Diedrich Willers, Jr.

Diedrich Willers Jr. (November 3, 1833 – June 25, 1908) was a Democratic politician from Varick, New York who served as Secretary of State of New York. Born to a working class German immigrant family, his political fortune was a notable example of the effect of civil service reform.

Born in rural Varick, New York, he was the sixth of eight children of Reverend Diedrich Willers D.D. (1798–1883), an immigrant from Bremen, Germany. His father fought in the Hanoverian army in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland in 1819, and began preaching to various Seneca County, New York congregations in 1821, and was also notable as a critic of Mormonism. His mother was born in New Holland, Pennsylvania of Pennsylvania Dutch stock.

Willers' early life was one of toil; he divided his time between working on the family farm in the summers and attending district school in the winter. With the exception of two terms at the Seneca Falls Academy, he had no schooling other than district school. He began teaching at the district school at age 16, and at age 22 entered the printing business, but was forced to abandon that pursuit due to ill health.

He was destined by his father for the ministry, but took an early interest in politics. Having managed to obtain at intervals a law degree from Albany Law School, he was admitted to the bar, but never actively practiced as an attorney. By the age of 21, Willers was a Hard-Shell Democrat, supporting the election of Greene C. Bronson for governor in 1854. He was appointed to a clerkship in New York Secretary of State Gideon J. Tucker's office in 1857, and held this position during the succeeding terms of David R. Floyd-Jones and Horatio Ballard until 1863, when Governor Horatio Seymour appointed him as his personal secretary.

...
Wikipedia