Willet Titus was born in 1827 and lived until 1911. In 1858 he married Phebe Witson who was born in 1841 and died in 1910. Willett Titus had been in the sheet metal and stove business since at least as early as 1850 as he advertised in the Roslyn Plaindealer during 1850, the paper's first year. His advertisement in the July 12th issue indicates he had a warehouse at Mott & Kirby's Dock (beneath the present overpass on the east side of Hempstead Harbor) and that the public were "respectfully invited to examine a select assortment of tin and japanned wares". He also offered "a complete assortment of stoves, both parlor and cooking". In addition, he offered that "rags , old iron, copper, brass, pewter, etc." were all accepted in exchange.

Neither his house nor his warehouse are indicated on the Walling Map (1859), which suggests that the warehouse at Mott & Kirby's Dock was rented. The Beers-Comstock Map (1873) shows both the house and his store, at the corner of Old Northern Boulevard and Skillman Street, on the site of the former Sixth Precinct, Nassau County Police, which was built in 1940.

1865 receipt from Willet Titus

The Willet Titus House and Store (circa 1890)

Circa 1900

Liberty Loan Parade (April 14, 1918)

Current view of the site of the Willet Titus Store