Career
At the time he was a major in the English army. He represented it in the Massachusetts General Court from 1636 to 1654, and was assistant and councillor from 1654 to 1676. He moved to Lancaster in 1660, and in 1672 moved to Groton.
On the dispersion of the inhabitants of Groton by King Philip"s War (1676), in which he served as major of militia, he settled in Salem.
During the war, at 70 years of age, he was the Chief Military Officer of Middlesex County, Massachusetts and repelled a Nipmuc force that had laid siege to Brookfield. He became a magistrate, and died at an age of 71 years, on 24 April 1676, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, while holding court there.
He was one of the thirteen heads of families in Concord that signed Reverend Peter Bulkeley"s 1643 petition to Governor John Endecott in support of Ambrose Martin. Around 1692 he used his influence to publicly condemn the Witch Trials at Salem, and was considered important in swaying public opinion to end them.
One of Simon Willard"s descendants was the celebrated United States. clockmaker Simon Willard.
The Willard Elementary School in Concord, Master of Arts is named after Simon Willard.
