Hitt, Willis M.

Born: 1829-XX-XX Maryland

Died: 1903-04-30 Chicago, Illinois

Flourished: La Salle County, Illinois

Willis M. Hitt was a notary public and land agent. He grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, but relocated to Illinois as a young man. In January 1857, the Illinois General Assembly appointed him a notary public for La Salle County, Illinois. In September 1856, he married Lida C. Shotwell, with whom he eventually had at least six children. By 1860, he was working as a land agent and owned $15,000 in real estate and another $6,000 in personal property. He continued working as a land agent at La Salle, Illinois during the Civil War.

Origin, Growth, and Usefulness of the Chicago Board of Trade (New York: Historical, 1885), 253; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, La Salle County, 3 September 1856, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Senate Journal. 1857. 20th G. A., 53; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 13 January 1857, 2:4; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), La Salle, La Salle County, IL, 59; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Ward 5, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 227; U.S. Census Office, Tenth Census of the United States (1880), Chicago, Cook County, IL, 24; Illinois Statewide Death Index, Cook County, 30 April 1903, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL.