A benefactor and patron from Woodstock, Vermont and UVM alumnus, class of 1844, Billings was a statesman, lawyer and President of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He worked with President Matthew Buckham to aid financially in securing the extensive (12,000 volumes) private library of George Perkins Marsh for the University and underwrote the cost of the Billings Library designed by renowned architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, 1883-85.

See also the Bronze portrait bust by U. Okuma, 1895. Robert Hull Fleming Museum.