Joseph Robert WILLIS

1827 - 1907  (~ 79 years)

 Set As Default Person

• Name	Joseph Robert WILLIS
  Born	1827	Barham, Kent, England
  Christened	4 Mar 1827	St Mary Northgate, Canterbury, Kent, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Census	1850	West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA   [2]
  	Age: 20
  Census	1900	West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA   [3]
  	Occupation: Comb Maker
  	Age: 72
  Census	1865	West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA   [4]
  	Occupation: Shoe Maker
  	Age: 39
  Prison	15 Apr 1834	Barham, Kent, England   [5]
  	'Richard Rouzel, Thomas Kennett, and Joseph Willis, for stealing three faggots, at Barham, 11 days imprisonment.' Kentish Weekly Post
  	Age: 7
  Emigration	2 Jun 1836	New York, NY, USA   [6]
  	Sailed from London on board the SS Calista with his parents and siblings.
  	Age: 8
  Died	13 Jan 1907	West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
  Siblings	7 siblings
  + 1. Frances Hood WILLIS,   b. 25 Nov 1821, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 04 Sep 1900, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 78 years) + 2. Anne Magdeline WILLIS,   b. 06 Nov 1822, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 23 Feb 1872, Saugus, MA, USA  (Age 49 years) + 3. James Smith WILLIS,   b. 1824, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. Bef 1860  (Age ~ 35 years)   4. Thomas WILLIS,   b. 1828, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 1833, Barham, Kent, England  (Age ~ 2 years) + 5. William Henry WILLIS,   b. 01 Aug 1830, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 29 Apr 1899, East Haverhill, MA, USA  (Age 68 years) 6. Hannah Matilda WILLIS,   b. 26 Aug 1832, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 20 Jan 1855, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 22 years) + 7. John Hood WILLIS 2x ,   b. 1834, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 25 Mar 1910, Leominster, MA, USA  (Age ~ 75 years)
  Person ID	I3761	WILLIS01
  Last Modified	24 Mar 2016

  
  

  Father	Joseph Henry WILLIS ,   b. 02 Mar 1797, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 28 Mar 1868, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 71 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth HOOD ,   b. 31 Jan 1788, Lyminge, Kent, England ,   d. 31 Jan 1875, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 87 years)
  Married	18 Aug 1822	Lyminge, Kent, England
  Children	8 children
  + 1. Frances Hood WILLIS,   b. 25 Nov 1821, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 04 Sep 1900, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 78 years) + 2. Anne Magdeline WILLIS,   b. 06 Nov 1822, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 23 Feb 1872, Saugus, MA, USA  (Age 49 years) + 3. James Smith WILLIS,   b. 1824, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. Bef 1860  (Age ~ 35 years) + 4. Joseph Robert WILLIS 2x ,   b. 1827, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 13 Jan 1907, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age ~ 79 years)   5. Thomas WILLIS,   b. 1828, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 1833, Barham, Kent, England  (Age ~ 2 years) + 6. William Henry WILLIS,   b. 01 Aug 1830, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 29 Apr 1899, East Haverhill, MA, USA  (Age 68 years) 7. Hannah Matilda WILLIS,   b. 26 Aug 1832, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 20 Jan 1855, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 22 years) + 8. John Hood WILLIS 2x ,   b. 1834, Barham, Kent, England ,   d. 25 Mar 1910, Leominster, MA, USA  (Age ~ 75 years)
  Family ID	F936	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Spouse / Partner 1	Ruth C COFFIN ,   b. 1828, Newburyport, MA, USA ,   d. 20 Sep 1852, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
  Children	+ 1. Ruth C WILLIS ,   b. 19 Sep 1852, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
  Family ID	F1291	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Spouse / Partner 2	Ellen WARREN ,   b. 06 May 1834, County Kerry, Ireland ,   d. 06 Apr 1885, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 50 years)
  Married	1854	West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
  Children	1. Mary Elizabeth WILLIS ,   b. 26 May 1856, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 1926 + 2. Julia Ann WILLIS 2x  ,   b. 30 Apr 1858, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ,   d. Aft 1900 + 3. Joseph Henry WILLIS ,   b. 02 Oct 1860, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 25 Apr 1918, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 57 years)   4. Charles William WILLIS ,   b. 01 Jun 1863, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 02 Apr 1873, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 9 years)   5. Daniel WILLIS ,   b. 09 Aug 1865, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 22 Apr 1904, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 38 years)   6. Ellen Theresa WILLIS ,   b. 16 Mar 1868, West Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ,   d. 27 Mar 1913  (Age 45 years)
  Family ID	F937	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  
  

  Census Records » Slide Show		1850 United States Census - WILLIS, Joseph and Elizabeth [nee Hood]
  		1865 Massachusetts State Census - WILLIS, Joseph R and Ellen [nee Warren]
  		1900 United States Census - WILLIS, Joseph H & Mary

  
  

  BMD Records

  Death - 1907 - Joseph Robert WILLIS

  
  

  Newspapers

  Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal - 15 April 1834 'Richard Rouzel, Thomas Kennett, and Joseph Willis, for stealing three faggots, at Barham, 11 days imprisonment.'

  
  

  Portraits

  WILLIS, Joseph

  
  

• Notes

  The following comes from a document my grandfather, Walter Daniel Willis, typed for Paul McIsaac (his great grandson) in 1982 for a genealogy project for school. He was 89 at the time, but still had a great memory. He was 14 when Joseph Robert died and was living in the same house with him at the time. He got a couple of things wrong (total number of siblings), particularly the fact that the family came over in 1833 rather than 1836. He has Joseph?s age at the time he came to the States correct, and an 1827 birthdate is validated by Joseph's death record. "Grandfather Willis Joseph Robert Willis was born in 1824 in County Kent, England. I cannot remember his father or mother's first names. Gramp had three brothers and one sister. In 1833 Gramp was 9 years old. Conditions were very hard to get a in England at that time. And his father decided to come to America. They sailed from England on a freight vessel. They were two months before landing in Boston, they went to Andover, MA. That town was their home where they got work in the textile mills and on th farms. When Gramps was 12 years old he left home and shipped on a freighter as cabin boy. He was gone two years before returning home. He stayed with his folks until he was 17 years old. He then went to New Bedford and signed on a whaling vessel and gone four years and again returned home. In them days there was always work on the farm. Farm work was done by men and horses. The pay in them days [was] from 15 to 25 dollars per month with board. About all the hay and grain was cut with a sythe or cradel. That was before horse-drawn mowing machines came out. In 1854 he was living in West Newbury, got married to Ellen Warren and lived on Main Street, West Newbury at the foot of Slipper Hill. They had two daughters Mary and Ann. He then bought a 1/2 acre of land where your great aunt Edith lives now. He bought a building 10'x 15'. It was used as the first Post Office in West Newbury and moved to where it stands now. As he got money he would build rooms on to it, as it stands today. They had four more children in this house. My father, a brother Charles, Daniel, sister Ellen. Gramp worked on farms and cut cord wood and finished his working days in the comb shop until 1903 the comb shop closed. Gramp was a very quiet spoken man and he will never be forgotten by me. He died 1907." [7] Died: Cause of Death: 'Phthisis Pulmonalisis' (Tuberculosis)

  
  

• Sources

  [S250] FindMyPast.co.uk, Canterbury Cathedral Archives. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/records/parish-records/details/B/96598519?fY=1823&tY=1833&sn=WILLIS&iFnsV=false&fns=JOSEPH&cy=KEN&rC=1&locale=en [S168] *1850 US Census. [S173] *1900 US Census. [S170] *1865 Massachusetts State Census [US]. [S250] FindMyPast.co.uk, Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal - 15 April 1834. [S50] Ancestry.co.uk, Source: New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850 . [S27] >McISAAC, Paul (Reliability: 3).