John Willis
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John Willis (1724 - 1750)

John Willis
Born in Gloucester, Virginiamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married Sep 1740 in Virginiamap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 25 in Orange, Orange, Virginiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 28 Aug 2012
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Biography

John Willis[1] was born on August 17, 1724, his father, the child of Henry Willis and Ann Alexander[2]. He married Elizabeth Madison, the sister of James Madison Sr. about 1742[3]. He died 5 Mar 1750 in Orange County, Virginia, and was buried in Orange County, Virginia.[3]

Interesting Story

Told by his brother Byrd Willis [2]

"He was sent, as was the fashion in those days, to school in Scotland, but though not deficient in genius, was a wild fellow, ran away, and my father's agent was o long time in catching him to send back to America."

"As he advanced in life he became very fat; he weighed at one time from three hundred and forty- five to four hundred and forty-four pounds, was a man of inexhaustible humor, full of anecdote and greatly beloved; everybody remembers Maj. Jack Willis, Poor fellow! He married an heiress and died insolvent. "

Sources

  1. pg. 207-208, Willis Family The William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 6, No. 4 (Apr., 1898), pp. 206-214 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1915875?seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents
  2. 2.0 2.1 p. 25-26 "A sketch of the Willis family of Virginia, and of their kindred in other states. With brief biographies of the Reades, Warners, Lewises, Byrds, Carters, Champs, Bassetts, Madisons, Daingerfields, Thorntons, Burrells, Taliaferros, Tayloes, Smiths, and Amblers" by Willis, Byrd Charles, 1847-1912; Willis, Richard Henry, 1849- joint author, Published 1898 https://archive.org/stream/sketchofwillisfa00will/sketchofwillisfa00will_djvu.txt
  3. 3.0 3.1 pg. 16 Descendants of Ambrose Madison, the Grandfather of President James Madison, Jr. by C. Thomas Chapman;The Montpelier Foundation http://www.jamesmadisonfamily.com/docs/AmbroseMadison.pdf
  • WikiTree profile Willis-1662 created through the import of Arnott-Sawer.ged on Jan 13, 2013 by Flo Sawer




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:

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Comments: 2

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"John Willis was born on August 17, 1724, probably at the ancestral Willis home of White Hall in Gloucester County, and grew up in the Fredericksburg area "

WHO WAS BURIED IN JAMES MADISON’S GRAVE? A study in contextual analysis pg. 98 http://www.jamesmadisonfamily.com/docs/MadisonsGrave.pdf C. Thomas Chapman The Montpelier Foundation 540-672-2728 x162 [email address removed]

posted by Elisa Mayfield
"Col. Henry Willis was one of the justices of Spotsylvania County who presided over the Ambrose Madison murder trial and later was the clerk for the Orange County court when it was formed in 1734 (Castillo 1996:17; Dorman 1961b:1). He was also the founder of the town of Fredericksburg in Spotsylvania County and described in 1732 by Col. William Byrd as the “top man of the place” (Scott 1974[1907]:96). Even when acting as the court clerk for Orange County between 1734 and his death on September 14, 1740 he resided at his home Willis Hill which overlooked the town of Fredericksburg (Barnes and Barnes 1982:511). His son John Willis was born on August 17, 1724, probably at the ancestral Willis home of White Hall in Gloucester County, and grew up in the Fredericksburg area "
posted by Elisa Mayfield

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