Willard (Solomon) is born in Grafton.

Solomon Willard arrives in Boston in 1780, settles in Roxbury, and becomes a carpenter, carver, sculptor and engineer. Willard trains as an architect under Asher Benjamin. He and his brothers Aaron, Benjamin, and Ephraim soon become the foremost clockmakers in the country and produce the first “banjo” clock built in the U.S. Willard dies in Roxbury on August 30, 1848.