Willard Ives
In 1846, he became president of the Jefferson County Agricultural Society. In 1848, his friends nominated him to be a member of the United States Congress. Ives was elected in the 32nd United States Congress on March 4, 1851 as a Democrat, and his term ended on March 3, 1853. He was one of the founders of Syracuse University, and he was a member of the board of directors from 1870 to 1886. In 1873, a school in Antwerp, New York was about to go bankrupt and needed $30,000, about $ in  because of inflation, and Ives gave them $8,000, about  in . The school was renamed to Ives Seminary on April 21, 1874 to thank him.