Press, and also succeeded the firm of Willis & Company in the 
book store and stationery business, Henry Willis then retiring from active 
business on account of his age. From the time of his entering the newspaper 
business Mr. Willis was actively identified with the general interests of 
the county and community, and always conducted an editorial column in the 
paper up to the time of his last illness.
   In the fall of 1894 he was elected to the state legislature as 
representative from this county, being elected by the largest majority 
ever accorded a republican in this county to that office.  After serving 
for two years, during which time he was foremost in the passage of good 
legislation, he retired from active politics, but was always active in the 
interests of his party until his health failed to such and extent that he 
could no longer take active part in the work.  However he was very forceful 
in his editorial writings, and was ardently enthusiastic in advocating his 
party principles as long as he believed them right.
   When a young man, Mr. Willis joined the Presbyterian church of Waterloo, 
and remained an active member up to the time of his death.  He was an elder 
in the church for nearly forty years and never missed attending services 
when he was at home and not detained by illness.  As a worker in the Sunday 
school, he was a teacher fifty years.  He also served as superintendent for 
many years, and took part in Sunday school conventions in the county, and, 
in earlier years, in the state conventions.
   Among the many beautiful tributes to the life, work and character of 
Mr. Willis was the following from John B. Stoll, the veteran journalist of 
South Bend and life-long friend of the deceased:  “He was what I considered 
the ideal country newspaper man---discreet, vigilant, intelligent, 
considerate, conscientious, patriotic, his death is a distinctive loss to 
the newspaper fraternity, as well as to the community, which for many years 
enjoyed the benefit of his inspiring example and his well directed efforts 
for civic righteousness and the moral uplift.  Though now numbered among 
the dead, his splendid record as a man, citizen and patriot will live long 
in the memory of those who prize nobility of purpose as cardinal virtues of 
man.”
   It is eminently fitting that there should be incorporated in this memoir 
the splendid tribute paid the deceased by his son and business associate.  
“In the passing away of the senior editor of this paper the community loses 
one of its oldest citizens, and a man who has been identified with public 
interest to a very large extent. As man he lived a life that stood for 
itself.  No comment is necessary to his character.  He was possessed with 
Christian character that stood foremost in his life. Since a young man he 
was interested in Sunday school and church work and was active up to the 
time of his last illness.  As a soldier, his active service stands as a 
tribute to his loyalty to his country. As a man for right he was always 
found unflinching for all that was good and honorable. As a business 
partner the writer has been actively associated with him for the past 
seventeen years, and during all that time has been in such close 
relationship that the knew him better than anyone else outside the 
immediate family circle. As a parent for over two score years, the writer 
knows that he has always been kind and loving and had a desire that his 
children should be trained in honorable paths, and that they should live 
such lives that they would be as ready to be called to their eternal homes 
as he was.  During the twenty-nine years that he has been at the editorial 
head  of this paper he has been honest in his editorial opinions, and while 
there have been many incidents that perhaps have been left uncovered in his 
editorial writings, his scope has been so general that it was made plain 
where he stood on all the important subjects of the day.  His writings 
have been widely copied, and no doubt he will be missed from among the 
journalists of the state.  All the yeas that he has been broken in health 
he has done his part in making life cheerful, not only to himself, but 
others as well.  The close association in business causes a grief on the 
part of the writer that but few can understand. It is hard to fight life’s 
battles, and it is hard to give them up.  He has fought for his life and 
was ready to give up at the call of the Master.  He was a good man and no 
one can dispute that he has been consistent in his life’s habits, and that 
he had the confidence of his friends, and those with whom he had done 
business.  The end came like a shock, and while it has been known for some 
time that he could not get well, yet while there was life there was hope, 
and at last that hope vanished.  There might be no more fitting tribute to 
be paid a father by a son than to say he has been a good father and one who 
has done all he could in rearing a family of nine children, all of whom 
today survive.
   On September 27, 1868, Mr. Willis was united in marriage with Josephine 
Dickinson, who was born in Auburn, Indiana, on May 17, 1850, the daughter 
of Timothy R. and Mary (Youngman) Dickinson, her father having been at one 
time one of most prominent attorneys in DeKalb County. During the Civil war 
he was drafting officers for this county, and thus filled a very difficult 
position, which inevitably aroused animosity and enmity among many, especially 
those southern sympathizers who then infested this locality and who assaulted 
him with stones, eggs and other missiles, so that at times it was necessary 
for him to guarded by his friends. He was even asked by a committee from 
his church to resign his membership because of his strong anti-slavery 
views, but he was fearless and upright, stood staunchly for freedom and 
the perpetuity of the national union.  Soon after the war he bought a tract 
of land north of Waterloo, and laid it out, naming it Waterloo cemetery and 
incorporating an association to own and control it.  There have been several 
additions to this cemetery, the last one being laid out by Frank W. Willis.  
Probably twice as many people have been buried there as comprise the present 
population of Waterloo.  For awhile Mr. Dickinson practiced law in Auburn, 
but eventually moved to Waterloo, where he lived during the remainder of 
his life.  Mrs. Willis, who lived at home until her marriage to Mr. Willis, 
had attended Oberlin College, and also had received some academic instruction. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Willis were born nine children, six sons and three daughters, 
namely: Herbert Clyde, who was his father’s business partner and associate 
for a number of years, and who is now editor and owner of the Waterloo 
Press; Mary Gertrude, wife of James P. Hornaday, newspaper correspondent 
at Washington, D.C.; Fred I., who is connected with the Central Rubber and 
Supply Company at Indianapolis; Raymond E. of Angola, Indiana, and part 
owner of the Steuben Republican; Edward D., also interested in the Steuben 
Republican; Dora E., wife of R.G. Dilts, of Angola; Frank B., engaged in 
the automobile business in Denver, Colorado; Josephine, who lives in 
Washington, D.C., employed in the War Risk Insurance Bureau; and William 
H., a resident of Indianapolis. These children all received a good 
education and have been reared to honorable manhood and womanhood, a 
credit alike to their community and an honor to their parents.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com