Individual Details

William Wesley Willis

(16 Aug 1811 - 8 Apr 1872)

Posted at Find-A-Grave.com: History - William Wesley Willis was born 16 August 1811 in Hamilton Co, Illinois and in 1833 married his first cousin, Margaret Jane Willis. They joined the Mormon Church and started west from Nauvoo with the main body of the Saints.

He was one of the volunteers in the Mormon Battalion, being 3rd Lieut, under Captain Jefferson Hunt. At Santa Fe New Mexico, Colonel Cook ordered all the women and children and the men who were unable to travel, back to Pueblo to spend the winter. Later on 10 Nov 1846, Lieut. W. W. Willis was ordered to take the fifty-four sick men of the ranks back to Santa Fe and then on to join the group at Pueblo. Many stories were told of the hardships of this journey and of the heartlessness of the Lieutenant. The whole group arrived in Salt Lake Valley on July 29, 1847, just five days behind the original pioneers.

The Willis family settled at Big Cottonwood, where they lived until they were called to strengthen the Southern Utah Mission in 1855, where William W. Willis was a millwright and a farmer.

Events

Birth16 Aug 1811Shawnee, Gallatin Co., Illinois
Birth16 Aug 1811Shawnee, Gallatin Co., Illinois
Marriage28 Mar 1833Hamilton Co., Illinois - Margaret Jane Willis
Residence1850Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory
Residence1860Beaver, Beaver Co., Utah
Death8 Apr 1872Beaver, Beaver Co., Utah
BurialMountain View Cemetery, Beaver, Beaver Co., Utah

Families

SpouseMargaret Jane Willis (1812 - 1850)
ChildAnn Cherry Willis (1833 - 1910)
ChildJohn Henry Willis (1835 - 1888)
ChildMary Lucretia Willis (1837 - 1912)
ChildLemuel Merrill Willis (1839 - 1878)
ChildThomas Tillman Willis (1842 - 1900)
ChildJosephine Willis (1844 - 1905)
ChildWilliam Wesley Willis (1846 - 1917)
ChildGeorge Albert Willis (1848 - )
ChildMargaret Jane Willis (1850 - 1855)

Endnotes