Major Westel Willoughby, 137th Regiment, New York State Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1863
Image courtesy U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center

Born in 1830 in Groton, New York
Died December 21, 1897 in Washington, D.C.

Appointed June 12, 1869 by the commander of the First Military District overseeing civilian government in Virginia during Reconstruction and began his service on
June 22, 1869. Service terminated by the restoration of civilian rule in Virginia on January 26, 1870 and resolution of the General Assembly, approved by Governor Gilbert Walker on February 25, 1870.

Education:
Hamilton College, A.B., 1854

Other judicial service:
Judge, Ninth Judicial Circuit, March 22, 1869 – June 12, 1869

Professional career:
Commonwealth’s attorney, Alexandria County (later Arlington), 1864-1869
1871, Republican candidate for state senate
1881, Republican nominee for Attorney General of Virginia
Private practice of law in Alexandria (1870-circa 1887) and Washington, D.C. (circa 1887-1897)
President, Virginia Peat Company, 1870-
Director, East Fairmont Gas, Coal and Coke Company of West Virginia, 1876-

Military service:
Civil War (Union)

 Sources:
J.J. Looney and Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Westel Willoughby (1830-1897), published January 13, 2017, retrieved January 25, 2017; Death of Judge Willoughby, Alexandria Gazette, December 23, 1897, retrieved on March 13, 2014, and Anthony J. Gaughan, The Last Battle of the Civil War: United States vs. Lee (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2011), 65; email from Katherine Collett, Archivist, Hamilton College Archives, January 30, 2017.