Levi B. Vilas was born in Sterling, Vermont, on February 25, 1811, and was admitted to the Vermont Bar in 1833. He established a successful legal practice and political career before moving to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1851, where helped fund a new hotel in 1853; he later bought out the other owners, renaming it the Vilas House. Vilas served as the first president of the Dane County Bank in 1854; Wisconsin state senator in 1855, 1868, and 1873; mayor of Madison from 1861-1862; draft commissioner in 1862; Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 1865; and speaker of the assembly in 1873. In 1837, he married Esther G. Smilie of Cambridge, Vermont; they had least five children: Henry, William Freeman, Levi, Charles, and Edward. Levi B. Vilas died on February 6, 1879.
William Freeman Vilas served in the 23rd Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. He later became Postmaster General and Secretary of the Interior (1885-1889) and served as a United States senator (1891-1897).
From the guide to the Levi B. Vilas collection, Vilas, Levi B. collection, 1851-1872, 1851-1861, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
