Stories from Gus Adams, published in Tifton Gazette, Tift Co. GA
Willis Family
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
J. E. (Edd) Dorminey edorminey@dishmail.net
Around the "turn of the Century" (1912) there was a man by the name of
Gus Adams (friends called him "Pat") who lived near Chula, Tift County,
GA with several families. First with William and Louisa Jane Branch and
then at the home of some of their grown children. After a while he moved
in with the D.H. Hogan family. Gus was from Brooklyn, New York and came
to Georgia about 1878 where he followed his occupation as a painter and
decorator. While residing and working around the Chula area, he went from
home to home and knew all the old residents of this section and visited
with them. He attended family reunions, annual meetings and celebrations,
and his writings of these gatherings were an interesting feature of the
"Tifton Gazette" in Tifton Georgia for many years. Gus died in 1933.
These stories live on to tell some very interesting histories of the
different families of the area. Look especially at the "Whiddon" write
up as it is very interesting in relation to the Dorminy family and
where they originated.
SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION
Bob Morrell was editor of the Tifton Gazette 30 years ago when he and his
wife Betty discovered and salvaged these genealogies from some old Tifton
Gazette papers that were crumbling and falling apart from being exposed to
age, dust, South Georgia heat and humidity. Betty took these old papers and
copied the Gus Adams genealogies onto "teletype" paper on her typewriter.
She said that during the process the act of turning the pages would tear the
brittle newsprint and she had to have something placed under them to turn
them or they would crumble in her hands. If she hadn^t saved these family
histories, they would have been lost forever as no other source has been
found that has copies of these articles except the one on the Paulk^s and
part of the one on the Dorminy family which we obtained from another source
CAUTION!!! Please be aware that Mr. Adams did not have the benefit of
a computer to cross check his information. He has a LOT of mistakes in
these histories but if you use them, and are aware of this fact, you
can benefit by having a starting point. Do not use this information as
your final reference . I know for a fact that a lot of Dorminy
information as well as other information is partially WRONG so to be
forwarned is to be forarmed.
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Tifton Gazette
Mar. 1, 1912
Vol. XXI No. 43
THE WILLIS FAMILY
Old Ben Willis was one of the first settlers of this part of Georgia.
He married Margaret Morrison, and their descendants are scattered all
through the wiregrass country.
He and his family lived in Dooly County, on the old Elijah Pate place
about eight miles from Sycamore near the Irwin County line which part
was taken in the formation of Worth County in 1856 and Turner County
in 1905.
The Willises, Story's, Warrens, Gibbs, Fords, Sumners and Hobby's were
among the most prominent people of Worth County as the Pitts, Browns,
etc. were in Dooly County.
Ben Willis and his family were quiet, peaceful citizens. His children
all grew up, married, and settled off, except one daughter, Peggy. The
Indians were on peaceful terms with the white settlers and frequently
purchased provisions from and traded with the pale faced invaders.
They would approach a white man's home single file, stack their guns
outside the palings and were very friendly, but when unfriendly or on
the warpath, they would approach the white man's home well armed.
Jim Brown, who lived in Dooly County, and a young man named Story,
shot a young squaw close to the home of Ben Willis. This aroused the
Indians, who wreaked vengeance on the first white settlers they came
in contact with, which were Mrs. Ben Willis, who was a very old lady,
and her daughter, Peggy, who had an infant child. They were the
victims of the red man's wrath.
Ben Willis had been absent from home and upon his return the scene
that confronted him was horrible beyond description.
The Indians had murdered his wife and daughter, drove a pine knot into
the skull of the infant, ransacked and plundered the house, set it on
fire and left the murdered and ruins as Ben Willis found them upon his
return. All that was near and dear to him lay dead in his yard. His
wife bore marks of violence and her hands were blistered by her
efforts to prevent the red brutes from throwing her into the burning
dwelling. His daughter was dead, her baby a corpse and his home and
belongings a heap of ashes.
The nearest neighbors buried the dead and then proceeded to protect
the women and children from further harm. All gathered at the home of
Jonathan Smith, near the place where Rebecca is now situated, and some
of the men guarded the place while others pursued the Indians and
drove them off. Desperate measures required desperate remedies and
these were the men in those days to meet them.
___________________________________________________
Ben Willis's children were: John, Ben, Dan, Jerry, Mary, and Sarah.
John married Tilda Calloway. Their children were: Jack, Cynthia,
William, Green, Dave, Wilson, Jim, Dan, Elizabeth, Perry, George and
Matilda.
Jack married Margaret Williams. They were the parents of: Mary who
never married. Sarah, who married John Baker.
Matilda Anne, who married Rev. A.L. Bishop. Martha who married J.M.
Mims.
Orville, who married Betty Rooks; she died, he next married Annie
Musselwhite.
Ophelia married Tom Fox, whose daughter Kate, married Mr. Lindsey,
County Surveyor of Tift.
Cynthia, daughter of John, married Flournoy Clarke. Their children
were: Bud, Rev. George F., who married Sis Norman; Elizabeth, who
married Miles Monk, and Rachel, who married Frank Monk.
William, son of John, married Eliza Hancock, daughter of Henry
Hancock. Their children were: Henry, Mary Jane, Francis, Marion, and
Kansas.
Henry married Miss Livingstone. Their chldren were: W.H. who married
Miss Nancy Gibbs, daughter of Rev. James Gibbs. Florence, who married
V.F. Norman; John M. who lives at Morven; another daughter who also
married a Norman, and other children.
Green, son of John, married Mary Jane Porter. Their children;
Elizabeth married Tom Willis.
John married Eliza Willis.
Annie married Jake Young (Cripple Jake)
Jane married Richard Hayes
Samantha married Jacob Marchant.
Henry married Jane Sinclair.
Dave, son of John, married, ?ira Jordan. Their children were: Dave,
Dowe, Dent, Susie and Elizabeth.
Wilson, son of John, married Miss Mauldin.
Jim, son of John, married Fannie Mauldin.
Dan, son of John, married Nancy Williams.
Elizabeth, daughter of John, married Richard Porter. Children: John,
Mary, America, and Fannie.
Perry, son of John, married Minnie Powell; he died.
George, son of John, married Nancy Lovitt. She died. Their children
were: Will, John, Hardy, Spencer, Albert and Mary.
Matilda, daughter of Joe, married Jim Thornhill.
Ben, son of Ben, married Sally Sumner, daughter of old Joe Sumner.
Their children were: Dan , Joe, George, William, John, Betsy, Mary,
Cynthia, Martha, and Sarah.
Dan, oldest son of Ben and Sallie, married Narcissa Young, daughter of
Fat Jake. Their children:
Sally, married Johnny Gibbs, who died in 1907, leaving a large family
well provided for.
Mary Jane married John Bozeman.
Martha Anne married Wm. Williams; she died.
Cephus married Rhody Sumner.
Morgan and Irvin.
Joe, son of Ben, married Rachel Land, daughter of Jack Land.
William and John, sons of Ben, died in the war.
Betsy, daughter of Ben, married Wm. Hobby.
Cynthia, daughter of Ben, married Jim Trammell.
Martha, daughter of Ben, married Vince Thompson.
Mary, daughter of Ben, married John Brooks.
Sarah, daughter of Ben, married Jeff Davis.
Dan, son of old Ben Willis, married Betsy Smith. Their children were:
Jim, John, Joe, Augustus, Sally, Nancy, Martha, and Jennie.
Jim and John died in the war.
Joe married Jane Rooks; child, Walter. Augustus married Jennie Cox,
daughter of Tom Cox.
Sally married Calvin Land, father of Henry, who married Becky Gibbs,
daughter of Allen Gibbs.
Martha married Sidney Jones.
Nancy died. Jennie single.
Jerry, son of old Ben, went to Texas.
Mary, daughter of old Ben, married Dave Smith. Children: Lambert,
John, Isaac, and Walton.
Sarah, daughter of old Ben, married Story.
______________________________________________
Dempsey and Barney Willis came from Wilkinson County about eighty
years ago.
Dempsy married Mary Baker, daughter of Tom Baker. Their children were:
Nick, William, John, Nancy, who married Jim Willis: Amanda, who
married B.H. Crum; Sarah, who married E. Lindsey: Cynthia, who married
H.F. Mullis: Eliza, who married J.I. Willis; Polly, who married J.B.
Mullis, and Mary Anne, who married Frank Overstreet.
Nick married Phoebe Tucker, daughter of Math, a son of Crawford
Tucker. Their children were:
Charles, who married Leathy Willis, daughter of Marion.
John, who married Beula Rutland.
Dempsey, who married Miss Lawson.
Artie, Culbert, Cassie and Mary, single.
William, son of Dempsey Willis, married Mary Mullis.
Their children were: Zoe, who married Goodwin; Lula, who married
Bryant; Eli, Iona and Tommie.
John, son of Dempsy, married Jane Filyaw. Their children were: Alice,
Edgar and Addie.
Emily, daughter of Barney Willis, married J. Owens.
Mahala, daughter of Barney, married Wesley Hawkins.
Martha, daughter of Barney, married Claude Sharp.
Mary, daughter of Barney, married Robert Marchant.
Rachel, daughter of Barney, married Frank Parrish.
Tom, son of Barney, was killed by Henry Sinclair.
_________________________________________
Please take note that this information came from long ago and has not
been corrected for accuracy. Many of these sketches have names
transposed or just plain wrong information so use this as a starting
point, not the final end to your research. THIS IS NOT AN ORIGINAL
DOCUMENT. It is a summary of the genealogical findings of one man, Gus
Adams, which were unsubstantiated and should be used as such.