In 1839, he was appointed by the City Council to serve on Zanesville's first board of examiners for its education system.[4]
He lived in Georgia during the mid-1840s. Buell was among the original members of Atlanta's first Masonic lodge.[5] He was known for his skill in portrait painting, establishing a studio within Atlanta's first Masonic Hall in 1847.[6]
As a member of the Free and Rowdy Party, also known as the Rowdies, he served a single term as the third Mayor of Atlanta from January 1850 to January 1851, as stipulated by the city charter. Jonathan Norcross succeeded him as mayor.
Death
Willis Buell died in Atlanta, Georgia in November 1851.
^Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Ohio. (1837). United States: The State.
^Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Muskingum County, Ohio: Embracing an Authentic and Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the County and a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy Families and Individuals. (1892). United States: Goodspeed Publishing Company.