Albert Shelby Willis was a United States Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and a Minister to Hawaii

United States Minister to Hawaii

The Minister to Hawaii was an office of the United States Department of State to the Kingdom of Hawaii during the period of 1810 to 1898. Appointed by the President of the United States with the consent of Congress, the Minister to Hawaii was equivalent in rank to the present-day ambassador of the...

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Life

Born in Shelbyville, Kentucky

Shelbyville, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,085 people, 3,822 households, and 2,549 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,333.5 people per square mile . There were 4,117 housing units at an average density of 544.4 per square mile...

, Willis attended the common school

Common school

A common school was a public school in the United States or Canada in the nineteenth century. The term 'common school' was coined by Horace Mann, and refers to the fact that they were meant to serve individuals of all social classes and religions....

s, and graduated from the Louisville Male High School

Louisville Male High School

Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District....

 in 1860. He taught school for four years before graduating from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1866. He was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 and commenced the practice of law in Louisville. He served as prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...

 from 1874 to 1877.

Willis was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 to the Forty-fifth

45th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:-Senate:*President: William A. Wheeler *President pro tempore: Thomas W. Ferry -House of Representatives:*Speaker: Samuel J. Randall -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

 and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1887). He served as chairman of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors

United States House Committee on Rivers and Harbors

The House Committee on Rivers and Harbors was a U.S. House committee from 1883 until 1946. It was authorized early in the 48th Congress in December 1883, when the committee was given jurisdiction over subjects relating to the improvements of rivers and harbors; it also had the responsibility of...

 during the Forty-eighth

48th United States Congress

The Forty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883 to March 4, 1885, during the last two years...

 and Forty-ninth

49th United States Congress

The Forty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1885 to March 4, 1887, during the first two years...

 Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1886.

He resumed the practice of law before being appointed Minister to Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 by President Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

 in 1893. Willis was sent to Hawaii on a secret mission to meet with deposed Queen Liliuokalani and obtain a promise of amnesty for those involved in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii if Cleveland restored her to the throne. Originally unsuccessful in securing such a promise in November 1893, when the queen changed her mind on December 18, 1893, Willis demanded on behalf of Cleveland to dissolve the Provisional Government of Hawaii

Provisional Government of Hawaii

The Provisional Government of Hawaii abbreviated "P.G." was proclaimed on January 17, 1893 by the 13 member Committee of Safety under the leadership of Sanford B. Dole...

. Willis' mission was deemed a failure when Sanford B. Dole

Sanford B. Dole

Sanford Ballard Dole was a lawyer and jurist in the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory...

 sent a written reply declining the surrender of his authority to the deposed queen. President Cleveland then referred the matter to Congress, which commissioned the Morgan Report

Morgan Report

The Morgan Report was an 1894 report concluding an official U.S. Congressional investigation into the events surrounding the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, including the alleged role of U.S. military troops in the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani...

, which exonerated the U.S. minister and peacekeepers from taking any part in the Hawaiian Revolution. Following the Morgan Report, Cleveland reversed his stance, rebuffed the queen's further pleas for interference, and maintained normal diplomatic relations with both the Provisional Government and the Republic of Hawaii

Republic of Hawaii

The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...

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Willis served as Minister to Hawaii until his death in Honolulu on January 6, 1897. An elaborate state funeral was held for him in the [[ʻIolani Palace]] (temporarily renamed the Executive Building). He was interred in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

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