Willis,Daniel Hubbard and Julia Ann Graham Willis, Family of;
Rapides, Louisiana
Submitter of Org. File: Randy Willis
Submitter of Text File: Jo Branch
Date: 28 Jun 2004




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My late cousin, Ilie Willis Close (1907-1995),  wrote to me about the Old Willis Place:
 
"The home was a gathering place for all the family.  There was always food cooked for family and friends. There was lots of blackberries, huckleberries and fruit of all kinds for good pies.
 
The home was about a quarter of a mile from Barber's Creek,  known to be one of the coldest and clearest waters in the area.  Grandma  [Julia Ann Graham Willis] would walk down and swim sometimes twice a day. She said that was what had prolonged her life. All of the children and grandchildren loved to go swimming with her.
 
She was reared a Methodist but later joined the Baptist Church and was a devoted Christian.  She read the Bible daily.  We use to joke and say  'she didn't think there would be anyone but Baptist in Heaven.'  Her hobby was making quilts and she kept the family supplied with her hand work."
 
Tragedy
 
Daniel and Julia Ann were not immune from tragedy.  On a trip away from home in 1880,  Julia Ann told Daniel  "I feel something is wrong at home."  After returning, they found their eight year old son,  David Eugene,  deathly ill with appendicitis.  He soon died.  Julia Ann would later tell her grandchildren, that she vowed that if she every lost another child, she would never let herself grieve as she did for David Eugene.  The next year, 1881, her four month old baby, Stella,  died.  Many years later, on December 23, 1935, she lost another son,  Dr. Daniel Oscar Willis,  in an auto accident.   He was born three years after David Eugene.  Julia Ann would live only nine months after his death.
 
Daniel Hubbard Willis Jr.  died,  from kidney trouble,  at  his son, Dr. Daniel Oscar Willis' home near  Leesville, La., on  May 22, 1900.  Julia Ann Graham Willis died of old age on  September 28, 1936.  Both Daniel and Julia Ann  are buried at the Graham Cemetery near Forest Hill,  not far from their beloved Barber Creek.

Daniel Hubbard Willis Jr. and Julia Ann Graham Children:
 
1)    Henry Elwa Willis was born 6 OCT 1867. He died 18 JAN 1945 of  pneumonia. He was a farmer and cattleman. He is buried at the Paul Cemetery in Lecompte, La. He married Sarah F. Duplissey,  Dec., 1890. Henry Elwa Willis and Sarah F. Duplissey had the following children: Clarence I. Willis (b. Jan. 18, 1892;  d. Dec. 4, 1940), Viola Willis (b. Dec. 28, 1893; d. Dec. 14, 1973), Elbert K. Willis (b. Feb. 26, 1897;  d. Dec. 19, 1974),  Henry Willis (b. Mar.  30, 1899; d. Sept. 29, 1977), Mae Willis (b. May 1, 1902), Kit C. Willis (b. May 8, 1905), Bessie Willis (b. July 8, 1908), and Frank Willis (b. Dec. 2, 1915).
2)    Carvelia S. Willis was born 10 FEB 1869.  She died 31 MAR 1941 of  liver disease. She never married.  She is buried at the Graham Cemetery in Forest Hill, La. Her date of birth on her grave marker is incorrect by 10 years.
3)    Minnie R. Willis was born 7 MAY 1870. She died 18 SEP 1921. She married Charles H. Benedict. She is buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Pineville, La.  Minnie R. Willis Benedict and Charles H. Benedict children were: Arthur Charles Benedict (July 4, 1891; d. Jan. 21, 1969), and  Lester B. Benedict (d. April 26, 1899; d. May 10, 1918 of meningitis).
4)    David Eugene Willis was born 19 JAN 1872. He died 13 FEB 1880 of appendicitis at age eight. He is buried at the Graham Cemetery in Forest Hill, La.
5)    Corine Willis was born 27 SEP 1873. She died 6 OCT 1873 as a young baby.  She is buried at the Graham Cemetery in Forest Hill, La.
6)    Daniel Oscar Willis, MD was born 8 MAR 1875. He died 23 DEC 1935 from injuries sustained in an auto accident at LeBeau, La.  He died at the hospital in Bunkie, La.  He married his first wife Ella Elizabeth Lamberth (b. Jan. 16, 1871; died July 1, 1921) on Dec.  24, 1895. Daniel and Ella had three children: Murphy Daniel Willis (b. Nov. 13, 1897; d. Oct. 15, 1930 after suffering with Hodgkin's disease for 14 years), Horace Oscar Willis (b. Dec. 30, 1898; d. Sept. 22, 1936) and Pearl Willis (b. Oct.  24, 1900; d.  Apr. 20, 1988 in Baton Rouge, La.)  Pearl Willis was a music teacher for many years at LSU.  Daniel Oscar Willis then married his second wife Mary Hamilton in 1928. They had one child: Hamilton Barrow Willis (b. Nov. 25, 1931; d. Abt. 1990 in St. Francisville, La.).  Daniel Oscar Willis was buried on what would have been his and Ella's 40th. wedding anniversary, if they both had not died prematurely. They are both buried in the Leesville Cemetery, Leesville, La. He began his medical practice in 1904 and was the first medical doctor in Vernon Parish, La.  He also owned the first automobile in Vernon Parish. He was in United States Army Medical Corps in World War I and was commissioned as a Captain in August of  1917.  He owned the Hotel Leesville in Leesville, La.  He once (after being slandered by a young lawyer in a trial in Leesville) bodily removed the young lawyer from his room at the Hotel Leesville and through him in the street.  The young lawyer's name was  Huey P. Long.
7)    Robert Kenneth Willis, Sr. was born 15 JAN 1877. He died 30 JUNE 1951 of a heart attack.  He was a butcher and cattleman.  He married Eulah "Eula" Rosalie Hilburn in 1903. Eula was born Mar. 10, 1884 and died Feb. 6, 1919, at age 34, of the flu (she is buried at Lecompte Cemetery).  Eula is buried next to her parents, Charles Hilburn (1858-1943) and Francis Hilburn (1860-1930).   Robert Kenneth Willis, Sr. and Eula Rosalie Hilburn Willis had the following children: Flossie Litton Willis (b. Aug. 5, 1905; d. Sept., 1985 - married a Tomlinson), and  Ilie Jewel Willis (b. Mar. 8, 1907; d. May, 1995 - married Carl Close).  Robert Kenneth Willis, Sr.  then married Julia Mae Johnson on  Jun. 13, 1922.  Julia Mae was born Sept. 4, 1899 and died Feb. 17, 1934, at age 34. Both of  Robert's wives died at age 34. Robert Kenneth Willis, Sr.  and Julia Mae Johnson Willis had the following children:   Robert "Bobby" Willis. Jr. (b. Feb.  2, 1923; d. Dec. 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor - buried on the USS Arizona), Glenn Dewey Willis (b. May 8, 1924), and Billy Edward Willis (b. Jun. 2, 1925; d. Aug. 6, 1991).  He is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Pineville, La.
 
8)    Ruthey Madella Willis was born 20 JUN 1880.  Ruthey Madella Willis died of cancer.  She married her first husband, Henry Buckaliew, on 20 AUG 20 1898.  She then married her second husband, H. C. Matthews.  Ruthey Madella Willis had one child by her first husband, Illie Jewel Buckaliew  (b. Apr.  10, 1900; d. Feb. 3, 1902 - buried in Graham Cemetery). She had one child by her second husband,  Willie Matthews.
9)    Stella Willis was born 21 AUG 1881. She died 10 DEC 1881 as a young baby. Buried at the Graham Cemetery in Forest Hill, La.
10)    Julia Coatney Willis was born 11 MAR 1883. She died 16 AUG 1945 of a heart attack. She married Harry Scarbrough. She is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California.  They had one daughter named Audrey Ethel Scarbrough (b. Mar. 1, 1907; d. Oct. 22, 1980) who married Kent Hayden (b. Jun. 18, 1906; d. Nov.  16, 1984).  Audrey and Kent Kane Hayden, Sr.  had two sons named Charles Hayden and Kent Kane Hayden, Jr.  
11)    Randall Lee Willis  (my grandfather) was born 20 MAR 1886 in Forest Hill, La.  He died 14 MAY 1940 of stomach cancer.  Married Lillie Gertrude Hanks on 11 JAN 1914. Buried at the Graham Cemetery in Forest Hill, La.  He was named after his father's commanding General in the Civil War: Randall Lee Gibson who founded Tulane University. He was a farmer and logger. He died of stomach cancer and she died of  a heart attack.  Randall Lee Willis and Lillie G. Hanks Willis had the following three sons: Howard Lee Willis (b. Feb. 15, 1915; d. Oct. 2, 1993), Herman Floyd Willis (b. Sept. 17, 1918; d. May 15, 1977), and my father Julian Everette Willis (b. Oct. 5, 1919; d. Jun. 13, 1995).  All three sons are buried in the Butter Cemetery, Forest Hill, La.

The Old Willis Home Place   (1906) 

Babbs Bridge, Louisiana (near Long Leaf, Louisiana)
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Willis Sr. (b. 1877 d. 1951) has the reins in his hands, Robert's first wife Eulah Hilburn Willis (b. 1884 d. 1919 of the flu) is in the back seat, Julia Ann Graham Willis (b. 1845 d. 1936) is holding a fish and standing and Robert and Eulah's baby girl Flossie Litton Willis (b August 5, 1905) is held by an unknown lady.  Flossie told me that this photo was taken on her  first birthday.
Footnote: Ken Willis, after Eulah's death, married May Johnson, and had three sons. One of those sons Robert (Bobby) Kenneth Willis was the first soldier killed in action in World War II from Rapides Parish. The Pineville American Legion Post is named in his honor. He was killed on December 7, 1941, and his body lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Arizona.