Person talk:Henry Willis (10)

[27 April 2024]

YDNA

The lawsuit "Barksdale Snyder vs Heirs of Henry Willis", lists the twelve children of Henry Willis and Mary Cochran. Sons include John, Daniel, George, Lewis, Samuel, and Henry Willis Jr. Descendants of Samuel Willis and Henry Willis Jr. both have submitted YDNA to Family Tree DNA. YDNA testing has verified Henry Jr. and Samuel Willis are brothers.

Henry Willis was not sued by Mr. Perkins, he was sued by Barksdale Snyder. Many people are confused when they list the lawsuit only named three sons. An advertisement in the " Western Monitor" was searching for the missing heirs John, George, and Daniel Willis. The actual lawsuit names all twelve children. One page from this lawsuit is on ancestry.com and the DAR has a copy of this documentation.

More information about the early life of Henry and Mary Cochran Willis is provided in Lewis Preston Summer's book "Annals of Southwest Virginia" and Gordon Aronhime's newspaper articles in the Bristol Herald, Washington Co., VA.

Two other lawsuits, one from Augusta Co., VA, and the other from Greene Co., NC (Now TN), provide documentation that Henry Willis of Washington Co., VA is the same man living in Pulaski Co, KY.

Please check the Willis Project on Family Tree DNA. The descendants of Lewis Willis and Mary Champe have submitted YDNA. They are not a match to the family of Henry and Mary Cochran Willis of Washington Co., VA, and Pulaski Co., KY.

Henry Willis is believed to be the son of John Willis. More than likely John Willis was born out of wedlock. YDNA suggests Henry Willis descends from Daniel Burford of King Williams County Virginia. If interested please contact the Burford Project manager of Family Tree DNA, not Burwell. Multiple Willis male descendants have taken the Big Y700 Test all verifying the descendants of Henry & Mary Cochran Willis descend from Daniel Burford.

'Henry Willis was not sued by Mr. Perkins, he was sued by Barksdale Snyder'.

Thank you for the correction

Two other lawsuits, one from Augusta Co., VA and the other from Greene Co., NC (Now TN), provide documentation the Henry Willis of Washington Co., VA is the same man living in Pulaski Co, KY.

Sources needed.

The Willis Project on Family Tree DNA. The descendants of Lewis Willis and Mary Champe have submitted YDNA. They are not a match to the family of Henry and Mary Cochran Willis of Washington Co., VA and Pulaski Co., KY.

There are two branches of the family to which Lewis Willis belonged. Lewis is in the Fredericksburg Va. branch. The other branch is in the Gloucester County Branch. YDNA results for Henry Willis "jr" and Samuel show that they match Descendants of the Burwell Family of Gloucester VA. The Burwells and the Willis of Gloucester (as well as the Fredericksburg Willis, were members of the plantation aristocracy with family connections to the Carters (as in King Carter)and Washington (as in George). The fact that a connection to the Lewis Willis of Fredericks burg line is sometimes made for Henry "Jr".. It is not at all implausible, though clearly the YDNA trace does not come through the Willis line, but the Burwell's. There were several marriages between member of the Gloucester Point Willis Branch and the Burwells. It would not be surprizing to find that a Willis daughter had a child by a Burwell. Possibly the couple were married but the child ended up using the Willis surname for reasons of their own (haven't seen evidence for that) or possibly it was an illegitimate relationship (no direct evidence for that either, but more likely in y opinion).

Lewis Willis and Mary Champ did have a son Henry born about 1760. Not sure how solid the YOB is, but if accurate then he cannot be Henry Willis of Pulaski County who we know was an adult abut 1771. However, that Henry could, at least in theory be the Henry Willis "jr". though YDNA evidence seems to disprove that possibility. A point of interest here is that the Henry Willis son of Lewis Willis pretty much disappears from the record, as told by his half brother Byrd Willis (Willis and Willis, 1898:44) A sketch of the Willis family of Virginia: and of their kindred, available at Ancestry. Byrd does related that his half brother travelled through the south, and it is not implausible that he settled in SC. Whether that can be proven I don't know. But if true it would make more plausible Henry's War of 1812 statement that he came from South Carolina. .

While this information is appreciated It is unfortunate that more specific source addresses were not provided in this comment. Specifically

'One page from this lawsuit is on ancestry.com and the DAR has a copy of this documentation.

an explicti source is needed for this information to be useful.

Descendants of Samuel Willis and Henry Willis Jr both have submitted YDNA to Family Tree DNA. YDNA testing has verified Henry Jr and Samuel Willis are brothers.

Unfortunately that this does not establish that Henry Willis of Pulaski County was their father. The War of 1812 Pension application for Henry Willis "Jr" tells us that he came to Pulaski County from South Carolina. His 2nd wife's application, is supported by testimony from a friend of Hery "jr" supports that statement. This is inconsistent with the life history of Henry of Pulaski County as we pretty much know that he came to Pulaski County from Greene County TN, not SC. There is a gap in his paper trail from about 1793 to 1799 and it's conceivable that he didn't come from Greene County TN directly to Pulaski County. It's conceivable that he passed through somewhere in SC first. Is there evidence for that? I've seen little that would support that possibility but it's possible Some believe the he went from Greene County to Rutherford County NC first. Rutherford is on the SC Border, and I've been told that at one time its borders extended south into what is now SC. Nonetheless I've seen nothing that makes me confident that this the explanation.

Q 15:05, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

There are two branches of the family to which Lewis Willis belonged. Lewis is in the Fredericksburg Va. branch. The other branch is in the Gloucester County Branch. YDNA results for Henry Willis "jr" and Samuel show that they match Descendants of the Burwell Family of Gloucester VA. The Burwells and the Willis of Gloucester (as well as the Fredericksburg Willis, were members of the plantation aristocracy with family connections to the Carters (as in King Carter)and Washington (as in George). The fact that a connection to the Lewis Willis of Fredericks burg line is sometimes made for Henry "Jr".. It is not at all implausible, though clearly the YDNA trace does not come through the Willis line, but the Burwell's. There were several marriages between member of the Gloucester Point Willis Branch and the Burwells. It would not be surprizing to find that a Willis daughter had a child by a Burwell. Possibly the couple were married but the child ended up using the Willis surname for reasons of their own (haven't seen evidence for that) or possibly it was an illegitimate relationship (no direct evidence for that either, but more likely in y opinion).

You need to get your facts right! Descendants of Henry Willis of Washington Co., VA and Pulaski Co., KY are descendants of Daniel Burford of King William Co., VA, not Burwell family. Multiple Willis male descendants have taken the Big Y 700 Test and are a close match to the sons of Daniel Burford. YDNA does not lie!

To suggest Henry Willis of Washington Co., VA and Pulaski Co., KY is related to the Willis Family of Gloucester County Branch is irresponsible reporting!--Jacie9 08:17, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

Search for Heirs of Henry Willis [8 September 2023]

The western monitor. [volume] : (Lexington [Ky.]) 1814-1825 Place of publication: Lexington [Ky.] Geographic coverage: Lexington, Fayette, Kentucky Publisher: Fishback & Sleight Dates of publication: 1814-1825 Description: Ceased in Apr. 1825. Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 3, 1814)-

A small clipping from this newspaper was attached to "Barksdale Snider vs Henry Willis" lawsuit. The volume and publishing date was not listed.--Jacie9 14:23, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

Yes,and that pension application also says that he came from SC, a point verified in the pension aplicationof his wife, as testified by his long time friend Daniel Hunt That is at complete odds with the known history of Henry of Pulaski County. This is a discrepancy that needs to be resolved before it can be accepted that Henry of Pulaski was the father of Henry "jr". Seeng the lawsuit with all of the information it is said to contain, is also needed. Pointing to "somewhere on Ancestry" or "somewhere in the DAR records" is not useful.

Q 15:15, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

YDNA Evidence [8 September 2023]

Descendants of Samuel Willis and Henry Willis Jr. both have submitted YDNA to Family Tree DNA. YDNA testing has verified Henry Jr and Samuel Willis are brothers. " Barksdale Snider vs Henry Willis" lawsuit verifies the twelve children of Henry Willis and Mary Cochran. It also verifies Levina "Viney" Willis wife of William Clark, Henry Willis Jr. and Samuel Willis, plus others as heirs. The 1812 Pension Application of Henry Willis Jr lists Henry Willis Jr as having lived with William Clark for a period of one year. Additional information is provided in Pulaski Co., KY Order Book 5, Pages 117 -119, a summary of "Barksdale Snider vs Henry Willis Heirs", listing the twelve children of Henry Willis and some of their spouses.--Jacie9 15:09, 8 September 2023 (UTC)