Hiram was born on May 5, 1818, to Eathan Allen Willey and Mary Brockway in East Haddam, Connecticut.

His ancestors moved to Connecticut in 1645 and his grandfather Abraham Willey was a captain in the Revolutionary War.

After passing the bar in 1841,[2] he would be involved in numerous political and legal positions throughout Connecticut.

He became State's Attorney; was a member of the Legislature and State Senate; Mayor of New London; Judge of Probate Court and of the Court of Common Pleas;[3] returned to Hadlyme to reside in 1875; was lay reader in the P.E.

Church of Hadlyme, member of F.& A.M.; First Grand Commander of the Encampment in New London.