William Freeman Vilas
Union Army officer and politician
Died when: 68 years 50 days (817 months)Star Sign: Cancer
William Freeman Vilas (July 9, 1840 – August 27, 1908) was an American lawyer, politician, and United States Senator.In the U.S.Senate, he represented the state of Wisconsin for one term, from 1891 to 1897.
As a prominent Bourbon Democrat, he was also a member of the cabinet of U.S.President Grover Cleveland, serving as the 33rd Postmaster General and the 17th Secretary of the Interior.
He was a major donor to the University of Wisconsin, leaving $30,000,000 to the school at his death in 1908—equivalent to nearly a billion dollars adjusted for inflation to 2022.
He is the namesake of Vilas Hall on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, as well as Vilas County, Wisconsin, and the towns of Vilas, Colorado, and Vilas, South Dakota.
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Union Army officer and politician
Union Army officer and politician
Union Army officer and politician
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