Willard was born in Wheelock, Vermont, on November 17, 1805. They lived in Churchville, near Rochester, New York, where their first son Oliver was born about 1834. A daughter, Caroline Elizabeth, died in 1838, and in 1839 came the birth of their daughter Frances Elizabeth Caroline.
A third daughter, Mary, was born about 1844.
He was the father of suffragist Francis East. Willard. He originally moved to Oberlin, Ohio, to be part of the ministry there. In 1846, Josiah became illinois
His doctor advised him to give up his theological studies and move to the open countryside.
They moved to a 360-acre farm on a river in Janesville, in the Wisconsin Territory some few miles north of the Illinois border. Willard was elected to the second session of the Wisconsin State Legislature, which convened January 10, 1849 and adjourned April 2 of that year, as one of five members from Rock County.
He was the only one from Janesville. In the next session, the only Rock County Assemblyman from Janesville was William Tompkins, a Whig.
He was a delegate to the "Union Democratic Party" (also called the "Free Soil Democrats") convention which convened in Madison, Wisconsin on September 7, 1849.
In 1849, Willard was elected the first Vice-President of the newly organized Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. In December 1851, Willard was elected president of the Rock County Agricultural Society. Willard was credited with getting the Wisconsin School for the Blind sited in Janesville, and was on its board of trustees from 1851-1857.
In 1853, Willard and his neighbor built what is now known as the Frances Willard Schoolhouse.
The schoolhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1857, he was one of the 14 Janesville notables who helped form the first board of trustees of The Mutual Life Insurance Company, later to become Northwestern Mutual Life.
He was elected Vice-President of the convention, and to the state central committee of that party.
