The man who "saved" Fredericksburg, VA from extinction and who owned a large portion of the town, had the tobacco warehouse license, and donated the land upon which the Episcopal church was built was married three times: Anne Bernard, Mildred Lewis (widow Brown, widow Howell) and Mildred Warner Washington (widow Gregory). All three wives were cousins to one another and were closely related in varying ways to President George Washington. Henry Willis is buried along with his second wife under part of an addition that was later done to the Episcopal church, and given that much of the town was under heavy bombardment during the Civil War, this makes some sense given that some graves may have been destroyed. This supposition, based upon oral tradition, was given to me by one of the research librarians at the Fredericksburg, VA library which houses genealogical material.∼OF Wareriver Parrish
Settler and Founder of Fredericksburg VA
Married three times:
* Ann Alexander
* Mildred (Lewis) Howell Brown (1691-1732), daughter of John Lewis and Elizabeth Warner
* Mildred Warner {Washington} Gregory (1690-1747), daughter of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner (Aunt & God Mother of George Washington. 1st President)
THE RAPPAHANNOCK GAZETTE
by Trip Wiggins (This is the most studied and correct information)
Col. Henry Willis Fredericksburg's First Mover & Shaker
The Willis name.
They are everywhere in almost every profession. But when our town was founded, there were only a few in the colony. Most of these were descendants of Francis Willis of"White Hall" on the Ware River in Gloucester County. This Francis earned his estate the old English way - by inheriting it from his uncle, Col. Francis Willis. Col. Francis Willis came to our fair colony in the mid 1600s, built "White Hall," became a burgess representing Gloucester County, and ended his career by being appointed to the Governor's Council under Gov. Berkeley. He retired in 1675, moved back to his home in England and in his will, proved 1691, left the Virginia estate to his nephew, Francis. Francis, the nephew, had come to Virginia in the mid 1660s and lived at White Hall. Now it was his. Although not a Burgess or member of the Council, this Francis was Captain of the Gloucester Militia. He married a daughter of the Lewis's (probably of "Warner Hall" as it was situated next to "White Hall") and they had two boys - Francis and Henry.
This Francis (ca. 1685-1766) inherited "White Hall" following their father's death and had a career as a Gloucester County Justice, the Lt. Colonel of militia and a member of the House of Burgesses. Henry, our Henry, was born circa 1690/91 and was raised in Gloucester County with his older brother. Little is known of their education and early life but as sons of a planter they probably did not have a tough life. Henry married three times, all to women he knew early in his life. According to his grandson, Byrd Charles Willis: "Col. Henry Willis was married three times. Among the attractive belles of the period were two cousins, Mildred Howell and Mildred Washington, and their friend Anne Alexander. They were gay and social and very popular with the beaux. One of the beaux was Henry Willis, a youth of impetuous character and determined will. He courted all three belles at once and was so impartial that they declared he did not know his own mind. He courted them as maids and married them as widows." (Mildred Howell was actually Mildred Lewis, widow of John Howell.) His first bride was Anne Alexander Smith, the widow of John Smith of "Purtan." The wedding took place on November 2, 1714. She brought one son to the marriage, John Smith IV who died as a bachelor. Henry and Anne had six children. (Information on all Henry's children is at the end ) That same year also saw Henry appointed as Sheriff of Gloucester County; his political career had begun. It was these early years that Henry starting getting into the career track that suited him best. As he would not inherit "White Hall" - it going to his older brother - he had to rely on some other talent to make it in the world. I suppose the best occupation title associated with Henry was that of an entrepreneur. He found deals and built upon them. Wealthy he never was except in land.
He got his start by winning a seat in the House of Burgesses in 1718 representing Gloucester County (with his brother as the second burgess). He was bestowed the title of Gentleman. Here he found a fast-paced life with deals always going on somewhere and as a burgess he would be in the middle of what was happening. Land deals, contracts to build government buildings - just what he was interested in, and he made the best of it. Eight years into this always-exciting career a proposal for a town in Spotsylvania County was presented and soundly shot down. Virginians weren't keen on towns yet. The plantation was still the seat of power! 1726 also brought sad news for Henry as his wife, Anne died following the birth of their sixth child.
He did not long remain a widower. Gentlemen with households of children needed a mother and Henry spent little time in securing his second. This time he had his sights set on young Mildred Lewis, who was also a new widow. She was the widow of both John Howell and Dr. John Brown. Henry and Mildred were married on October 2nd. This union also produced several children: John [yes a second son named John!], Elizabeth, Ann, and Isabelle. By 1727 Henry was becoming a name in Spotsylvania County and although he didn't yet live there he won a seat in the Assembly representing Spotsylvania. (As long as you owned at least 100 acres in a county, you could run for election!) Additionally as many of the justices of Spotsylvania had had enough of government and quit, there were numerous openings for justices and Henry was given an appointment. 1728 was a busy time for Spotsylvania and the area soon to be known as Fredericksburg and Willis was in the thick of it. First he was appointed a temporary auditor to examine the accounts of His Majesty's Quit Rents. In so doing he found many patents about to lapse and commenced buying 10,000 acres in the "little mountains" of Spotsylvania County. He divided up the lands, sold it off and made a tidy profit. Spotsylvania was growing and so was Henry Willis. Although some consider him the founder of Fredericksburg, he was more of a behind the scenes worker who wanted to see the town created as there was money to be made in a bustling port town. As a member of the Assembly he voted for the creation of the town which was approved in March 1728 and was appointed one of the town's seven Trustees to oversee the sales of the leaselands lots. (Still in the middle of the action!) In 1729 he moved his growing family to some land he purchased in Spotsylvania (in today's Westwood subdivision). He finally had a home here. This same year brought a huge problem to the trustees of the almost non-existent town. The Charter founding the town stated that the trustees had 6 months to lay out the streets and another 6 months to sell the 64 lots (covering 50 acres). If this was not done, then the leaselands would return to their former owners - Messrs. Royston and Buckner. By the fall of 1728 the lots and streets had been laid out but with the spring of 1729 there remained many lots unsold (only 5 were sold) at £2 per acre and time was running out fast.
Here Henry, as trustee, performed an emergency rescue mission. He appeared in court in May, 1729 with two receipts for £50 each, one signed by John Royston and the other by Mrs. Sarah Buckner. The fifty acres were Paid In Full. Where he came up with the money he never said, but without his 11th hour action, the town would have probably disappeared that year. (It must be remembered that Royston and Buckner were established Gloucester families, as were the Willises.)
By 1730 the Crown was getting tired of the planters using their first crop to export for a profit while paying their taxes and the church levy with the inferior second crop. So the Assembly passed a law regulating tobacco by requiring 70 inspection stations to be built throughout the colony. One of those inspection stations was to be placed in Fredericksburg and Falmouth to be overseen by one inspector. Next, and possibly as a result of the first action, Henry was appointed in charge of a project to alter the main road going by Fredericksburg and have it placed at the back of the town. In order to get tobacco to the inspection stations and the wharves, you had to have a road to transport the hogsheads. Thus were born Lafayette Blvd, Sunken Rd. and Hanover Street. Finally in that same year Henry returned from Williamsburg with a commission from Gov. Gooch, that of the Lt. Col. of the Spotsylvania militia. He had received his title of "Colonel." The 1730s continued a wild ride for Henry. 1731 brought him (with William Strother and John Chew) the official tobacco inspector jobs for Fredericksburg. This also provided a salary of £40 per year. (Burgesses and Justices served without pay.) He also was elected to the vestry of St. George's and appointed its Senior Warden. (The church was not yet located in Fredericksburg.) But he had only begun to get active in the town's life. In 1732 he purchased an acre of land from the estate of William Williams (through Williams' son James) at the south end of the town (along the river at the foot of modern Wolfe Street). Here he built two tobacco warehouses and a wharf and was contracted by the vestry to build both the Mattaponi and Rappahannock churches in St. George's parish. The latter would be located in Fredericksburg on the site of the current St. George's. He also purchased property in town - lot 62 - from Moseley Battaley, an attorney in the area. Finally, he was contracted by the court to build a ducking stool for the town. Oh yes, he rented his home in town for the use of the court which had relocated from Germanna to Fredericksburg in 1732; the cellar of which served as the town's temporary gaol [jail]. Did Henry maneuver that move as a Burgess? Very likely - it would help the town survive and GROW, meaning more people, contracts, and money! Alas, it is unrecorded, but a decade later people were still trying to get the move 'null and void' to get it out of Fredericksburg and to its current location on route 208. The petitioners claimed that the court had been moved to Fredericksburg "by some misrepresentation and artful management." Sounds like our boy all right. Of course he was contracted to build a permanent courthouse and prison. Colonel William Byrd of Westover paid a trip to Fredericksburg in 1732 on his way to the mines and of course had something to say about this one-man dynamo whom he had the opportunity to observe up close as he stayed at his home during his brief visit. As to Willis' position in the community, Byrd said he was "the top man of the place." On the personal side, Byrd went on in his diary, "I was obliged to rise early here that I might not starve my landlord, whose constitution requires him to swallow a beefsteak before the sun blesses the world with its genial rays." Yes, Henry was a big man - most accounts put him over 300 lbs. He was starting his real estate ventures; planning for the future. He purchased lots 30 & 32 in town. And he wasn't only looking in town. He purchased 200 acres in "Massaponax Swamp" and 250 acres just south of the town.
1733 brought another child to the growing Willis household and more sorrow. Isabelle, Henry and Mildred's fourth and last child was born but Mildred died that summer. Henry was again a widower with a house full of children and needed a wife and mother to take care of the brood. He again turned to another childhood sweetheart - Mildred Washington, now the widow (her second) of Roger Gregory. (She first married John Lewis.) Of the courtship, her grandson, Byrd Willis, wrote many years later that when Mildred heard the news of the death of Henry's second wife, she "wept immoderately on hearing it. When someone remarked that it was strange for her to grieve so for a cousin, she replied that the death of her cousin was not the sole cause of her grief, though she loved her dearly… but that she knew that old 'Harry' Willis would be down there to see her at once and she did not know what she should do with him. The sequel proved that she knew her man for in a little month he sat himself down at her door and commenced a regular siege." They were married on Jan. 5th, 1734 but not before Mildred had Henry sign a "prenuptial" agreement to assure her children by her previous marriages would not lose their inheritance. Theirs was apparently a happy marriage and to them a son, Lewis, was born before the year was out. That same year saw Henry win in his proposal to move the ferry from Mrs. Livingston's lot (near the foot of William Street) to his own lot at the south end of town (foot of Wolfe Street). It was also a year of one of Henry's few reversals as he lost his Burgess seat yet was appointed to fill the seat for ailing Rice Curtis. During that session the Assembly voted to split Spotsylvania into two counties - the western half becoming Orange County. Never one to miss an opportunity, and a new county always created new opportunities, Henry was able to produce a letter from the colony's secretary, John Carter, naming Henry as the Clerk of the new Orange County court! (He was still a Spotsylvania justice!) And when the court met in January 1735, he produced a second letter of instruction "signifying the governor's orders that the court be held at his (Willis') house on Black Walnut Run till they agree upon a proper place for that purpose." Henry was now collecting rent for TWO county courthouses! It was a new court, a new county, but many of the same faces. Henry was well acquainted with several of the justices as they had served together in Fredericksburg as
trustees, in Spotsylvania as justices, and at St. George's as vestrymen. Henry was also noted in the Orange court books with the title "Esquire" which carried more social prestige than
did "Gentleman." The court would continue to hold business in Henry's home until it was given a permanent location in 1739 at which point Willis applied for an ordinary license next to the courthouse. He knew from experience that having an ordinary next to the courthouse meant good business during the monthly "court days." Meanwhile back in Fredericksburg, all was not well. He was behind in his contracts on warehouses and the church. Thus far he had been awarded EVERY public contract in Fredericksburg's short existence. He sold two town lots to John Gordon who built his ordinary there. It would remain one of Fredericksburg's most noted spots for the remainder of the century first under the direction of Gordon, then after his death, by his son-in-law, George Weedon. He also purchased land southwest of town encompassing today's "Willis Hill." In 1736 one of Spotsylvania's Burgesses again introduced legislation to remove the county seat from Fredericksburg and relocate it more in the center of the population of the county. It was hotly contended by both sides of the issue and what role Henry played is lost to history, but the deciding vote was cast by none other than Henry's friend and current Speaker of the House, John Carter. The vote was 27-26. The court would remain in Willis' town of Fredericksburg. With the vote came a contract for Willis to build the new courthouse in town. The work was promised by Willis in 1738 but would not be completed for another 2 years (in 1740). Punctual was not a word associated with Henry.
The following year his slaves and indentured servants were busy working on several projects in the Fredericksburg area, yet he found time to do a few more jobs for the prison: tarring, and the making of handcuffs and irons. Of course he still held his post as Orange Clerk. As in 1734 when Henry was asked to substitute for the ailing Rice Curtis in the Assembly, 1740 dawned and again his fellow justices asked that he travel to Williamsburg in Curtis' stead.
He returned to Fredericksburg following the session in mid June and must have learned that his health was deteriorating rapidly. That's when Henry's last, and quite colorful chapter of his remarkable life was written. His wife either had knowledge of his illness or had a premonition - we just don't know which. In the preceding December she had taken steps to protect her property from the hordes of collectors who would descend on the family with Henry's demise. She had a deed of gift created leaving all of her estate to her young son, Lewis. It contained household goods, cattle, sheep and 50 slaves. It was recorded in May, 1740. By July, Willis was working on his own will which was recorded July 25th and naming his brother Francis and close friend John Grymes of Middlesex County as Executors. Their instructions were clear - sell all or part of his estate to pay his debts and if anything were left over to share it among his children. In order to have an estate to sell, Henry made the deal of his life and in so doing purchased ¼ of the entire town of Fredericksburg! Now it might surprise the readers that a dozen years after our fair town was founded, ¼ of the lots were still available for sale. It was a "buyer's" market. Prices had remained flat and still there were many vacant lots in town.
His transactions took place on August 5th. Seventeen lots were purchased - but there was a catch. Legally, per the Charter that established the town (and named him a Trustee), no person could purchase more than 2 lots. What was Henry to do? Get creative, of course. The transactions were all between other persons and the town and the land was then "conveyed" to Henry - and no more than 2 lots were conveyed from any one person. Of course all his friends were in on the scheme - they had to be to make it work, yet no one complained or challenged the purchases. Who were the conveyors? Some were probably legitimate, but others were something else entirely. Nathaniel Chapman, a Stafford merchant was probably "in" on it, as was Henry's brother Francis and co-trustee John Taliaferro. But others were questionable at best. The Rev. Theodosius Staige, St. George's first Rector, had been gone from the area for over a decade. My favorite conveyor was William Gooch, Esquire - the colony's sitting Governor! Little more than a month later, on September 14th, Henry died. Per his will his executors began making improvements to his lands and began the task of selling them off to cover his debts. Two lots were chosen for explicit improvements, and within months an ordinary was erected on the lots closest to the new courthouse! This would become known as the Long Ordinary - the busiest place in town on court days. Alas, there are scant records of its operations so it remains dwarfed in history to Weedon's Tavern on William Street. So, did his plan work? Apparently so. The following spring his estate was put to auction. All debts were paid and there was some money left over for his family. So is Henry Willis the model for today's MBA candidates? Probably not. Although he had drive and determination, he lacked some of the administration and organization skills to pull off the deals on a routine basis. But Willis he was here when Fredericksburg needed him. He was instrumental in getting the tobacco inspection process going and paid off the Buckner and Royston families just when it looked like this new "town" idea had pretty much petered out. Also remember, that he had his hand in literally everything in the early days of the town's existence - he built the tobacco warehouses, the church, the courthouse, the prison - practically the entire community. And finally when it looked like the county seat would be moved from Fredericksburg (ensuring its early demise) he got it a reprieve through his ties in the Assembly. He eagerly jumped at each of these daunting tasks and relished in their victory. Say what you like about Henry Willis - bold dreamer, schemer, whatever - but remember without the likes of him, the town of Fredericksburg would probably not be what it is today. And of his children…
Children of Henry and Anne:
Mary (1716-1766) married Col. William Daingerfield of "Coventry" in Spotsylvania County.
Francis (b. 1718)
David (b.1720) and Robert (b. 1726) probably died young as they were not mentioned in their father's will.
Henry (1722-after 1740) married Elizabeth Gregory, his stepsister.
John (1724-1750) married Elizabeth Madison
Children of Henry and Mildred Brown:
John (1728-177?) married twice and was killed in S.C. by tories.
Elizabeth (1729/30-?) married Dr. William Sale.
Ann (1731-?) married Duff Green; died in Danville, KY.
Isabelle (1733-?) married Howell Lewis and died in N.C.
Children of Henry and Mildred Gregory:
Lewis (1734-1813) married Mary Champe, Ann Carter, and Mrs.Elizabeth Bloomfield
Sources:
Byrd, William. "A Progress to the Mines." (Book is on-line.)
Crozier, William. Virginia County Records - Vol 1 Spotsylvania 1721-1800. (New York, 1905)
Felder, Paula. Forgotten Companions. (American History Co.,Fredericksburg, VA. 2000)
Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family. (American History Co., Fredericksburg, VA. 1999)
McCabe, Marian. "A Chronology of the Life of Henry Willis." (Manuscript, CRRL, ca 1999)
Potter, Origanna Willis. The Willises of Virginia. (Mars Hill, N.C.,1964)
Torrence, Clayton. "A Virginia Lady of Quality and Her Possessions: Mrs. Mildred Willis of Fredericksburg."
(Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol 56, 1948) Volume 6 Number 2 Summer 2003
Newsletter of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society, Inc.
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So you can see that the only child of his and Mildred Washington Gregory was Lewis Willis.
Contributor: Kathy Awbrey (47805362) • [email protected]
Settler and Founder of Fredericksburg VA
Married three times:
* Ann Alexander
* Mildred (Lewis) Howell Brown (1691-1732), daughter of John Lewis and Elizabeth Warner
* Mildred Warner {Washington} Gregory (1690-1747), daughter of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner (Aunt & God Mother of George Washington. 1st President)
THE RAPPAHANNOCK GAZETTE
by Trip Wiggins (This is the most studied and correct information)
Col. Henry Willis Fredericksburg's First Mover & Shaker
The Willis name.
They are everywhere in almost every profession. But when our town was founded, there were only a few in the colony. Most of these were descendants of Francis Willis of"White Hall" on the Ware River in Gloucester County. This Francis earned his estate the old English way - by inheriting it from his uncle, Col. Francis Willis. Col. Francis Willis came to our fair colony in the mid 1600s, built "White Hall," became a burgess representing Gloucester County, and ended his career by being appointed to the Governor's Council under Gov. Berkeley. He retired in 1675, moved back to his home in England and in his will, proved 1691, left the Virginia estate to his nephew, Francis. Francis, the nephew, had come to Virginia in the mid 1660s and lived at White Hall. Now it was his. Although not a Burgess or member of the Council, this Francis was Captain of the Gloucester Militia. He married a daughter of the Lewis's (probably of "Warner Hall" as it was situated next to "White Hall") and they had two boys - Francis and Henry.
This Francis (ca. 1685-1766) inherited "White Hall" following their father's death and had a career as a Gloucester County Justice, the Lt. Colonel of militia and a member of the House of Burgesses. Henry, our Henry, was born circa 1690/91 and was raised in Gloucester County with his older brother. Little is known of their education and early life but as sons of a planter they probably did not have a tough life. Henry married three times, all to women he knew early in his life. According to his grandson, Byrd Charles Willis: "Col. Henry Willis was married three times. Among the attractive belles of the period were two cousins, Mildred Howell and Mildred Washington, and their friend Anne Alexander. They were gay and social and very popular with the beaux. One of the beaux was Henry Willis, a youth of impetuous character and determined will. He courted all three belles at once and was so impartial that they declared he did not know his own mind. He courted them as maids and married them as widows." (Mildred Howell was actually Mildred Lewis, widow of John Howell.) His first bride was Anne Alexander Smith, the widow of John Smith of "Purtan." The wedding took place on November 2, 1714. She brought one son to the marriage, John Smith IV who died as a bachelor. Henry and Anne had six children. (Information on all Henry's children is at the end ) That same year also saw Henry appointed as Sheriff of Gloucester County; his political career had begun. It was these early years that Henry starting getting into the career track that suited him best. As he would not inherit "White Hall" - it going to his older brother - he had to rely on some other talent to make it in the world. I suppose the best occupation title associated with Henry was that of an entrepreneur. He found deals and built upon them. Wealthy he never was except in land.
He got his start by winning a seat in the House of Burgesses in 1718 representing Gloucester County (with his brother as the second burgess). He was bestowed the title of Gentleman. Here he found a fast-paced life with deals always going on somewhere and as a burgess he would be in the middle of what was happening. Land deals, contracts to build government buildings - just what he was interested in, and he made the best of it. Eight years into this always-exciting career a proposal for a town in Spotsylvania County was presented and soundly shot down. Virginians weren't keen on towns yet. The plantation was still the seat of power! 1726 also brought sad news for Henry as his wife, Anne died following the birth of their sixth child.
He did not long remain a widower. Gentlemen with households of children needed a mother and Henry spent little time in securing his second. This time he had his sights set on young Mildred Lewis, who was also a new widow. She was the widow of both John Howell and Dr. John Brown. Henry and Mildred were married on October 2nd. This union also produced several children: John [yes a second son named John!], Elizabeth, Ann, and Isabelle. By 1727 Henry was becoming a name in Spotsylvania County and although he didn't yet live there he won a seat in the Assembly representing Spotsylvania. (As long as you owned at least 100 acres in a county, you could run for election!) Additionally as many of the justices of Spotsylvania had had enough of government and quit, there were numerous openings for justices and Henry was given an appointment. 1728 was a busy time for Spotsylvania and the area soon to be known as Fredericksburg and Willis was in the thick of it. First he was appointed a temporary auditor to examine the accounts of His Majesty's Quit Rents. In so doing he found many patents about to lapse and commenced buying 10,000 acres in the "little mountains" of Spotsylvania County. He divided up the lands, sold it off and made a tidy profit. Spotsylvania was growing and so was Henry Willis. Although some consider him the founder of Fredericksburg, he was more of a behind the scenes worker who wanted to see the town created as there was money to be made in a bustling port town. As a member of the Assembly he voted for the creation of the town which was approved in March 1728 and was appointed one of the town's seven Trustees to oversee the sales of the leaselands lots. (Still in the middle of the action!) In 1729 he moved his growing family to some land he purchased in Spotsylvania (in today's Westwood subdivision). He finally had a home here. This same year brought a huge problem to the trustees of the almost non-existent town. The Charter founding the town stated that the trustees had 6 months to lay out the streets and another 6 months to sell the 64 lots (covering 50 acres). If this was not done, then the leaselands would return to their former owners - Messrs. Royston and Buckner. By the fall of 1728 the lots and streets had been laid out but with the spring of 1729 there remained many lots unsold (only 5 were sold) at £2 per acre and time was running out fast.
Here Henry, as trustee, performed an emergency rescue mission. He appeared in court in May, 1729 with two receipts for £50 each, one signed by John Royston and the other by Mrs. Sarah Buckner. The fifty acres were Paid In Full. Where he came up with the money he never said, but without his 11th hour action, the town would have probably disappeared that year. (It must be remembered that Royston and Buckner were established Gloucester families, as were the Willises.)
By 1730 the Crown was getting tired of the planters using their first crop to export for a profit while paying their taxes and the church levy with the inferior second crop. So the Assembly passed a law regulating tobacco by requiring 70 inspection stations to be built throughout the colony. One of those inspection stations was to be placed in Fredericksburg and Falmouth to be overseen by one inspector. Next, and possibly as a result of the first action, Henry was appointed in charge of a project to alter the main road going by Fredericksburg and have it placed at the back of the town. In order to get tobacco to the inspection stations and the wharves, you had to have a road to transport the hogsheads. Thus were born Lafayette Blvd, Sunken Rd. and Hanover Street. Finally in that same year Henry returned from Williamsburg with a commission from Gov. Gooch, that of the Lt. Col. of the Spotsylvania militia. He had received his title of "Colonel." The 1730s continued a wild ride for Henry. 1731 brought him (with William Strother and John Chew) the official tobacco inspector jobs for Fredericksburg. This also provided a salary of £40 per year. (Burgesses and Justices served without pay.) He also was elected to the vestry of St. George's and appointed its Senior Warden. (The church was not yet located in Fredericksburg.) But he had only begun to get active in the town's life. In 1732 he purchased an acre of land from the estate of William Williams (through Williams' son James) at the south end of the town (along the river at the foot of modern Wolfe Street). Here he built two tobacco warehouses and a wharf and was contracted by the vestry to build both the Mattaponi and Rappahannock churches in St. George's parish. The latter would be located in Fredericksburg on the site of the current St. George's. He also purchased property in town - lot 62 - from Moseley Battaley, an attorney in the area. Finally, he was contracted by the court to build a ducking stool for the town. Oh yes, he rented his home in town for the use of the court which had relocated from Germanna to Fredericksburg in 1732; the cellar of which served as the town's temporary gaol [jail]. Did Henry maneuver that move as a Burgess? Very likely - it would help the town survive and GROW, meaning more people, contracts, and money! Alas, it is unrecorded, but a decade later people were still trying to get the move 'null and void' to get it out of Fredericksburg and to its current location on route 208. The petitioners claimed that the court had been moved to Fredericksburg "by some misrepresentation and artful management." Sounds like our boy all right. Of course he was contracted to build a permanent courthouse and prison. Colonel William Byrd of Westover paid a trip to Fredericksburg in 1732 on his way to the mines and of course had something to say about this one-man dynamo whom he had the opportunity to observe up close as he stayed at his home during his brief visit. As to Willis' position in the community, Byrd said he was "the top man of the place." On the personal side, Byrd went on in his diary, "I was obliged to rise early here that I might not starve my landlord, whose constitution requires him to swallow a beefsteak before the sun blesses the world with its genial rays." Yes, Henry was a big man - most accounts put him over 300 lbs. He was starting his real estate ventures; planning for the future. He purchased lots 30 & 32 in town. And he wasn't only looking in town. He purchased 200 acres in "Massaponax Swamp" and 250 acres just south of the town.
1733 brought another child to the growing Willis household and more sorrow. Isabelle, Henry and Mildred's fourth and last child was born but Mildred died that summer. Henry was again a widower with a house full of children and needed a wife and mother to take care of the brood. He again turned to another childhood sweetheart - Mildred Washington, now the widow (her second) of Roger Gregory. (She first married John Lewis.) Of the courtship, her grandson, Byrd Willis, wrote many years later that when Mildred heard the news of the death of Henry's second wife, she "wept immoderately on hearing it. When someone remarked that it was strange for her to grieve so for a cousin, she replied that the death of her cousin was not the sole cause of her grief, though she loved her dearly… but that she knew that old 'Harry' Willis would be down there to see her at once and she did not know what she should do with him. The sequel proved that she knew her man for in a little month he sat himself down at her door and commenced a regular siege." They were married on Jan. 5th, 1734 but not before Mildred had Henry sign a "prenuptial" agreement to assure her children by her previous marriages would not lose their inheritance. Theirs was apparently a happy marriage and to them a son, Lewis, was born before the year was out. That same year saw Henry win in his proposal to move the ferry from Mrs. Livingston's lot (near the foot of William Street) to his own lot at the south end of town (foot of Wolfe Street). It was also a year of one of Henry's few reversals as he lost his Burgess seat yet was appointed to fill the seat for ailing Rice Curtis. During that session the Assembly voted to split Spotsylvania into two counties - the western half becoming Orange County. Never one to miss an opportunity, and a new county always created new opportunities, Henry was able to produce a letter from the colony's secretary, John Carter, naming Henry as the Clerk of the new Orange County court! (He was still a Spotsylvania justice!) And when the court met in January 1735, he produced a second letter of instruction "signifying the governor's orders that the court be held at his (Willis') house on Black Walnut Run till they agree upon a proper place for that purpose." Henry was now collecting rent for TWO county courthouses! It was a new court, a new county, but many of the same faces. Henry was well acquainted with several of the justices as they had served together in Fredericksburg as
trustees, in Spotsylvania as justices, and at St. George's as vestrymen. Henry was also noted in the Orange court books with the title "Esquire" which carried more social prestige than
did "Gentleman." The court would continue to hold business in Henry's home until it was given a permanent location in 1739 at which point Willis applied for an ordinary license next to the courthouse. He knew from experience that having an ordinary next to the courthouse meant good business during the monthly "court days." Meanwhile back in Fredericksburg, all was not well. He was behind in his contracts on warehouses and the church. Thus far he had been awarded EVERY public contract in Fredericksburg's short existence. He sold two town lots to John Gordon who built his ordinary there. It would remain one of Fredericksburg's most noted spots for the remainder of the century first under the direction of Gordon, then after his death, by his son-in-law, George Weedon. He also purchased land southwest of town encompassing today's "Willis Hill." In 1736 one of Spotsylvania's Burgesses again introduced legislation to remove the county seat from Fredericksburg and relocate it more in the center of the population of the county. It was hotly contended by both sides of the issue and what role Henry played is lost to history, but the deciding vote was cast by none other than Henry's friend and current Speaker of the House, John Carter. The vote was 27-26. The court would remain in Willis' town of Fredericksburg. With the vote came a contract for Willis to build the new courthouse in town. The work was promised by Willis in 1738 but would not be completed for another 2 years (in 1740). Punctual was not a word associated with Henry.
The following year his slaves and indentured servants were busy working on several projects in the Fredericksburg area, yet he found time to do a few more jobs for the prison: tarring, and the making of handcuffs and irons. Of course he still held his post as Orange Clerk. As in 1734 when Henry was asked to substitute for the ailing Rice Curtis in the Assembly, 1740 dawned and again his fellow justices asked that he travel to Williamsburg in Curtis' stead.
He returned to Fredericksburg following the session in mid June and must have learned that his health was deteriorating rapidly. That's when Henry's last, and quite colorful chapter of his remarkable life was written. His wife either had knowledge of his illness or had a premonition - we just don't know which. In the preceding December she had taken steps to protect her property from the hordes of collectors who would descend on the family with Henry's demise. She had a deed of gift created leaving all of her estate to her young son, Lewis. It contained household goods, cattle, sheep and 50 slaves. It was recorded in May, 1740. By July, Willis was working on his own will which was recorded July 25th and naming his brother Francis and close friend John Grymes of Middlesex County as Executors. Their instructions were clear - sell all or part of his estate to pay his debts and if anything were left over to share it among his children. In order to have an estate to sell, Henry made the deal of his life and in so doing purchased ¼ of the entire town of Fredericksburg! Now it might surprise the readers that a dozen years after our fair town was founded, ¼ of the lots were still available for sale. It was a "buyer's" market. Prices had remained flat and still there were many vacant lots in town.
His transactions took place on August 5th. Seventeen lots were purchased - but there was a catch. Legally, per the Charter that established the town (and named him a Trustee), no person could purchase more than 2 lots. What was Henry to do? Get creative, of course. The transactions were all between other persons and the town and the land was then "conveyed" to Henry - and no more than 2 lots were conveyed from any one person. Of course all his friends were in on the scheme - they had to be to make it work, yet no one complained or challenged the purchases. Who were the conveyors? Some were probably legitimate, but others were something else entirely. Nathaniel Chapman, a Stafford merchant was probably "in" on it, as was Henry's brother Francis and co-trustee John Taliaferro. But others were questionable at best. The Rev. Theodosius Staige, St. George's first Rector, had been gone from the area for over a decade. My favorite conveyor was William Gooch, Esquire - the colony's sitting Governor! Little more than a month later, on September 14th, Henry died. Per his will his executors began making improvements to his lands and began the task of selling them off to cover his debts. Two lots were chosen for explicit improvements, and within months an ordinary was erected on the lots closest to the new courthouse! This would become known as the Long Ordinary - the busiest place in town on court days. Alas, there are scant records of its operations so it remains dwarfed in history to Weedon's Tavern on William Street. So, did his plan work? Apparently so. The following spring his estate was put to auction. All debts were paid and there was some money left over for his family. So is Henry Willis the model for today's MBA candidates? Probably not. Although he had drive and determination, he lacked some of the administration and organization skills to pull off the deals on a routine basis. But Willis he was here when Fredericksburg needed him. He was instrumental in getting the tobacco inspection process going and paid off the Buckner and Royston families just when it looked like this new "town" idea had pretty much petered out. Also remember, that he had his hand in literally everything in the early days of the town's existence - he built the tobacco warehouses, the church, the courthouse, the prison - practically the entire community. And finally when it looked like the county seat would be moved from Fredericksburg (ensuring its early demise) he got it a reprieve through his ties in the Assembly. He eagerly jumped at each of these daunting tasks and relished in their victory. Say what you like about Henry Willis - bold dreamer, schemer, whatever - but remember without the likes of him, the town of Fredericksburg would probably not be what it is today. And of his children…
Children of Henry and Anne:
Mary (1716-1766) married Col. William Daingerfield of "Coventry" in Spotsylvania County.
Francis (b. 1718)
David (b.1720) and Robert (b. 1726) probably died young as they were not mentioned in their father's will.
Henry (1722-after 1740) married Elizabeth Gregory, his stepsister.
John (1724-1750) married Elizabeth Madison
Children of Henry and Mildred Brown:
John (1728-177?) married twice and was killed in S.C. by tories.
Elizabeth (1729/30-?) married Dr. William Sale.
Ann (1731-?) married Duff Green; died in Danville, KY.
Isabelle (1733-?) married Howell Lewis and died in N.C.
Children of Henry and Mildred Gregory:
Lewis (1734-1813) married Mary Champe, Ann Carter, and Mrs.Elizabeth Bloomfield
Sources:
Byrd, William. "A Progress to the Mines." (Book is on-line.)
Crozier, William. Virginia County Records - Vol 1 Spotsylvania 1721-1800. (New York, 1905)
Felder, Paula. Forgotten Companions. (American History Co.,Fredericksburg, VA. 2000)
Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family. (American History Co., Fredericksburg, VA. 1999)
McCabe, Marian. "A Chronology of the Life of Henry Willis." (Manuscript, CRRL, ca 1999)
Potter, Origanna Willis. The Willises of Virginia. (Mars Hill, N.C.,1964)
Torrence, Clayton. "A Virginia Lady of Quality and Her Possessions: Mrs. Mildred Willis of Fredericksburg."
(Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol 56, 1948) Volume 6 Number 2 Summer 2003
Newsletter of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society, Inc.
--------------------------------------
So you can see that the only child of his and Mildred Washington Gregory was Lewis Willis.
Contributor: Kathy Awbrey (47805362) • [email protected]
The man who "saved" Fredericksburg, VA from extinction and who owned a large portion of the town, had the tobacco warehouse license, and donated the land upon which the Episcopal church was built was married three times: Anne Bernard, Mildred Lewis (widow Brown, widow Howell) and Mildred Warner Washington (widow Gregory). All three wives were cousins to one another and were closely related in varying ways to President George Washington. Henry Willis is buried along with his second wife under part of an addition that was later done to the Episcopal church, and given that much of the town was under heavy bombardment during the Civil War, this makes some sense given that some graves may have been destroyed. This supposition, based upon oral tradition, was given to me by one of the research librarians at the Fredericksburg, VA library which houses genealogical material.∼OF Wareriver Parrish
Settler and Founder of Fredericksburg VA
Married three times:
* Ann Alexander
* Mildred (Lewis) Howell Brown (1691-1732), daughter of John Lewis and Elizabeth Warner
* Mildred Warner {Washington} Gregory (1690-1747), daughter of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner (Aunt & God Mother of George Washington. 1st President)
THE RAPPAHANNOCK GAZETTE
by Trip Wiggins (This is the most studied and correct information)
Col. Henry Willis Fredericksburg's First Mover & Shaker
The Willis name.
They are everywhere in almost every profession. But when our town was founded, there were only a few in the colony. Most of these were descendants of Francis Willis of"White Hall" on the Ware River in Gloucester County. This Francis earned his estate the old English way - by inheriting it from his uncle, Col. Francis Willis. Col. Francis Willis came to our fair colony in the mid 1600s, built "White Hall," became a burgess representing Gloucester County, and ended his career by being appointed to the Governor's Council under Gov. Berkeley. He retired in 1675, moved back to his home in England and in his will, proved 1691, left the Virginia estate to his nephew, Francis. Francis, the nephew, had come to Virginia in the mid 1660s and lived at White Hall. Now it was his. Although not a Burgess or member of the Council, this Francis was Captain of the Gloucester Militia. He married a daughter of the Lewis's (probably of "Warner Hall" as it was situated next to "White Hall") and they had two boys - Francis and Henry.
This Francis (ca. 1685-1766) inherited "White Hall" following their father's death and had a career as a Gloucester County Justice, the Lt. Colonel of militia and a member of the House of Burgesses. Henry, our Henry, was born circa 1690/91 and was raised in Gloucester County with his older brother. Little is known of their education and early life but as sons of a planter they probably did not have a tough life. Henry married three times, all to women he knew early in his life. According to his grandson, Byrd Charles Willis: "Col. Henry Willis was married three times. Among the attractive belles of the period were two cousins, Mildred Howell and Mildred Washington, and their friend Anne Alexander. They were gay and social and very popular with the beaux. One of the beaux was Henry Willis, a youth of impetuous character and determined will. He courted all three belles at once and was so impartial that they declared he did not know his own mind. He courted them as maids and married them as widows." (Mildred Howell was actually Mildred Lewis, widow of John Howell.) His first bride was Anne Alexander Smith, the widow of John Smith of "Purtan." The wedding took place on November 2, 1714. She brought one son to the marriage, John Smith IV who died as a bachelor. Henry and Anne had six children. (Information on all Henry's children is at the end ) That same year also saw Henry appointed as Sheriff of Gloucester County; his political career had begun. It was these early years that Henry starting getting into the career track that suited him best. As he would not inherit "White Hall" - it going to his older brother - he had to rely on some other talent to make it in the world. I suppose the best occupation title associated with Henry was that of an entrepreneur. He found deals and built upon them. Wealthy he never was except in land.
He got his start by winning a seat in the House of Burgesses in 1718 representing Gloucester County (with his brother as the second burgess). He was bestowed the title of Gentleman. Here he found a fast-paced life with deals always going on somewhere and as a burgess he would be in the middle of what was happening. Land deals, contracts to build government buildings - just what he was interested in, and he made the best of it. Eight years into this always-exciting career a proposal for a town in Spotsylvania County was presented and soundly shot down. Virginians weren't keen on towns yet. The plantation was still the seat of power! 1726 also brought sad news for Henry as his wife, Anne died following the birth of their sixth child.
He did not long remain a widower. Gentlemen with households of children needed a mother and Henry spent little time in securing his second. This time he had his sights set on young Mildred Lewis, who was also a new widow. She was the widow of both John Howell and Dr. John Brown. Henry and Mildred were married on October 2nd. This union also produced several children: John [yes a second son named John!], Elizabeth, Ann, and Isabelle. By 1727 Henry was becoming a name in Spotsylvania County and although he didn't yet live there he won a seat in the Assembly representing Spotsylvania. (As long as you owned at least 100 acres in a county, you could run for election!) Additionally as many of the justices of Spotsylvania had had enough of government and quit, there were numerous openings for justices and Henry was given an appointment. 1728 was a busy time for Spotsylvania and the area soon to be known as Fredericksburg and Willis was in the thick of it. First he was appointed a temporary auditor to examine the accounts of His Majesty's Quit Rents. In so doing he found many patents about to lapse and commenced buying 10,000 acres in the "little mountains" of Spotsylvania County. He divided up the lands, sold it off and made a tidy profit. Spotsylvania was growing and so was Henry Willis. Although some consider him the founder of Fredericksburg, he was more of a behind the scenes worker who wanted to see the town created as there was money to be made in a bustling port town. As a member of the Assembly he voted for the creation of the town which was approved in March 1728 and was appointed one of the town's seven Trustees to oversee the sales of the leaselands lots. (Still in the middle of the action!) In 1729 he moved his growing family to some land he purchased in Spotsylvania (in today's Westwood subdivision). He finally had a home here. This same year brought a huge problem to the trustees of the almost non-existent town. The Charter founding the town stated that the trustees had 6 months to lay out the streets and another 6 months to sell the 64 lots (covering 50 acres). If this was not done, then the leaselands would return to their former owners - Messrs. Royston and Buckner. By the fall of 1728 the lots and streets had been laid out but with the spring of 1729 there remained many lots unsold (only 5 were sold) at £2 per acre and time was running out fast.
Here Henry, as trustee, performed an emergency rescue mission. He appeared in court in May, 1729 with two receipts for £50 each, one signed by John Royston and the other by Mrs. Sarah Buckner. The fifty acres were Paid In Full. Where he came up with the money he never said, but without his 11th hour action, the town would have probably disappeared that year. (It must be remembered that Royston and Buckner were established Gloucester families, as were the Willises.)
By 1730 the Crown was getting tired of the planters using their first crop to export for a profit while paying their taxes and the church levy with the inferior second crop. So the Assembly passed a law regulating tobacco by requiring 70 inspection stations to be built throughout the colony. One of those inspection stations was to be placed in Fredericksburg and Falmouth to be overseen by one inspector. Next, and possibly as a result of the first action, Henry was appointed in charge of a project to alter the main road going by Fredericksburg and have it placed at the back of the town. In order to get tobacco to the inspection stations and the wharves, you had to have a road to transport the hogsheads. Thus were born Lafayette Blvd, Sunken Rd. and Hanover Street. Finally in that same year Henry returned from Williamsburg with a commission from Gov. Gooch, that of the Lt. Col. of the Spotsylvania militia. He had received his title of "Colonel." The 1730s continued a wild ride for Henry. 1731 brought him (with William Strother and John Chew) the official tobacco inspector jobs for Fredericksburg. This also provided a salary of £40 per year. (Burgesses and Justices served without pay.) He also was elected to the vestry of St. George's and appointed its Senior Warden. (The church was not yet located in Fredericksburg.) But he had only begun to get active in the town's life. In 1732 he purchased an acre of land from the estate of William Williams (through Williams' son James) at the south end of the town (along the river at the foot of modern Wolfe Street). Here he built two tobacco warehouses and a wharf and was contracted by the vestry to build both the Mattaponi and Rappahannock churches in St. George's parish. The latter would be located in Fredericksburg on the site of the current St. George's. He also purchased property in town - lot 62 - from Moseley Battaley, an attorney in the area. Finally, he was contracted by the court to build a ducking stool for the town. Oh yes, he rented his home in town for the use of the court which had relocated from Germanna to Fredericksburg in 1732; the cellar of which served as the town's temporary gaol [jail]. Did Henry maneuver that move as a Burgess? Very likely - it would help the town survive and GROW, meaning more people, contracts, and money! Alas, it is unrecorded, but a decade later people were still trying to get the move 'null and void' to get it out of Fredericksburg and to its current location on route 208. The petitioners claimed that the court had been moved to Fredericksburg "by some misrepresentation and artful management." Sounds like our boy all right. Of course he was contracted to build a permanent courthouse and prison. Colonel William Byrd of Westover paid a trip to Fredericksburg in 1732 on his way to the mines and of course had something to say about this one-man dynamo whom he had the opportunity to observe up close as he stayed at his home during his brief visit. As to Willis' position in the community, Byrd said he was "the top man of the place." On the personal side, Byrd went on in his diary, "I was obliged to rise early here that I might not starve my landlord, whose constitution requires him to swallow a beefsteak before the sun blesses the world with its genial rays." Yes, Henry was a big man - most accounts put him over 300 lbs. He was starting his real estate ventures; planning for the future. He purchased lots 30 & 32 in town. And he wasn't only looking in town. He purchased 200 acres in "Massaponax Swamp" and 250 acres just south of the town.
1733 brought another child to the growing Willis household and more sorrow. Isabelle, Henry and Mildred's fourth and last child was born but Mildred died that summer. Henry was again a widower with a house full of children and needed a wife and mother to take care of the brood. He again turned to another childhood sweetheart - Mildred Washington, now the widow (her second) of Roger Gregory. (She first married John Lewis.) Of the courtship, her grandson, Byrd Willis, wrote many years later that when Mildred heard the news of the death of Henry's second wife, she "wept immoderately on hearing it. When someone remarked that it was strange for her to grieve so for a cousin, she replied that the death of her cousin was not the sole cause of her grief, though she loved her dearly… but that she knew that old 'Harry' Willis would be down there to see her at once and she did not know what she should do with him. The sequel proved that she knew her man for in a little month he sat himself down at her door and commenced a regular siege." They were married on Jan. 5th, 1734 but not before Mildred had Henry sign a "prenuptial" agreement to assure her children by her previous marriages would not lose their inheritance. Theirs was apparently a happy marriage and to them a son, Lewis, was born before the year was out. That same year saw Henry win in his proposal to move the ferry from Mrs. Livingston's lot (near the foot of William Street) to his own lot at the south end of town (foot of Wolfe Street). It was also a year of one of Henry's few reversals as he lost his Burgess seat yet was appointed to fill the seat for ailing Rice Curtis. During that session the Assembly voted to split Spotsylvania into two counties - the western half becoming Orange County. Never one to miss an opportunity, and a new county always created new opportunities, Henry was able to produce a letter from the colony's secretary, John Carter, naming Henry as the Clerk of the new Orange County court! (He was still a Spotsylvania justice!) And when the court met in January 1735, he produced a second letter of instruction "signifying the governor's orders that the court be held at his (Willis') house on Black Walnut Run till they agree upon a proper place for that purpose." Henry was now collecting rent for TWO county courthouses! It was a new court, a new county, but many of the same faces. Henry was well acquainted with several of the justices as they had served together in Fredericksburg as
trustees, in Spotsylvania as justices, and at St. George's as vestrymen. Henry was also noted in the Orange court books with the title "Esquire" which carried more social prestige than
did "Gentleman." The court would continue to hold business in Henry's home until it was given a permanent location in 1739 at which point Willis applied for an ordinary license next to the courthouse. He knew from experience that having an ordinary next to the courthouse meant good business during the monthly "court days." Meanwhile back in Fredericksburg, all was not well. He was behind in his contracts on warehouses and the church. Thus far he had been awarded EVERY public contract in Fredericksburg's short existence. He sold two town lots to John Gordon who built his ordinary there. It would remain one of Fredericksburg's most noted spots for the remainder of the century first under the direction of Gordon, then after his death, by his son-in-law, George Weedon. He also purchased land southwest of town encompassing today's "Willis Hill." In 1736 one of Spotsylvania's Burgesses again introduced legislation to remove the county seat from Fredericksburg and relocate it more in the center of the population of the county. It was hotly contended by both sides of the issue and what role Henry played is lost to history, but the deciding vote was cast by none other than Henry's friend and current Speaker of the House, John Carter. The vote was 27-26. The court would remain in Willis' town of Fredericksburg. With the vote came a contract for Willis to build the new courthouse in town. The work was promised by Willis in 1738 but would not be completed for another 2 years (in 1740). Punctual was not a word associated with Henry.
The following year his slaves and indentured servants were busy working on several projects in the Fredericksburg area, yet he found time to do a few more jobs for the prison: tarring, and the making of handcuffs and irons. Of course he still held his post as Orange Clerk. As in 1734 when Henry was asked to substitute for the ailing Rice Curtis in the Assembly, 1740 dawned and again his fellow justices asked that he travel to Williamsburg in Curtis' stead.
He returned to Fredericksburg following the session in mid June and must have learned that his health was deteriorating rapidly. That's when Henry's last, and quite colorful chapter of his remarkable life was written. His wife either had knowledge of his illness or had a premonition - we just don't know which. In the preceding December she had taken steps to protect her property from the hordes of collectors who would descend on the family with Henry's demise. She had a deed of gift created leaving all of her estate to her young son, Lewis. It contained household goods, cattle, sheep and 50 slaves. It was recorded in May, 1740. By July, Willis was working on his own will which was recorded July 25th and naming his brother Francis and close friend John Grymes of Middlesex County as Executors. Their instructions were clear - sell all or part of his estate to pay his debts and if anything were left over to share it among his children. In order to have an estate to sell, Henry made the deal of his life and in so doing purchased ¼ of the entire town of Fredericksburg! Now it might surprise the readers that a dozen years after our fair town was founded, ¼ of the lots were still available for sale. It was a "buyer's" market. Prices had remained flat and still there were many vacant lots in town.
His transactions took place on August 5th. Seventeen lots were purchased - but there was a catch. Legally, per the Charter that established the town (and named him a Trustee), no person could purchase more than 2 lots. What was Henry to do? Get creative, of course. The transactions were all between other persons and the town and the land was then "conveyed" to Henry - and no more than 2 lots were conveyed from any one person. Of course all his friends were in on the scheme - they had to be to make it work, yet no one complained or challenged the purchases. Who were the conveyors? Some were probably legitimate, but others were something else entirely. Nathaniel Chapman, a Stafford merchant was probably "in" on it, as was Henry's brother Francis and co-trustee John Taliaferro. But others were questionable at best. The Rev. Theodosius Staige, St. George's first Rector, had been gone from the area for over a decade. My favorite conveyor was William Gooch, Esquire - the colony's sitting Governor! Little more than a month later, on September 14th, Henry died. Per his will his executors began making improvements to his lands and began the task of selling them off to cover his debts. Two lots were chosen for explicit improvements, and within months an ordinary was erected on the lots closest to the new courthouse! This would become known as the Long Ordinary - the busiest place in town on court days. Alas, there are scant records of its operations so it remains dwarfed in history to Weedon's Tavern on William Street. So, did his plan work? Apparently so. The following spring his estate was put to auction. All debts were paid and there was some money left over for his family. So is Henry Willis the model for today's MBA candidates? Probably not. Although he had drive and determination, he lacked some of the administration and organization skills to pull off the deals on a routine basis. But Willis he was here when Fredericksburg needed him. He was instrumental in getting the tobacco inspection process going and paid off the Buckner and Royston families just when it looked like this new "town" idea had pretty much petered out. Also remember, that he had his hand in literally everything in the early days of the town's existence - he built the tobacco warehouses, the church, the courthouse, the prison - practically the entire community. And finally when it looked like the county seat would be moved from Fredericksburg (ensuring its early demise) he got it a reprieve through his ties in the Assembly. He eagerly jumped at each of these daunting tasks and relished in their victory. Say what you like about Henry Willis - bold dreamer, schemer, whatever - but remember without the likes of him, the town of Fredericksburg would probably not be what it is today. And of his children…
Children of Henry and Anne:
Mary (1716-1766) married Col. William Daingerfield of "Coventry" in Spotsylvania County.
Francis (b. 1718)
David (b.1720) and Robert (b. 1726) probably died young as they were not mentioned in their father's will.
Henry (1722-after 1740) married Elizabeth Gregory, his stepsister.
John (1724-1750) married Elizabeth Madison
Children of Henry and Mildred Brown:
John (1728-177?) married twice and was killed in S.C. by tories.
Elizabeth (1729/30-?) married Dr. William Sale.
Ann (1731-?) married Duff Green; died in Danville, KY.
Isabelle (1733-?) married Howell Lewis and died in N.C.
Children of Henry and Mildred Gregory:
Lewis (1734-1813) married Mary Champe, Ann Carter, and Mrs.Elizabeth Bloomfield
Sources:
Byrd, William. "A Progress to the Mines." (Book is on-line.)
Crozier, William. Virginia County Records - Vol 1 Spotsylvania 1721-1800. (New York, 1905)
Felder, Paula. Forgotten Companions. (American History Co.,Fredericksburg, VA. 2000)
Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family. (American History Co., Fredericksburg, VA. 1999)
McCabe, Marian. "A Chronology of the Life of Henry Willis." (Manuscript, CRRL, ca 1999)
Potter, Origanna Willis. The Willises of Virginia. (Mars Hill, N.C.,1964)
Torrence, Clayton. "A Virginia Lady of Quality and Her Possessions: Mrs. Mildred Willis of Fredericksburg."
(Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol 56, 1948) Volume 6 Number 2 Summer 2003
Newsletter of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society, Inc.
--------------------------------------
So you can see that the only child of his and Mildred Washington Gregory was Lewis Willis.
Contributor: Kathy Awbrey (47805362) • [email protected]
Settler and Founder of Fredericksburg VA
Married three times:
* Ann Alexander
* Mildred (Lewis) Howell Brown (1691-1732), daughter of John Lewis and Elizabeth Warner
* Mildred Warner {Washington} Gregory (1690-1747), daughter of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner (Aunt & God Mother of George Washington. 1st President)
THE RAPPAHANNOCK GAZETTE
by Trip Wiggins (This is the most studied and correct information)
Col. Henry Willis Fredericksburg's First Mover & Shaker
The Willis name.
They are everywhere in almost every profession. But when our town was founded, there were only a few in the colony. Most of these were descendants of Francis Willis of"White Hall" on the Ware River in Gloucester County. This Francis earned his estate the old English way - by inheriting it from his uncle, Col. Francis Willis. Col. Francis Willis came to our fair colony in the mid 1600s, built "White Hall," became a burgess representing Gloucester County, and ended his career by being appointed to the Governor's Council under Gov. Berkeley. He retired in 1675, moved back to his home in England and in his will, proved 1691, left the Virginia estate to his nephew, Francis. Francis, the nephew, had come to Virginia in the mid 1660s and lived at White Hall. Now it was his. Although not a Burgess or member of the Council, this Francis was Captain of the Gloucester Militia. He married a daughter of the Lewis's (probably of "Warner Hall" as it was situated next to "White Hall") and they had two boys - Francis and Henry.
This Francis (ca. 1685-1766) inherited "White Hall" following their father's death and had a career as a Gloucester County Justice, the Lt. Colonel of militia and a member of the House of Burgesses. Henry, our Henry, was born circa 1690/91 and was raised in Gloucester County with his older brother. Little is known of their education and early life but as sons of a planter they probably did not have a tough life. Henry married three times, all to women he knew early in his life. According to his grandson, Byrd Charles Willis: "Col. Henry Willis was married three times. Among the attractive belles of the period were two cousins, Mildred Howell and Mildred Washington, and their friend Anne Alexander. They were gay and social and very popular with the beaux. One of the beaux was Henry Willis, a youth of impetuous character and determined will. He courted all three belles at once and was so impartial that they declared he did not know his own mind. He courted them as maids and married them as widows." (Mildred Howell was actually Mildred Lewis, widow of John Howell.) His first bride was Anne Alexander Smith, the widow of John Smith of "Purtan." The wedding took place on November 2, 1714. She brought one son to the marriage, John Smith IV who died as a bachelor. Henry and Anne had six children. (Information on all Henry's children is at the end ) That same year also saw Henry appointed as Sheriff of Gloucester County; his political career had begun. It was these early years that Henry starting getting into the career track that suited him best. As he would not inherit "White Hall" - it going to his older brother - he had to rely on some other talent to make it in the world. I suppose the best occupation title associated with Henry was that of an entrepreneur. He found deals and built upon them. Wealthy he never was except in land.
He got his start by winning a seat in the House of Burgesses in 1718 representing Gloucester County (with his brother as the second burgess). He was bestowed the title of Gentleman. Here he found a fast-paced life with deals always going on somewhere and as a burgess he would be in the middle of what was happening. Land deals, contracts to build government buildings - just what he was interested in, and he made the best of it. Eight years into this always-exciting career a proposal for a town in Spotsylvania County was presented and soundly shot down. Virginians weren't keen on towns yet. The plantation was still the seat of power! 1726 also brought sad news for Henry as his wife, Anne died following the birth of their sixth child.
He did not long remain a widower. Gentlemen with households of children needed a mother and Henry spent little time in securing his second. This time he had his sights set on young Mildred Lewis, who was also a new widow. She was the widow of both John Howell and Dr. John Brown. Henry and Mildred were married on October 2nd. This union also produced several children: John [yes a second son named John!], Elizabeth, Ann, and Isabelle. By 1727 Henry was becoming a name in Spotsylvania County and although he didn't yet live there he won a seat in the Assembly representing Spotsylvania. (As long as you owned at least 100 acres in a county, you could run for election!) Additionally as many of the justices of Spotsylvania had had enough of government and quit, there were numerous openings for justices and Henry was given an appointment. 1728 was a busy time for Spotsylvania and the area soon to be known as Fredericksburg and Willis was in the thick of it. First he was appointed a temporary auditor to examine the accounts of His Majesty's Quit Rents. In so doing he found many patents about to lapse and commenced buying 10,000 acres in the "little mountains" of Spotsylvania County. He divided up the lands, sold it off and made a tidy profit. Spotsylvania was growing and so was Henry Willis. Although some consider him the founder of Fredericksburg, he was more of a behind the scenes worker who wanted to see the town created as there was money to be made in a bustling port town. As a member of the Assembly he voted for the creation of the town which was approved in March 1728 and was appointed one of the town's seven Trustees to oversee the sales of the leaselands lots. (Still in the middle of the action!) In 1729 he moved his growing family to some land he purchased in Spotsylvania (in today's Westwood subdivision). He finally had a home here. This same year brought a huge problem to the trustees of the almost non-existent town. The Charter founding the town stated that the trustees had 6 months to lay out the streets and another 6 months to sell the 64 lots (covering 50 acres). If this was not done, then the leaselands would return to their former owners - Messrs. Royston and Buckner. By the fall of 1728 the lots and streets had been laid out but with the spring of 1729 there remained many lots unsold (only 5 were sold) at £2 per acre and time was running out fast.
Here Henry, as trustee, performed an emergency rescue mission. He appeared in court in May, 1729 with two receipts for £50 each, one signed by John Royston and the other by Mrs. Sarah Buckner. The fifty acres were Paid In Full. Where he came up with the money he never said, but without his 11th hour action, the town would have probably disappeared that year. (It must be remembered that Royston and Buckner were established Gloucester families, as were the Willises.)
By 1730 the Crown was getting tired of the planters using their first crop to export for a profit while paying their taxes and the church levy with the inferior second crop. So the Assembly passed a law regulating tobacco by requiring 70 inspection stations to be built throughout the colony. One of those inspection stations was to be placed in Fredericksburg and Falmouth to be overseen by one inspector. Next, and possibly as a result of the first action, Henry was appointed in charge of a project to alter the main road going by Fredericksburg and have it placed at the back of the town. In order to get tobacco to the inspection stations and the wharves, you had to have a road to transport the hogsheads. Thus were born Lafayette Blvd, Sunken Rd. and Hanover Street. Finally in that same year Henry returned from Williamsburg with a commission from Gov. Gooch, that of the Lt. Col. of the Spotsylvania militia. He had received his title of "Colonel." The 1730s continued a wild ride for Henry. 1731 brought him (with William Strother and John Chew) the official tobacco inspector jobs for Fredericksburg. This also provided a salary of £40 per year. (Burgesses and Justices served without pay.) He also was elected to the vestry of St. George's and appointed its Senior Warden. (The church was not yet located in Fredericksburg.) But he had only begun to get active in the town's life. In 1732 he purchased an acre of land from the estate of William Williams (through Williams' son James) at the south end of the town (along the river at the foot of modern Wolfe Street). Here he built two tobacco warehouses and a wharf and was contracted by the vestry to build both the Mattaponi and Rappahannock churches in St. George's parish. The latter would be located in Fredericksburg on the site of the current St. George's. He also purchased property in town - lot 62 - from Moseley Battaley, an attorney in the area. Finally, he was contracted by the court to build a ducking stool for the town. Oh yes, he rented his home in town for the use of the court which had relocated from Germanna to Fredericksburg in 1732; the cellar of which served as the town's temporary gaol [jail]. Did Henry maneuver that move as a Burgess? Very likely - it would help the town survive and GROW, meaning more people, contracts, and money! Alas, it is unrecorded, but a decade later people were still trying to get the move 'null and void' to get it out of Fredericksburg and to its current location on route 208. The petitioners claimed that the court had been moved to Fredericksburg "by some misrepresentation and artful management." Sounds like our boy all right. Of course he was contracted to build a permanent courthouse and prison. Colonel William Byrd of Westover paid a trip to Fredericksburg in 1732 on his way to the mines and of course had something to say about this one-man dynamo whom he had the opportunity to observe up close as he stayed at his home during his brief visit. As to Willis' position in the community, Byrd said he was "the top man of the place." On the personal side, Byrd went on in his diary, "I was obliged to rise early here that I might not starve my landlord, whose constitution requires him to swallow a beefsteak before the sun blesses the world with its genial rays." Yes, Henry was a big man - most accounts put him over 300 lbs. He was starting his real estate ventures; planning for the future. He purchased lots 30 & 32 in town. And he wasn't only looking in town. He purchased 200 acres in "Massaponax Swamp" and 250 acres just south of the town.
1733 brought another child to the growing Willis household and more sorrow. Isabelle, Henry and Mildred's fourth and last child was born but Mildred died that summer. Henry was again a widower with a house full of children and needed a wife and mother to take care of the brood. He again turned to another childhood sweetheart - Mildred Washington, now the widow (her second) of Roger Gregory. (She first married John Lewis.) Of the courtship, her grandson, Byrd Willis, wrote many years later that when Mildred heard the news of the death of Henry's second wife, she "wept immoderately on hearing it. When someone remarked that it was strange for her to grieve so for a cousin, she replied that the death of her cousin was not the sole cause of her grief, though she loved her dearly… but that she knew that old 'Harry' Willis would be down there to see her at once and she did not know what she should do with him. The sequel proved that she knew her man for in a little month he sat himself down at her door and commenced a regular siege." They were married on Jan. 5th, 1734 but not before Mildred had Henry sign a "prenuptial" agreement to assure her children by her previous marriages would not lose their inheritance. Theirs was apparently a happy marriage and to them a son, Lewis, was born before the year was out. That same year saw Henry win in his proposal to move the ferry from Mrs. Livingston's lot (near the foot of William Street) to his own lot at the south end of town (foot of Wolfe Street). It was also a year of one of Henry's few reversals as he lost his Burgess seat yet was appointed to fill the seat for ailing Rice Curtis. During that session the Assembly voted to split Spotsylvania into two counties - the western half becoming Orange County. Never one to miss an opportunity, and a new county always created new opportunities, Henry was able to produce a letter from the colony's secretary, John Carter, naming Henry as the Clerk of the new Orange County court! (He was still a Spotsylvania justice!) And when the court met in January 1735, he produced a second letter of instruction "signifying the governor's orders that the court be held at his (Willis') house on Black Walnut Run till they agree upon a proper place for that purpose." Henry was now collecting rent for TWO county courthouses! It was a new court, a new county, but many of the same faces. Henry was well acquainted with several of the justices as they had served together in Fredericksburg as
trustees, in Spotsylvania as justices, and at St. George's as vestrymen. Henry was also noted in the Orange court books with the title "Esquire" which carried more social prestige than
did "Gentleman." The court would continue to hold business in Henry's home until it was given a permanent location in 1739 at which point Willis applied for an ordinary license next to the courthouse. He knew from experience that having an ordinary next to the courthouse meant good business during the monthly "court days." Meanwhile back in Fredericksburg, all was not well. He was behind in his contracts on warehouses and the church. Thus far he had been awarded EVERY public contract in Fredericksburg's short existence. He sold two town lots to John Gordon who built his ordinary there. It would remain one of Fredericksburg's most noted spots for the remainder of the century first under the direction of Gordon, then after his death, by his son-in-law, George Weedon. He also purchased land southwest of town encompassing today's "Willis Hill." In 1736 one of Spotsylvania's Burgesses again introduced legislation to remove the county seat from Fredericksburg and relocate it more in the center of the population of the county. It was hotly contended by both sides of the issue and what role Henry played is lost to history, but the deciding vote was cast by none other than Henry's friend and current Speaker of the House, John Carter. The vote was 27-26. The court would remain in Willis' town of Fredericksburg. With the vote came a contract for Willis to build the new courthouse in town. The work was promised by Willis in 1738 but would not be completed for another 2 years (in 1740). Punctual was not a word associated with Henry.
The following year his slaves and indentured servants were busy working on several projects in the Fredericksburg area, yet he found time to do a few more jobs for the prison: tarring, and the making of handcuffs and irons. Of course he still held his post as Orange Clerk. As in 1734 when Henry was asked to substitute for the ailing Rice Curtis in the Assembly, 1740 dawned and again his fellow justices asked that he travel to Williamsburg in Curtis' stead.
He returned to Fredericksburg following the session in mid June and must have learned that his health was deteriorating rapidly. That's when Henry's last, and quite colorful chapter of his remarkable life was written. His wife either had knowledge of his illness or had a premonition - we just don't know which. In the preceding December she had taken steps to protect her property from the hordes of collectors who would descend on the family with Henry's demise. She had a deed of gift created leaving all of her estate to her young son, Lewis. It contained household goods, cattle, sheep and 50 slaves. It was recorded in May, 1740. By July, Willis was working on his own will which was recorded July 25th and naming his brother Francis and close friend John Grymes of Middlesex County as Executors. Their instructions were clear - sell all or part of his estate to pay his debts and if anything were left over to share it among his children. In order to have an estate to sell, Henry made the deal of his life and in so doing purchased ¼ of the entire town of Fredericksburg! Now it might surprise the readers that a dozen years after our fair town was founded, ¼ of the lots were still available for sale. It was a "buyer's" market. Prices had remained flat and still there were many vacant lots in town.
His transactions took place on August 5th. Seventeen lots were purchased - but there was a catch. Legally, per the Charter that established the town (and named him a Trustee), no person could purchase more than 2 lots. What was Henry to do? Get creative, of course. The transactions were all between other persons and the town and the land was then "conveyed" to Henry - and no more than 2 lots were conveyed from any one person. Of course all his friends were in on the scheme - they had to be to make it work, yet no one complained or challenged the purchases. Who were the conveyors? Some were probably legitimate, but others were something else entirely. Nathaniel Chapman, a Stafford merchant was probably "in" on it, as was Henry's brother Francis and co-trustee John Taliaferro. But others were questionable at best. The Rev. Theodosius Staige, St. George's first Rector, had been gone from the area for over a decade. My favorite conveyor was William Gooch, Esquire - the colony's sitting Governor! Little more than a month later, on September 14th, Henry died. Per his will his executors began making improvements to his lands and began the task of selling them off to cover his debts. Two lots were chosen for explicit improvements, and within months an ordinary was erected on the lots closest to the new courthouse! This would become known as the Long Ordinary - the busiest place in town on court days. Alas, there are scant records of its operations so it remains dwarfed in history to Weedon's Tavern on William Street. So, did his plan work? Apparently so. The following spring his estate was put to auction. All debts were paid and there was some money left over for his family. So is Henry Willis the model for today's MBA candidates? Probably not. Although he had drive and determination, he lacked some of the administration and organization skills to pull off the deals on a routine basis. But Willis he was here when Fredericksburg needed him. He was instrumental in getting the tobacco inspection process going and paid off the Buckner and Royston families just when it looked like this new "town" idea had pretty much petered out. Also remember, that he had his hand in literally everything in the early days of the town's existence - he built the tobacco warehouses, the church, the courthouse, the prison - practically the entire community. And finally when it looked like the county seat would be moved from Fredericksburg (ensuring its early demise) he got it a reprieve through his ties in the Assembly. He eagerly jumped at each of these daunting tasks and relished in their victory. Say what you like about Henry Willis - bold dreamer, schemer, whatever - but remember without the likes of him, the town of Fredericksburg would probably not be what it is today. And of his children…
Children of Henry and Anne:
Mary (1716-1766) married Col. William Daingerfield of "Coventry" in Spotsylvania County.
Francis (b. 1718)
David (b.1720) and Robert (b. 1726) probably died young as they were not mentioned in their father's will.
Henry (1722-after 1740) married Elizabeth Gregory, his stepsister.
John (1724-1750) married Elizabeth Madison
Children of Henry and Mildred Brown:
John (1728-177?) married twice and was killed in S.C. by tories.
Elizabeth (1729/30-?) married Dr. William Sale.
Ann (1731-?) married Duff Green; died in Danville, KY.
Isabelle (1733-?) married Howell Lewis and died in N.C.
Children of Henry and Mildred Gregory:
Lewis (1734-1813) married Mary Champe, Ann Carter, and Mrs.Elizabeth Bloomfield
Sources:
Byrd, William. "A Progress to the Mines." (Book is on-line.)
Crozier, William. Virginia County Records - Vol 1 Spotsylvania 1721-1800. (New York, 1905)
Felder, Paula. Forgotten Companions. (American History Co.,Fredericksburg, VA. 2000)
Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family. (American History Co., Fredericksburg, VA. 1999)
McCabe, Marian. "A Chronology of the Life of Henry Willis." (Manuscript, CRRL, ca 1999)
Potter, Origanna Willis. The Willises of Virginia. (Mars Hill, N.C.,1964)
Torrence, Clayton. "A Virginia Lady of Quality and Her Possessions: Mrs. Mildred Willis of Fredericksburg."
(Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol 56, 1948) Volume 6 Number 2 Summer 2003
Newsletter of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society, Inc.
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So you can see that the only child of his and Mildred Washington Gregory was Lewis Willis.
Contributor: Kathy Awbrey (47805362) • [email protected]
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