LARAPIDE-L Archives

From: "Randy Willis" <>
Subject: [LARAPIDE] Willis & Strother Families of 1850 Rapides Parish
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 21:58:37 -0600

Blankwww.randywillis.org

Willis & Strother Families of 1850 Rapides Parish

Most of the Strother and Willis Families, in Rapides Parish, La., were
neighbors in 1850. The dates in parenthesis are dates of birth and are
estimates based upon census records in many cases).

(649) Sally Willis (1798/1802). She may be a daughter of Rev. Joseph
Willis. She was probably the Sarah Willis (1798) who married Nathaniel West.
Their children were: Jackson West, William West (1828), Nathaniel West,
Jr. (1834), John West (1836), Hettie West (1838), Andrew West (1840),
Sophia West (1844) and Wade West (1852).

(661) Francis E. Strother (1823) and his wife Mary S. Willis Strother
(1827). There children were: Martha Ann Strother (1842), Elizabeth
Strother (1844), Solomon Strother (1846), Mary Ann Strother (1847), Sophia
Strother (1851), Francis P. Strother (1854), John Riley Strother (1859),
Eliza Strother (1861), Henrietta Strother (1863). Francis E. Strother
was Richard Strother, Jr.'s brother. Mary Willis was Agerton Willis'
daughter and a sister to Rev. Daniel H. Willis (1817-1887), my
great-great-grandfather. Agerton Willis was the eldest son of Rev. Joseph
Willis.

(660) Agerton Willis (1785) and his wife Sophie Story (1787). He was Rev.
Joseph Willis' eldest son. Agerton Willis' son Rev. Daniel H. Willis,
Sr.'s two eldest daughters were named Eliza Willis (1842) and Mary Jane
Willis (1845). I believe Agerton named these two daughters after his sisters
Eliza Willis (1818) and Mary Willis (1827). Family tradition states that
Rev. Daniel H. Willis, Sr.'s sister would read the Bible while he preached
because he was blind in his later years. Sophie Story was an Irish orphan
brought from Tennessee by a Mr. Park, who then lived near Holmesville below
Bunkie, Louisiana.

(659) William Strother (1817) and his wife Mary Doyal/Dyer/Dyal ( 1826).
Mary Doyal/Dyer was a daughter of Thomas Doyal/Dyer and Mary Willis.
Mary Willis (1787) is also listed. She was probably the daughter of Rev.
Joseph Willis. Their children listed in this census are Nancy Strother
(1846) (married John Droddy) and William Strother (1849-1932).

(658) Joseph Willis, Jr. (1792) and his wife Jane/Jennie Coker (1810). He
was a son of Rev. Joseph Willis. Their children were: Joseph P. Willis
(1824), Charles Willis (1833), Lemuel Willis (1836), and Elizabeth Willis
(1839). It would appear they also raised a granddaughter, Martha "Patsy"
Coker (1830-1899).

(657) Lemuel Willis (1812) and his wife Eveline/Emeline Perkins (1823 date
listed in census has to be wrong). He was a son of Rev. Joseph Willis.
Their children were: Mary Willis (1833), Hawkins Willis (1834), Martha
Willis (1835), Sarah Willis (1837), Lemuel I. Willis (1839), Olivia "Olive"
Willis (1841), James K Polk Willis (1845), Lucinda "Lydia" Willis (1847),
Carolyn Matilda Willis (1855), Crawford Willis (died in the Civil War at
Shiloh), Sidney P. Willis, and Shrilda Willis. Lemuel Willis and
Eveline/Emeline Perkins' daughter, Carolyn Matilda Willis, married John
Houston Strother, Sr. and their daughter Lucinda "Lydia" Willis had a
daughter (named Matilda) by Richard Strother, III.

(654) John A. Strother (1820) and his wife Eliza Willis (1818). Eliza was
Agerton Willis' daughter and a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Willis. She was
a sister to Rev. Daniel H. Willis. The children of John A. Strother and
his wife Eliza Willis were: John A. Strother, Jr. (1865), Alfred Strother
(1841), Josiah Strother (1842), Bernard Strother (1844 and killed in the
Civil War), Dempsey Strother (1846-1910), Henry Zachariah Strother
(1848-1933), Mary Ann Strother (1852), George William Strother
(1855-1908), Elizabeth Strother (1856); she married David Johnson), Sarah
Jane Strother (1858), Richard Strother (1860), Nancy Strother (1862); she
married T.J. Greer), and Martha Strother (1867); she married
Frankin/Francis Perkins). John A. Strother then married Artimesa Smith;
they had one child: Azariah Columbus Strother (1873-1933).

(653) William Willis (1804) and his wife Rhoda Strother (1814). He was a
son of Rev. Joseph Willis. She was Richard Strother, Jr.'s (listed below)
sister. Their children were: William Willis (1835), Jackson Willis (1837),
Sarah Willis (1839), Mary Willis (1841), Lemuel Willis (1843), Daniel
Willis (1845), Joseph Willis (1847-1912), Jesse Willis (1850-1906),
Matthew Willis (1853-1925), James Willis (1856), and Alexander Willis
(1858).

(652) Joseph P. Willis (1824) and his wife Mary Elizabeth Sweat (1828). He
was Rev. Joseph Willis' grandson and a son of Joseph Willis, Jr.. Their
children listed were: Josiah Willis (1844), Isaac Willis (1846), Mary
Willis (1848) and Simon Willis (1851).

(651) Richard Strother, Jr. (1806) and probably his mother or mother-in-law
Sally (1787). [She is listed as Sally Ray sometimes] Richard Strother's
siblings were: James Strother(?) (1808), Rhoda Strother (1814), William
Strother (1817), John A. Strother, Sr. (1820) and Francis E. Strother
(1823. Richard Strother, Jr.'s children were: Alexander Asaria Strother,
Sr. (1829-1864), William Strother (1841), Richard Strother, III (1843-1868 -
shot as a Jayhawker), Leroy Strother (1843), William Strother (1849 - named
2nd. son William also after others death), and John Strother (1852).
Richard Strother, Jr's. sister, Rhoda Strother, married Rev. Joseph Willis'
son William Willis. Richard Strother, Jr.'s son, Alexander Strother, was
the father of John Houston Strother, Sr. who was the father of Dr.
Greene Wallace Strother.

(480) Jemima Willis (1796). She was a daughter of Rev. Joseph Willis. She
married William Dyer and they lived on the Calcasieu River near Master’s
Creek. Their children were: James Dyer (1823), Roland Dyer (1830), Joseph
Dyer (1831), Elijah Dyer (1834), Elizabeth Dyer (1836), and Jemima Dyer
(1839).

(422) Rev. Joseph Willis (1758) and his fourth wife Elvy Sweat (1820 are
listed. Rev. Joseph Willis' had 19 children by four wives. Rev. Joseph
Willis, Sr. (1758-1854) had the following children: (1) Agerton Willis
(1785), (2) Mary Willis (1787), (3) Joseph Willis, Jr., (1792), (4)
Rachel Willis (1794), (5) Jemima Willis (1796), (6) Sarah Willis (1798),
(7) Sally Willis (1802), [Although she could be the same as Sarah Willis
(1798) above], (8) William Willis (1804), (9) Lemuel Willis (1812), (10)
John Willis (1814), (11) Martha Willis(?) (1825), (12-15) (four females
listed in the 1830 census between the ages of 5-20), (16) Samuel Willis
(1836), (17) Aimuwell Willis (1837-1937), and two sons (18-19) that died
"poisoned on honey and were buried a half mile from the present town of
Oakdale, Louisiana.

Rev. Joseph Willis' Other Possible Children

The 1850 Rapides Parish Census also lists an additional four males for
Joseph Willis & household: James (1841), William (1845), Timothy (1847) and
Bernard (1848). It would be unlikely that Joseph would have a second son
named William. Aimuwell Willis (1837-1937) always said he was Joseph Willis’
youngest son. Perhaps these last four males were grandchildren of Joseph.

Historian Ivan Wise wrote in "Footsteps of the Flock: or Origins of
Louisiana Baptist" (1910) that two sons of Joseph died "poisoned on honey
and were buried a half mile from the present town of Oakdale, Louisiana." I
have not been able to find their graves. Ivan Wise also said in 1910 that
Rev. Joseph Willis had 19 children.

It is of interest to note that Rev. Joseph Willis, Sr.'s sons Joseph Willis,
Jr., William Willis and Lemuel Willis all had daughters named Sarah.

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• [LARAPIDE] Willis & Strother Families of 1850 Rapides Parish by "Randy Willis" <>