Willis Wendell (September 2, 1858 – January 25, 1928) was an American manufacturer and politician from New York.

Life

Wendell was born on September 2, 1858 in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The City of Amsterdam is surrounded on the northern, eastern ...

. He was the son of Harmon Wendell, a drug store proprietor and knit goods manufacturer in Amsterdam, and Almira M. Mosher. After attending Amsterdam Academy, Wendell spent the next two years in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, where he worked for a grain commission house. He then returned to Amsterdam to take charge of his father's business, and after the latter's death in 1880 he sold the business. He mainly conducted a wholesale chemical, oil, and dyestuff business, and in 1887 he began building warehouses for storing raw materials and manufactured products. By 1925, he owned five large warehouses and was the vice president of the American Broom & Brush Company, the Atlas Knitting Company, and the Amsterdam City National Bank. He was also president of the Amsterdam Automatic Telephone Company and trustee of Empire Steam Laundry Company. In 1924, Wendell was elected to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, representing

New York's 39th State Senate district New York's 39th State Senate district is one of 63 districts in the New York State Senate. It has been represented by Democrat James Skoufis, Republican William Larkin, and is currently represented by Robert Rolison. Geography District 39 is l ...

(

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, Otsego, Montgomery, and Schoharie Counties). He served in the Senate in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

and 1926. In 1884, Wendell married Elizabeth Herrick of Amsterdam. They had two sons, Henry and Willis Jr. He was an original trustee of the Montgomery County Historical Society and a trustee of the Green Hill Cemetery Association. He was a member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, the Knights of Pythias, the

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

, and the Holland Society. Wendell died at home after a long illness on January 25, 1928. He was buried in Green Hill Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
Willis Wendell
at ''

Find a Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wendell, Willis 1858 births 1928 deaths People from Amsterdam, New York Businesspeople from New York (state) 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople American industrialists 20th-century American politicians Republican Party New York (state) state senators American Freemasons Burials in New York (state)