William Willis

His child:		Individual in this page:		His parents:
Nancy Willis	{	William Willis	{	No parents conclusively identified

William Willis was the father of Nancy Willis ^CO35. On December 8, 1808, William Willis of Adair County, Kentucky granted tracts of land to his sons, Robert, Edmund, William Jr., and his daughters, Sally Ingram, Nancy Waggoner, and Elizabeth Graves ^CO35. All of these parcels were granted for the “consideration of the natural love and affection bourne” to his sons and daughters, and for the amount of one dollar apiece ^CO35. To Robert, he granted 641 acres on Cypress Creek (which is a branch of Tradewater River) in Henderson County, Kentucky ^CO35. To Edmund, he granted a parcel of land in Henderson County on Cypress Creek which contained 680 acres ^CO35. To William Willis Jr., he granted land on Cypress Creek in Henderson County, Kentucky which contained 442 acres, as well as another parcel of 123 ¼ acres on Lost Creek, Henderson County ^CO35. To Sally and Jeremiah Ingram, he granted two parcels of 739 acres and 100 acres, which were both located on Lost Creek, Henderson County, Kentucky ^CO35. To his daughter “Nancy Willis, now Nancy Waggoner, and Herbert Waggoner, her husband”, he granted 528 ½ acres of land on Lost Creek in Henderson County, Kentucky ^CO35. To Elizabeth and Reuben Graves, he granted 425 acres on Cypress Creek and 155 ½ acres on Lost Creek, both in Henderson County ^CO35.

William “Willes” was one of many who were deposed in October 1811 in a civil suit case (John W. and Nathaniel A. Miller versus Robert Thomas) regarding a parcel of land and a mill on Sulphur Fork of Russell Creek which was sold by Robert Thomas to John W. Miller, who was the father of the Miller brothers mentioned in the suit, in Adair County, Kentucky ^WA35. An indenture made on April 27, 1816 stated that William Willis of Boone County, Kentucky granted a parcel of land on Goose Creek in Livingston County, Kentucky which contained 1,500 acres to John Willis, Edmund Willis, William Willis, Robert Willis, and Jeremiah and Sally Ingram for one dollar and the “consideration of the natural love and affection borne” ^CO36. This parcel had been surveyed and patented in the name of Thomas Gaskins, and was owned by Robert Patton before it was owned by William Willis ^CO36.

The tax records for Adair County for the years 1802 through 1824 are a bit confusing, because for some years there are multiple entries for William Willis, some years there is just a single entry, some years an entry which refer to previous years, and some years a reference to William Willis, Sr. as well as William Willis (but which was not clarified as William Willis, Jr.) ^AD3. There are many instances in which William Willis was taxed on 442 acres on Cypress Creek/Tradewater River and another 123 acres on Lost Creek/Tradewater River in Henderson/Union County, but this was obviously his son, because William granted this land to William Willis, Jr. in 1808. Sometimes, an entry for William Willis was followed by lines which indicated that he was not taxed on any land, but in these instances, there were other entries elsewhere in the tax record for that year. Additionally, these tax records also mentioned land held in other counties. The watercourse called “Pettits Fork” in Adair County is now known as Petty’s Fork. Rather than write out the information about the acreage owned by William in the various counties during these years in paragraphs, I found it easier to understand in a tabular format ^AD3:

	Adair County	Adair & Green Counties	Henderson (Union County formed from Henderson in 1811)	Livingston County
1802	William Willice: 100 a. on Pettits Fork
1803	W^m Willas: 100 a. on Pettits Fork
1804	William Willis: 100 a. on Pettits Fork
1805	William Wellis: 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 1 horse
1806	William Willis: 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 1 horse	William Willis Se^r.: 1877 ¼ a. on Russell Creek (this was listed in the 1811 tax record)
1807	W^m Willis: 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 1 horse		William Willis: 4600 a. on “Loss Creek and North Fork of Treadwater” (Lost Creek & Tradewater River)	William Willis: 1500 a. on Livingston Creek
1808	William Willis: 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 3 horses
1809		William Willis: 400 a. (unstated watercourse) William Willis Sen: 1877 a. (unstated watercourse, but this was on Russell Creek)	William Willis Sen: 521 or 52 a. on Lost Creek, 15 slaves, 6 horses	William Willis Sen: 1500 a. on Livingston Creek
1810	William Willis: 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 3 horses	William Willis: 400 a. (unstated watercourse)
1811	William Willis: 100 a. on Russell Creek, 3 horses	William Willis: 400 a. (unstated watercourse) William Willis Se^r.: 1877 ¼ a. on Russell Creek, 1045 ¼ a. on Russell Creek	William Willis Se^r.: 660 ½ a. on Tradewater River	William Willis Se^r.: 1500 a. on Goose Creek
1812	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 2 horses
1813	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 2 horses
1814	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 3 horses
1815	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses
1816	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses			600 a. on Cumberland River
1817	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 18 (unsure about this number) a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses			600 a. on Goose Creek
1818	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 14 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek
1819	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 342 a. on Russell Creek, 14 ½ a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek
1820	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 242 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 2 horses			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek
1821	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 342 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 2 horses			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek
1822	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 342 a. on Russell Creek, 200 a. on Russell Creek (the 100 a. parcel on Pettits Fork was not located)			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek
1823	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 342 a. on Russell Creek, 200 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 97 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek
1824	William Willis: 900 a. on Russell Creek, 342 a. on Russell Creek, 200 a. on Russell Creek, 100 a. on Pettits Fork, 97 a. on Pettits Fork, 4 horses			William Willis: 300 a. on Goose Creek

· 1810 US Census: lived in Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky with one girl between ten and fifteen, one young man between sixteen and twenty-five, one woman in his same age bracket, who was older than forty-five, and sixteen slaves.

· 1820 US Census: lived in Boone County, Kentucky with one girl between ten and fifteen, one woman in his same age bracket who was older than forty-five, and eleven slaves.