Willard Erastus Willard Case

Representing the third generation of Cases living in Auburn, Willard Case inherited a love of the sciences from his primarily business minded father. At first applying himself to become a lawyer at Hamilton College, Willard became especially enamored with the heart of a new industrial and scientific wave: electricity.

Willard developed many theories regarding electricity, and he even demonstrated the storing of electricity through the development of his own batteries and various other ways to produce electricity. At the family vacation home, Casowasco, Willard even constructed a private hydroelectric dam to power the property. It was the second dam ever built in Cayuga County.

In 1904, in honor of his parents, Willard Case funded the construction of the building that currently houses Auburn’s Seymour Library: the Case Memorial Building. With his son Theodore in turn adopting a love of scientific research, the two constructed laboratories in the basements of their family homes. When Willard inherited the Willard Mansion (the namesake being Sylvester Willard, his uncle), he and Ted transformed one of the greenhouses into the Case Research Laboratory. As Ted came into his own in maintaining the Lab’s research work, Willard proudly encouraged his son’s progress as father and son worked together in various experiments and financing for the space was completely covered by the family wealth.