William Willis Jr. (1709 - 1794)

Born 1709 in Orange County, Virginia

Descendants

Died 1794 at about age 85 in Halifax County, Virginia, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Liz Shifflett [send private message]

Note: "Unsourced" because more sources than the bible transcription are needed (for example, the transcription does not give a birth year for this William, who is said to have been born in 1709 or 1711, while his son is said to have been born c1722/1725).

Biography

William Willis married Hannah Burnham.^[1]

Their son William married Susannah Toney.^[1]

Research Notes

Willis-1724: Removed the "Unmerged Match" with William Willis-1724, son of Andrew Willis and Jennett (Jones) Willis, brother of Andrew Willis II, Sarah Willis, Richard Willis [half], George Willis [half], John Willis [half], Thomas Willis and Thomas Willis [half] - which is sum total of info for that profile as of 3 March 2021 (no changes since unmerged match was set nearly a year ago, in April 2020). There is not enough information to determine whether or not the two profiles are duplicates. ~ Noland-165

"Jr." could well be because another, older person named William Willis was in the same area about the same time - not necessarily his father and could even be a different Willis family altogether.

Which William? While everyone (including a family bible) seems to agree that this William married Hannah Burnham (Jannah Burhan) and was the father of William, who married "Susna Toney",^[1] it may be that information from more than one William went into this profile, which is why most of his biography is here, under Research Notes.

For example, it is highly unlikely that this William was born 1711 and had a son born 1722 , and even with this William born 1709 & his son born 1725, it's still doubtful. Also, if his son is "of New York", as the transcription from the family bible says, we need to figure out how he got there (with parents, wife, and daughter all born in Virginia).

Finally, the profile for son William says (as of 13 April 2020) that he is the "grandson of William Willis and his cousin Sarah Willis, of Orange County, Virginia", which doesn't agree with the "Sarah Rozier" that had been attached as mother of this William. ~ Noland-165

Note: The profile Willis-2489 had only b 1709, mother Matilda Thornton. Other info from Willis-2529 (merged into Willis-2489 18 April 2020), which had no parents but was labeled "Jr" and had wife Hannah with child "William III". ~ Noland-165

Upon saving 18 April 2020, the following automated message was received:

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• A mother's death date (Thornton-1617 died 22 Jul 1693) should not be before one of her children's birth dates (Willis-2489 born 1709).

Their son John was of age in 1690/91; doubtful he would have had a brother born in 1709. A comment on the profile for father John Willis (Willis-4196#Research Notes) says: "Some sources site the name of this John's 1st wife as Sarah, and their children as John Jr and William. It is believed that Matilda is the mother of Charles."^[2] Thornton-1617 was detached as mother of William. This William is more likely son of William and Sarah (Willis) Willis (see next section).

Vitals

Son of William Willis (c1675-1717) and Sarah Willis, his cousin (married in 1709).^[3]

• William Willis who was Sarah Turberville's first husband died 1714.^[4] WikiTree has two profiles for William Willis attached as her husband: Willis-699 (1680-1775) & Willis-178 (1680-1716). Willis-699 has son William Willis, Jr. attached (born 1704).

Son of Sarah Turberville of Orange County (transcriptions of her will, written 18 June 1760 and "entered for probate on 28 May 1761", include son William Willis).^[5] Sarah's first husband was William Willis (a1674-1714).^[4]

• Sarah Rozier (Rozier-24)^[6]
• Sarah Tuberville (Rozier-6) - Rozier-24 merged into Rozier-6 on 25 Mary 2019.

Born

• in Orange County, Virginia^[6]
• in 1711^[6]
• in 1709^[3]

Jr.^[7]

Married: Hannah Burnham ("Jannah Burhan^[1])

Children: At least one, William, who married "Susna Toney"^[1]

• William III, born c1722

Died

• in Halifax County, Virginia^[6]
• in 1794^[6]

Locations

Most trees/descendants/sources agree that the William who married Hannah Burnham was born and died in Virginia:

• Orange County
  • Birth location^[8]
  • Sarah Rozier was of Orange County at the time of her will (1760).^[5]
• New Kent County
  • Possibly his son described himself as "of New Kent" and the "of New York" is a mistranscription.^[1] Or perhaps not: Hannah Burnham's profile as of 13 April 2020 has her death in Massachusetts.
  • The Toneys were of New Kent^[3] (son William married "Susna Toney").^[1]
  • Hannah Willis - wife of Moses Collins, daughter of William Willis (b c1725) and Susannah Toney^[3] - was born in New Kent County on 10 December 1754.^[9]
• Richmond County, Hanover Parish:
  • William Willis, Sarah Turberville's first husband, was born before 1674 in Hanover Parish, Richmond County and died 31 March 1714 in Westmoreland County, Virginia.^[4]
• King George County
  • "The landed estate of This Willis family in Richmond County [Sarah Turberville's first husband William Willis's family] fell into Hanover Parish, King George County, upon its formation in 1721."^[4]
• Halifax County
  • Death location^[8]
• Westmoreland County, Virginia
  • Death location of William Willis who died in 1714^[4] & who had been the first husband of Sarah, who married (4) Edward Turberville.^[5]

Timeline

• c1700: Probable birth year for this William, based on son's birth in 1725.
• 1709: Marriage of William Willis and his cousin Sarah Willis (who some say are the parents of this William).
• 1709-1711: Birth years given for this William.^{[citation needed]}
• 1714: Death of William Willis, first husband of Sarah Turberville.^[4]
• 1717: Death of William Willis, husband of Sarah Willis (his cousin).
• before 1725: Marriage to Hannah Burnham (based on birth year of son; marriage date not included in the transcription from the bible that names his wife/his son's wife).^[1]
• 1725: Birth of son William^[3] (who married Susna Toney).^[1]
• 1754: Birth of Hannah, daughter of William Willis (b 1725).^[10]
• 1760: Sarah Turberville wrote her will, naming a son William (according to transcriptions).^[5]
• 1774: Marriage of Hannah Willis and Moses Collins, in South Carolina.^[10]
• 1794: This William died.^{[citation needed]}

Descendants & Ancestors

According to information in John Renning Phillips' The Good Intent book (pages 456-458, 460 [459 not available]):^[3]

1. Sarah Collins (1787-1843)
2. Hannah Willis (1754-1833) and Moses Collins
3. William Willis (c1725-1760) and Susannah Toney (son of this William)
4. William Willis (p1709- ) and Hannah Burnham (this William)
5. William Willis (c1675-c1717) and Sarah Willis (cousins)
6. John Willis (c1648-c1715) and Matilda Thornton labelled as 8th Great-Grandparents ^[11]

....

Francis Willis (c1515- ) labelled as 12th Great-Grandparents

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} From son William's profile (12 April 2020), which cited a family bible:

   On page 1 of the Moses and Hannah Willis Collins bible is handwritten: "South Carolina, Winton County. I, William Willis of New York was married to Susna Toney but now she is called William Willis wife, Susna Willis, Jannah Burhan was my mother's name.

2. ↑ See the profile for John Willis and the pdf of John's will, attached to his profile: Willis-4883.pdf (accessed 24 April 2020).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} John Renning Phillips. The Good Intent: The Story and Heritage of a Fresno Family (2007), page 336 Google Books, accessed 13 April 2020.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties. Entry for William Willis (accessed 13 April 2020).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties. Entry for Sarah {Hauxford} Rozier (accessed 13 April 2020).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} Information entered by Willis Wells through the import of Wells Family Tree-2.ged on Dec 13, 2013.
   • Source: Ancestry Family Trees (Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members): http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=61188132&pid=746
7. ↑ Added by Al Selph with the following Ancestry citations:
   • U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (2007)
   • Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (2004; Submitter Code: JLM).
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Profile datafields as of 13 April 2020: born in Orange County, died in Halifax County (source needed).
9. ↑ Phillips book, page 360.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} See Hannah's profile for more information.
11. ↑ A WikiTree profile exists for Matilda Thornton-1617, and is attached as wife of John Willis-4196 (of Richmond County, which I believe is a different family). Matilda has a profile attached as a son - Willis-2489 - William Willis, Jr. born 1709 - which was disconnected from John Willis-4196).

• Ancestry Family Trees (Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members): http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=61188132&pid=268 (source for Willis-2489).

Acknowledgments

The WikiTree profile for Willis-2489 was created by Willis Wells through the import of Wells Family Tree-2.ged on Dec 13, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Willis and others.

Adopted by Noland-165 12 April 2020 (new-to-me ancestor - 7x-gr-grand).