He made significant contributions to the study of North American lichens and was a prominent figure in local journalism during the late 19th century.
After working as a school teacher in Mattapoisett, he became the editor of the New Bedford, Massachusetts newspaper The Standard in 1856, a position he held until 1900.
[2][1] Willey began studying lichens around 1862, encouraged by leading American lichenologist Edward Tuckerman.
He maintained the belief that the green or blue-green cells were integral parts of the lichen, similar to chloroplasts in higher plants.
His work appears in publications by other researchers, including Joseph Charles Arthur, Liberty Hyde Bailey, and Edward Willet Dorland Holway, among others.