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Edwin Willits
From Volume 1 of 1890's History of Monroe County, Michigan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883
Preceded by	Henry Waldron
Succeeded by	Nathaniel B. Eldredge
Personal details
Born	(1830-04-24)April 24, 1830 Otto, New York, U.S.
Died	(1896-10-22)October 22, 1896 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jane Ingersoll

Edwin Willits (also Willets) (April 24, 1830 – October 22, 1896) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Willits served as prosecuting attorney of Monroe County, Republican from Michigan's 2nd congressional district for the 45th, 46th, and 47th Congresses. Presidents of Michigan State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) and the State Agricultural College (now Michigan State University). The first Assistant U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under Jeremiah McLain Rusk for Benjamin Harrison's administration.

Early life

Willits was born in Otto, New York and moved to Michigan with his parents in September 1836. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in June 1855. The following April he settled in Monroe, Michigan where he was editor of the Monroe Commercial from 1856 to 1861. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in December 1857 and commenced practice in Monroe. He married Jane Ingersoll in 1856 and was a Presbyterian.

Career

Willits served as prosecuting attorney of Monroe County from 1860 to 1862 and was a member of the State board of education from 1860 to 1872. He was appointed postmaster of Monroe on January 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln, and removed by President Andrew Johnson on October 15, 1866. He was a member of the commission to revise the Michigan Constitution in 1873.

In 1876, Willits was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 2nd congressional district to the 45th United States Congress and subsequently re-elected to the 46th, and 47th Congresses, serving from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1883. During the Forty-seventh Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1882.

Willits was principal of the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti from 1883 to 1885. He served as president of the State Agricultural College from 1885 to 1889 where he inaugurated the school's mechanical engineering program and secured state funding for its initial building. In Benjamin Harrison's administration, he served as the first Assistant U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under Jeremiah McLain Rusk from March 23, 1889 to December 31, 1893. In 1890 he established the policy that all research by the Department would be mission-oriented to a practical objective, and encouraged USDA employees to look beyond the seed and plant distribution program which had previously been the main activity of the Department. This reorientation led to the creation of additional divisions within the USDA during the 1890s.

Willits continued the practice of law in Washington, D.C., until his death there. He was interred in Woodland Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan.

References

• United States Congress. "Edwin Willits (id: W000564)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard
• Biographical Information Michigan State University Archives
• Willets, E. 1890. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, p. 59–73.
• Griesbach, R.J. 2013. 150 Years of Research at the United States Department of Agriculture: Plant Introduction and Breeding. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington, DC.

External links

• Works by or about Edwin Willits at the Internet Archive

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan
Territory Woodbridge Sibley Richard Wing Biddle Wing Lyon G. Jones At-large Crary J. Howard Kelley Staebler
1st district McClelland Buel Penniman D. Stuart W. Howard Cooper W. Howard Granger Beaman Waldron Field A. S. Williams Newberry Lord Maybury J. L. Chipman Griffin Corliss Lucking Denby Doremus Codd Clancy Sosnowski Clancy Sadowski Tenerowicz Sadowski Machrowicz Nedzi Conyers Stupak Benishek Bergman 2nd district Lyon J. S. Chipman E. Bradley C. Stuart Sprague C. Stuart Noble Waldron Beaman Upson Stoughton Waldron Willits Eldredge Allen Gorman Spalding H. Smith Townsend Wedemeyer Beakes Bacon Beakes Michener Lehr Michener Meader Vivian Esch Pursell Hoekstra Huizenga Moolenaar 3rd district Hunt Bingham J. Conger Clark Walbridge Kellogg Longyear Blair Willard McGowan Lacey O'Donnell Burrows Milnes A. Todd Gardner J. Smith Frankhauser J. Smith A. B. Williams Hooper Kimball Main Shafer Johansen P. Todd G. Brown Wolpe Henry Ehlers Amash Meijer Scholten 4th district H. L. Stevens Peck Leach Trowbridge Kellogg Ferry Foster Burrows Potter Keightley Burrows Yaple Burrows Thomas Hamilton Ketcham Foulkes Hoffman Hutchinson Stockman Siljander Upton Camp Moolenaar Huizenga 5th district Baldwin Trowbridge O. Conger Foster W. Williams Stone Webber Houseman Comstock M. Ford Belknap M. Ford Belknap Richardson W. Smith Diekema Sweet Mapes Jonkman G. Ford Vander Veen Sawyer Henry Barcia D. E. Kildee D. T. Kildee Walberg 6th district Driggs Strickland Sutherland Begole Durand Brewer Spaulding Winans Brewer Stout Aitken S. Smith Kelley Hudson Person Cady Blackney Transue Blackney Clardy Hayworth Chamberlain Carr Dunn Carr Upton Dingell 7th district O. Conger Rich Carleton Whiting Snover Weeks McMorran Cramton Wolcott McIntosh O'Hara Mackie Riegle D. E. Kildee N. Smith Schwarz Walberg Schauer Walberg Slotkin Barrett (elect) 8th district N. Bradley Ellsworth Horr Tarsney Bliss Youmans Linton Brucker Fordney Vincent Hart Crawford Bentley Harvey Traxler Carr Chrysler Stabenow Rogers M. Bishop Slotkin Kildee McDonald Rivet (elect) 9th district Hubbell Cutcheon H. Wheeler Moon R. Bishop McLaughlin Harry W. Musselwhite Engel Thompson Griffin Vander Jagt D. E. Kildee Knollenberg Peters S. Levin A. Levin McClain 10th district Hatch Fisher F. Wheeler Weadock Crump Aplin Loud Woodruff Loud Currie Woodruff Cederberg Albosta Schuette Camp Bonior Miller Mitchell McClain J. James 11th district Breitung Moffatt Seymour Stephenson Avery Mesick Darragh Dodds Lindquist Scott Bohn P. Brown Luecke F. Bradley Potter Knox Clevenger Ruppe Davis Knollenberg McCotter Curson Bentivolio Trott H. Stevens 12th district Stephenson Shelden Young MacDonald W. F. James Hook Bennett Hook Bennett O'Hara Bonior Levin J. Dingell Jr. D. Dingell Tlaib 13th district Nichols McLeod Brennan McLeod O'Brien McLeod O'Brien Coffin O'Brien Diggs Crockett Collins W. Ford Rivers Kilpatrick Clarke Conyers B. Jones Tlaib Thanedar 14th district Weideman Rabaut Youngblood Rabaut Ryan Nedzi Hertel Conyers Peters Lawrence 15th district J. Dingell Sr. J. Dingell Jr. W. Ford Collins Kilpatrick J. Dingell Jr. 16th district Lesinski Sr. Lesinski Jr. J. Dingell Jr. 17th district Dondero Oakman Griffiths Brodhead Levin 18th district Dondero Broomfield Huber Blanchard Broomfield 19th district Farnum McDonald Broomfield

• 1830 births
• 1896 deaths
• Burials at Woodland Cemetery (Monroe, Michigan)
• University of Michigan alumni
• Eastern Michigan University faculty
• People from Monroe, Michigan
• Presidents of Michigan State University
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives