USA > Virginia > Some prominent Virginia families, Volume II > Part 23
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Now I am going to New York to choose my "trousseau." I wish it very elegant and "recherche," and will you not write me "instanter" and tell me what to get, how to act, how to dress; how to arrange cverything, etc., etc. Just as you would to an own sister, write me everything. My arrangements more than four months beforchand are not defined, as you may imagine, but I have some idea of going to Havana, if political affairs allow it, with some of my Northern friends, and if so, have much to be crowded into a short space, as I will probably be absent until March. My present intention is to be married at "Woodley," and have the company at papa's. His present residence, Litchfield, is only half a mile from here [Woodley]. I expect we shall have a very large entertainment, as we
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have both friends at a distance that we would wish to be present. How much I would like you and "ct cara sposa" to be here, Kate. Is it pos- sible ? Do think of it. Will you not? Do, please, think of it! !
Write me about the style, price, etc., etc., of everything, will you, dear Kate? and do not think I trespass too much on the rights of friendship. You know everything is second in New York, both in beauty and fashion, to Paris, and then I would like to know if laces, etc., etc., are as expensive there. I have a cousin in Paris now, Madame Achille Murat, but I think "ma belle Cousine," a "passée" beauty is rather too fond of finery and furbelows for my plain taste, or rather simple taste, and you always know what is pretty and exquisite. If it gives you trouble, do not think more of what I have asked. Kate, perhaps it is asking too much of you. And you love Nemours very much, Kate! How much I would like to see him. Tell him, if you like, that I already feel much interest in one who has become the possessor of such a treasure as your licart. Tell me more of your marriage; do not think of being so far from me, only think of the spirits communing. Write as you would speak. Lucie sends you much love. She came out at Old Point quite brilliantly. Is still "fancy free." I do not know where she will pass the winter, probably in Washington. Give my love to the little boys [my Moncure uncles] when you write to them, to Henry, and my little Johnny! [Dr. Moncure, at Marine Hospital Sta- tion, Ship Island, 1905]. Tell him not to forget me. I shall ever feel interested in them. I am so glad you are quite well again. You should be so thankful, Kate, for such a blessing is health. May it lead you to higher, holier thoughts, as preparation for that bright world, where I trust to meet you and yours. Oh! Kate, if you knew how that holy religion I professed when but a child in years has strengthened my weak footsteps, plucked life's thorns and shielded me in life's temptations, pouring balm on every sorrow, you would think, as I do, the church a nursing mother. May we yet kneel in Communion together!
Write me of your happiness, your sorrows, in weal or woe; my sympathy is yours, friend of my happy days. I see your uncle, Charlie Moncure, but seldom, hear of him often. The Wood Park family are both very well. They have a fine boy you know. I am so little in Orange that I have given up any pretension to visiting here. Much of my poetry has been published. Must I send you some in a letter? Grandma and my mother send love and congratulations to you, Lucie a kiss. Present me kindly to your husband. Forget not your own true friend.
LETITIA R. LEE.
The above letter was written from Richmond, Va., December 18. I presume 1852, as my mother was married September 15, 1852, in Paris, France. I have found above date on envelope.
The following are the verscs sent my mother written by Letitia R. Lee :
VIRGINIA FAMILIES
279
MISS KATE A. MONCURE.
The rose is loveliest in its bud, When bursting into bloom. The heart is brightest, ere it hath Been shaded once by a gloom.
-L. R. Lee.
MISS KATE A. MONCURE.
Could I write on thy heart, as this page, so fair,
I would graven my name in letters there.
I would ask thee, perchance, in an idle hour,
To yield thee, then, to memory's power ; To leave, for a moment, thy sunny home, And let thy thoughts away to me roam;
I would ask, when I meet, to find thee, as now,
The warmth in thy heart, the smile on thy brow;
I would ask that time should bring no change As it passes o'er thee in its range. How often the friendship we deem So sacred in youth, in age doth seem As a vision gone, a passing ray,
That gilded the close of some sunny day.
How is it, that friends who part in tears
Oft meet as strangers in after years?
Does the youthful heart grow cold?
Is it fashioned again in another mold ? I know not, but I'll wish for thee
That the future ever bright may be,
That round thy path true friends may cling.
True be the love which to thee they bring.
Thy steps with flowers, fair, I would strew,
And pluck the thorn from the rose for you, And oft, when I kneel in prayer, I'll think of thee; then I'll remember thee there,
That when the cord of this short life is riven,
I may meet thee again, I may meet thee in heaven.
Woodley, Sept. 9th. -Letitia Ramolina Lee.
TENTHI GENERATION.
X. Col. John Willis10 (Johnº, Francis8, Francis7, Francisº, Francis5, Henry4, --- 8, - 2, Francis1) son of Dr. John Willis and Nelly Conway Madison. Married (about 1838) Lucy Talia- ferro Madison, daughter of Ambrose Madison and Jane Bankhead (Willis) Madison. Hc lived in Orange Co., successively at "Rock
19
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Wood," "Howard Place" and "Oakburn." His wife d. 1868; he d. 1885. They had issue :
I. Mary Lee Willis11, b. 1840.
II. Jane Champe Willis11. Married Major John Richardson, of Clarke Co., Va .; moved to Savannah, Missouri, and had issue :
I. Mary Jane Richardson12.
II. Lucy Lee Richardson12.
III. Ambrose Willis Richardson12.
IV. Alice Richardson12.
III. John Willis11. Married (1867) Lucy Robinson, d. in a few years. Issue :
I. Shepherd Willis12.
John married, second (1870), Mary Lupton, of Clarke Co., Va., and had issue :
II. Lucy Madison Willis12.
III. Bessie Willis12.
IV. John Byrd Willis12.
V. Anna Scott Willis12.
VI. William Taylor Willis12.
IV. Claudia Marshall Willis11. Married (1869) Win. Wallace Scott, son of Col. Garrett Scott, of Orange, and since 1897 State Librarian in Richmond, Va. I met Mr. Scott June 1904. He was educated at the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia ; practiced law in Lexington and Gordonsville, and was for a time private secretary to his kinsman, Hon. John S. Barbour, of the U. S. Senate. They had issue :
I. Philip Henshold Scott12.
II. Claudia Dennis Scott12.
III. Robert Madison Scott12.
IV. Ellen Scott12.
V. Garrett Scott12.
VI. Wickliff Scott12.
VII. Caroline Barbour Scott12.
VIII. John Scott12.
V. Nelly Conway Willis11. Married (1877) William Byrd Willis19, son of Richard Henry Willis' and Lucy Mary (Nalle) Willis. Issue :
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I. Jane Bailey Willis12, b. 1879.
II. Lewis Byrd Willis12, b. 1884.
III. Mary Lec Willis12, b. 1886.
VI. Lucy Cornelia Willis11, b. 1851. Married (1880) Charles Morris, of Caroline Co., Va .; d. 1889. No issue.
VII. Ambrose Madison Willis11, moved to San Francisco, Cal. Married (there) Maude Bagley, a native of New Orleans. Issuc :
I. David Madison Willis12.
VIII. Andrew Johnson Willis11, became an Episcopal clergy- man. Married Margaret -. Issue :
I. Mitchell Willis12.
II. Hunter Willis12.
III. Margaret Willis12.
I have given descendants of Francis Willis7, son of Francis and Anne (Rich) Willis. I will give descendants of his brother, John Willis7, later on.
I give the following from the manuscript of Col. Byrd C. Willis, beginning with his introduction :
To my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as may have any curiosity to know something of their ancestors. In under- taking to transcribe these pages I have perhaps overrated my ability, as I am not remarkable for industry or steadily pursuing any object to the consummation; therefore, the folks that are to come need not be surprised if I stop short at the end of this page. I make no apology for blunders or omissions, crasurcs or inter- lineations. As these are intended only for the eyes of my own people and expressly for their gratification, they will readily acquit the old fellow of anything like vanity in the introduction of that obstrusive promise I frequently make in the course of these pages. Indced, vanity had no agency whatever in the creation of them; they were simply to gratify a curiosity (not an unworthy one I hope) that might be inherited from me, who had often wished that my father or grandfather had taken the same trouble for my particular satisfaction.
'Tis said of my grandfather, Col. Henry Willise, of Fredericks- burg, Va., that he courted his three wives when maids, and married them all when widows. He was a stout coarse man, per- haps I should have said a blunt man, more likely to succeed with the
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latter than the former. He had children by all. His sons by first and second wife died without male heirs. One of them left a daughter, the late Mrs. Daingerfield8, of Coventry, Spottsylvania Co., Va., the grandmother of my wife; his daughters married a Lee, a Lewis and a Green. [One married a Clayton, marginal note in the original.]
Mr. Lee lived in Fauquier Co., Va .; Mr. Lewis settled in Gran- ville Co., North Carolina; the Cobbs, of Georgia, are deseendants of his. Mr. Green went to Kentucky, had two sons, Willis and William, the father of Duff, the present editor of the Washington Telegraph.
My father, Lewis Willis7, the first of that name, was by his last wife; her maiden name was Washington, full sister to "Old Gus," the father of Gen'l George Washington, first president of these United States. She had been married twice before, first, to a Mr. Lewis, no issue; seeond, Mr. Gregory, by whom she had three daughters, married to as many Thorntons.
My father was her only son, and she named him Lewis, in honor of her first husband. My grandfather was a eareless and extravagant man. The property was bought in after his death, as it was offered for publie sale by my grandmother, who by dint of industry and economy had amassed enough to save the property adjoining the town of Fredericksburg, afterward ealled, "Willis Hill." She soon afterward died, leaving my father an orphan at the age of twelve. His estate was well eared for but his eduea- tion was neglected; he was a strong-minded man, eautious and timid in bargaining, lest he should embarrass himself, a timidity I have inherited my full portion of, for I am most unhappy when I owe money till it is paid. He was a sehoolmate of Gen'l Wash- ington, who was two years his senior-one born in 1732, and the other 1734. He spoke of the General's industry and assiduity at school as very remarkable: whilst his brothers and the other boys at play-time, were at bandy or other games, he was behind the door engaged in eyphering. But one instance of youthful ebulli- tion is handed down, whilst at that school, and that was his romping with one of the largest girls; this was so unusual that it exeited no little astonishment among the other lads. My father grew up a strong and powerful man, and married, at an early age, a Miss Mary Champe, a daughter of Mr. Champe, then a merehant
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
at Lamb's Creek, King George Co., Va. His first child was a daugliter, Mildred8, named after his mother. Married Landon Carter, of "Cleve," same county. She left three daughters :
I. One diedº, unmarried.
II. Daughter Willisº. Married Robert Mercer.
III. Daughter Willisº. Married Gen'l John Minor. "Issue :
I. Mary Berkely Minor. Married Gen'l John Minor.
[Descendants, Carter Family, Chapter VIII.]
His second child was a son, John W. Willis8, who was sent, as was the fashion of those days, to Scotland to school, but though not deficient in genius, he was a wild fellow, ran away and my father's agent was a long time catching him to send back to America. On his return, the old man, not knowing what to do with him, per- mitted him to join an exploring party to the West. Kentucky was then a wilderness. They took up large bodies of fine land, but my brother never could tell where his was. Finally the Indians scattered the whole party; some were killed, some straggled in and reported all murdered, whilst my brother and three others got into an Indian canoe, on Kentucky River, and descended the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, then in possession of the French or Spaniards-the first time these rivers ever were navigated by white men (Frenchmen perhaps excepted).
On my brother's setting out, my father had sewed up in his belt three doubloons, with injunctions to hold on to them till the last necessity. On their reaching New Orleans none of the party had a cent but him; the belt was ripped open, the money taken out and given to one of their own men, who pretended he could make himself understood in the town, to purchase necessaries. The rascal never made his appearance again, nor could they hear. anything of him. My brother agreed with the Captain of a vessel to work his passage to New York; thence he returned afoot to Virginia. About this time the war of the Revolution broke out. He entered the army as a Lieutenant, and served the whole war to the capture of Cornwallis, at Yorktown. As he advanced in life he became very fat, weighed at one time 345 to 444. He was a man of inexhaustible humor, full of anecdotes and greatly beloved. Everybody remembers Major Jack Willis, poor fellow ! He married an heiress and died insolvent, leaving three daughters. They were unfortunate in their marriages, their husbands being Hoomes,
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SOME PROMINENT
Scars, and Epperson. Major John Willis8 married Ann Beale; she d. 1799. Ann Beale's parents were Elizabeth Madison (sister of Col. James and aunt of President Madison), and Col. Richard Beale. Major John Willis was vestryman of St. George's Church, Fredericksburg, Va., 1785.
Mrs. Searsº lived in the upper part of Orange Co., Va., in [what is now Greene Co., Va. ]. Her daughter, Mary Sears10, mar- ried John H. Penny, and they lived near Jacksonville, Randolpli Co., Mo. There Mary (Sears) Penny died, leaving issue :
I. William Willis Penny11. Married Mrs. Morris, of
Howard Co., Mo .; d. leaving issue :
I. George Penny12.
II. William Penny12.
II. John Whitaker Penny11, lived in Helena, Ark., and married there.
III. Mary Penny11. Married Benjamin F. Hammetli, of Huntsville, Mo., and had issue.
Jolın Whitaker Sears10, son of Mrs. Sears above, lived also in Randolph Co., Mo. Married late in life; d. without issue.
Of my second brother (3d child), Harrys, I remember but little. He was a very handsome man, without superfluous fleshi of the rest of us. He married two or three times. He left one daughter, who married Gen'l McComos of the State of Mississippi. Henry Willis was a captain in the Revolution, and received four thousand acres of land for his three years' service. He was Second Lieutenant Continental Artillery, March 1, 1778; resigned November 18, 1778. He spent his estate in Virginia and came early to the South. I have heard that in passing between Georgia and Mississippi he was taken by the Indians and tied to a stake and his life only saved by the interference of a young squaw.
My sister Jane8 married Mr. Alexander; she died leaving one child", and he died before he married.
My sister Mary8 was the fifth child of Col. Lewis Willis. Mar- ried Mr. Battaile. She died leaving two sons and two daughters.
Her oldest son, John Battaile", married Mary Daingerfield, granddaughter to the old lady of Coventry, a cousin to my wife.
Her eldest daughter" married R. Hoomes, of the Bowling Green, who left her with a large family very poor.
Her next daughter" married Muscoe Garnett, of Essex Co., Va. They have a very large family, thirteen children.
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
Her other son, Lewis Battaileº, married, first, Miss Battaile, daughter to Sam Battaile, late of Prospect Hill, who left one daughter.
Lewis Battaile' married, second, Miss Thornton, of Mattapony.
The sixth child of Col. Lewis Willis was my brother William Champe Willis8, commonly known as "Gentleman Billy," b. 1770; d. 1843. Married (1796) Luey Taliaferro, of Blenheim, Caroline Co., Va .; d. fifteen years ago (1812) leaving a large family. They lived at "Willis Grove" (now "The Retreat"), in Orange Co., Va. They had issue :
I. Lewis Willisº.
II. Luey Williso.
III. Richard Henry Willis9, b. 1801.
IV. Jane Bankhead Willisº, b. 1803.
V. John Whitaker Willis ?.
VI. William Taliaferro Willisº.
VII. Mary Champe Willisº.
VIII. Robert Willisº.
Lewis Willis ?. Married Elizabeth Madison, daughter of Gen'l Wm. Madison. They died early, leaving one child :
I. Francis Willis10. Married John H. Lee, of "Litchfield," Orange Co., Va. Issue :
I. Mary Willis Lee11, b. 1845; d. young.
II. Lizzie Madison Lee11, b. 1847. Married Wm. A. Bragg, of Petersburg, Va. They have three grown children :
I. Hancock Lee Bragg12.
II. Calvin Bragg.12.
III. Frances Bragg12
III. Lewis Herman Lee11, b. 1849. Married (1876) Georgia G. Hansbrough, of Orange Co., Va .; d. leaving one daughter :
I. Mary Madison Lee12.
Lucy Willis? married Armistead Hoomes, Caroline Co., Va .; d. August 1, 1814, without issue.
Richard Henry Willis®, b. 1801, at "Willis Grove"; d. 1886, Amherst Courthouse, Va. Married (1831) Luey Mary Nalle, daughter of Martin Nalle, of Stephensburg, Culpeper Co., Va .; d. 1855, and is buried at "Willis Grove." Mr. Willis d. 1863, "Sunny Side." They had issue :
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SOME PROMINENT
I. Lewis Willis1º, b. 1832.
II. Thomas Barbour Willis1º, b. 1834.
III. William Byrd Willis10.
IV. Nellie Madison Willis10.
V. Mary Champe Willis10.
VI. Fanny Braneh Willis10.
VII. Rosalie Carter Willis10.
VIII. Lucy Taliaferro Willis10.
IX. Richard Henry Willis1º.
X. Lizzie Burns Willis10.
XI. Philip Pendleton Willis10, b. 1855.
Jane Bankhead Willis", b. 1803, d. 1862; buried at Montpelier, Orange Co., Va. Married Ambrose Madison of "Woodbury Forest," Madison Co., Va., and had issue :
I. Luey Taliaferro Madison10, b. 1820.
II. Mary Frances Madison10, b. 1822.
III. William Willis Madison1º, b. 1826.
IV. James Ambrose Madison1º, b. 1828.
V. Eliza Lewis Madison1º, b. 1834.
VI. Leila Bankhead Madison10, b. 1837.
John Whitaker Williso settled in Grenada Co., Miss., and mar- ried a widow Boydin, née Starke, South Carolina. Issue :
I. Luey Willis10, married Tyson, and had issue.
II. Robert Preston Willis10, married Jane Bell; had issue.
III. Lilly Willis1º, married James Bell; had issue.
IV. Randolph Benton Willis10.
V. John Willis10, married Eugenia Williams.
VI. Sarah Willis10, married Mr. Williams.
Dr. William Taliaferro Willis" went to Alabama with his brother Johnº, and married there a widow Alston (née Starke). He set- tled in Grenada Co., Miss., near Graysport. Issue :
I. Amanda Byrd Willis10, b. 1834. Married Robert Henry Galladay, a prominent lawyer of Coffeeville, Miss., and had issue.
II. Gen'l Randolph Benton Willis1º, of Willis Grove, Grenada Co., Miss., b. 1836 ; served during the Confederate War; was severely wounded, and left for dead on the field of Gettysburg, Penn .; was taken to Baltimore, and after- wards exchanged. After the war, he was made a briga-
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
dier-general of Mississippi State troops; married, 1870, his cousin, Rosalie Carter Willis, of "Willis Hall," Orange Co., Va., who had married him when recovering from his wounds. They left issue.
Mary Champe Willis? married Mann Page, a lawyer of Orange County Court-House, Va. Had issue.
Robert Willis", b. 1810, married his cousin, Lucy Taliaferro, and had one son. Married, second, Fanny Lee, of Fauquier Co., Va.
Before I proceed in this desultory account of my family, it may not be amiss to give as far as I can a history of the Washingtons.
A Mr. John Washington emigrated from England and settled in Virginia; he left three children, viz .:
John, who lived at the mouth of Nachodock Crcek (on lower side), King George Co., Va. The property was afterwards sold by the family of Thacker Washington, whom he, John, married. I can't now recollect, but I believe a Warner, as that was a favorite name amongst the descendants. The next was Augustine, at Wakefield; where Gen'l Washington was born. I know not the name of his first wife; but the second was a Ball, from Lancaster, or Northumberland in the Northern Neck, Va. She was the mother of the General and also the mother of Mrs. Fielding Lewis, the grandmother of my wife. The third and last was Mildred, my grandmother. I am inclined to believe the first Mr. John Wash- ington must have been accompanied to this country (Va.) by a brother, from the following circumstances :
When the second wife of my grandfather Willis died (she was Mildred Brown when he married her), my grandmother, then the widow Gregory, wept immediately upon hearing of it. Upon some onc's remarking that it was strange she grieved so much for a cousin, she replied that the death of her relative was not the sole cause of her grief, though she loved her dearly, as they were cousins and bore the same name ; but that she knew that Old Harry Willis would be down to scc her and she did not know what to do with him. The sequel showed she knew the man: in a little more than a month the Old Cock sat himself down before the door, and commenced a siege ; she held out for some time, but was compelled finally to capitulate; so that in less than two months after the death of his second wife, Mildred Brown (formerly Washington),
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he married Mildred Gregory, formerly Washington and sister to the aforesaid Jolm and Augustine. In due time, my father Lewis Willis was the first of this union.
I shall now go back to my immediate relations :
After the death of his first wife, my father married the widow of his brother-in-law, Jolin Champe; her maiden name was Anne Carter, from Cleve, also sister to his son-in-law, Landon Carter. This lady had been twelve years the wife of Mr. Champe and had from him no children; yet, in a few years after she became thie wife of my father, she was the mother of three children. The eldest attained three years ; his name was Charles Lewis. Upon his death, his nande was added to mine, which was to have been simply Byrd, and so it beeamie Byrd Charles Lewis, As I grew up, I got tired of so much name and dropped the Lewis, for which my father never forgave me. My mother was a little proud of her deseent from the Byrds of Westover and determined to commemorate it by giving me the name. The father of my mother, Charles Carter, of Cleve, was the son of Robert, commonly called King Carter, from his immense wealth.
As the only child of my mother, who had long despaired of such a blessing, I was mueb petted indeed. The poor lady did not know where to stop, for she persisted in treating me as a child, when I began to think myself nearly a man, and I fear in repelling these infantile caresses, I was not always mindful of the respect due to her. I had no eause to tax my father with being overfond of me; indeed, it was his disposition to conceal rather than display parti- ality, if he ever indulged in such a feeling, and I had never any reason to believe that I was ever its object, from having to launch out much money for the education of my eldest brother, to little purpose ; my father was slow to expend much upon his other sons, so that the cheapness, not the excellence of schools, was the best recommendation. As he advaneed in life, he had great faith in the rod; never failed to recommend its application upon all oceasions. It was usual, when lie entered us at school, to say to the master: "I am a most unfortunate man ; none of my children love their books ; they are a stiff-neeked, perverse generation, and nothing but flogging will do for them." The masters, in those days, generally took him at his word, and we suffered accordingly. The eonse- quence was, we hated school from the bottom of our hearts.
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
At the early age of 19, November 1800, I married Mary Willis Lewis, the daughter of Major George Lewis, of Marmion; he was the nephew of Gen'l Washington, and belonged to his suite, in' the War of the Revolution. My wife's mother was named Catherine, daughter of Mrs. Mary Daingerfield, of Coventry, whom I have had occasion to mention before, so that she was related to me by father and mother. This match was laid off when we were infants and I believe the first wish of my mother's heart was gratified upon its taking place. She lived to name our two oldest children, Lewis and Catherine, and died in November, 1804. After our marriage, we lived a short time in Orange, near the Court House. We then came to Willis Hill, near Fredericks- burg. I was an idle fellow, fond of fox hunting, racing, and convivial parties; paid no attention to plantation business, and but for the profits of my race-course and the sale of fire wood, would have run through the girths long before I did. In 1825, finding that things were getting worse and worse, I sold off, paid off, and came off to this Territory ( Florida). But I antici- pate.
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