October 6, 2022

Reuben Willis & Ann Nancy Garnett

This past weekend, lots of cousins gathered at the beautiful Locust Hill Farm in Virginia for the biennial reunion of the Willis, Gordon, Garnett and Allied Families. Members are descendants and relatives of Capt. Isaac Willis (1774-1867) of Locust Grove and his wife, Anne Garnett (1774-1840) of Quiet Shade. For over 50 years, the family association has published a Journal which is distributed at the Reunion. See this post about Anthony Garnett that I submitted to the 2018 Journal.

This blog post was my submission to the 2022 Journal.

Locust Grove, August 2018¹

Parents of Reuben Willis

Reuben Willis was the son of John Willis (d. 1761/1762) who married Elizabeth Plunkett 1735/35 in King George County, Virginia, British North America. Relating back to the Reunion and Captain Isaac Willis: Reuben Willis was one of Isaac’s paternal uncles. (For other genealogical articles, see the Reunion Journal, Volume 1, No. 22, August 10, 2008 for Judy Willis Lerbs’ article and George Loeffler’s article in the 1974 Journal, Volume 1, No. 6.)

There are two documents that name the children of John Willis and Elizabeth Plunkett: John’s will, dated 25 November 1761 (Orange Co. VA Will Book 2, p. 323) and Elizabeth’s deed, dated 22 November 1764, to her children in which she states, specifically “her nine youngest children” (Orange Co VA Deed Book 13, p. 484). The twelve children are: Margaret (wife of Edmund Terrill), William, John, Benjamin, Joshua, James, Reuben, Frances (wife of William Camp), Lewis, Moses, and Mary (wife of Richard Price). There are no other men named Reuben Willis in the area until Reuben names one of his sons Reuben. So, one can be certain of Reuben’s paternity and identity.

Parents of Ann “Nancy” Garnett

Ann “Nancy” Garnett was the daughter of Lucy Towles (d. after Feb. 1808)² and Robert “Robin” Garnett (1736-1830). In her father’s will,³ she is named as “daughter Nancy Willis wife of the late Reuben Willis.”

Willis – Garnett Marriage

In Orange County, Virginia, Reuben Willis of St. Thomas’s Parish married Ann Garnett of St. Mark’s Parish. On the 17th of September 1776, they were married by banns, a notice read out on three successive Sundays in a parish church which announced an intended marriage and gave the opportunity for objections.⁴

Culpeper County Classes, 1781

The Virginia Legislature, sitting in session between 16 October 1780 and 2 January 1781, passed “An act for recruiting this state’s quota of troops to serve in the Continental Army”⁵ which called for each county to supply a specific number of men. The act further called for the county militia to be divided into equal units, or classes, and one man to be chosen by lot to serve ‘during the war, or for the term of three years’. If the quota was not thus recruited, one man was to be drafted from each class. Culpeper County was responsible for furnishing 106 men. Reuben Willis is enumerated in the List of Classes in Culpeper County for January 1781.⁶ Among the 13 men listed with Reuben in Class No. 7 are Anthony Garnett, Robert Garnett and Thomas Garnett (very likely his wife’s Garnett relations).

Culpeper County Personal Property Tax

Another way to identify Reuben Willis is through tax records. The handwritten Culpeper County tax lists are available at the Library of Virginia.⁷

Reuben Willis is listed in the 1782, 1783, 1790 and 1801 personal property tax lists for Culpeper County, Virginia.

Land Ownership

To date I have found no Culpeper or Orange County, Virginia land records involving Reuben Willis. John R. Van Atta, professor of American History, postulated that “Tidewater and Piedmont regions did not promise a bright economic picture for the 1780s. By that time, most good land in Virginia proper had been taken, and a growing majority of adult white males owned none.”⁸ Confirming his lack of land ownership, Reuben Willis is not listed in the Virginia 1782-1783 Land Tax records.

Kentucky

Reuben and Nancy moved to Kentucky by 1819.⁹

In his will,¹⁰ Reuben bequeaths his land to his wife, 2 sons and a son-in-law, so he must have owned land in Kentucky. Todd County, Kentucky digitized land records begin in 1820 and there is no record of him in those county land indices. More research is needed to confirm his land ownership.

Deaths of Reuben and Ann “Nancy” Willis

Reuben composed his will in Todd County, Kentucky on July 26, 1826. The will was proven in court on September 11, 1826. Therefore, Reuben died before September 11, 1826 in Todd County. He names his wife Nancy as the first heir. Proceeding through the will he names these children and grandchildren:

William, son
Reuben, son
Benjamin Leavell [presumed husband of his daughter Elizabeth]
Harriet Willis widow of my son Anthony,
Brisus Willis, granddaughter, child of son Plunkett Willis
Fanny Tinsley, mother of Brisus [presumed widow of Plunkett Willis]
Robert Willis, son
Joshua Willis, son

Nancy composed her will in 1836 in Christian County, Kentucky.¹¹ Her will was proven on February 6, 1837, therefore she died before that date. In her will, she names these persons, but does not indicate her relationship to them:

Robert G. Willis [presumed son]
Elizabeth Leavell [presumed daughter]
Bryceas Willis [presumed granddaughter, child of son Plunkett Willis]
Octavus Willis [presumed grandson, child of son William Willis]

Three of the named heirs in Nancy’s will are also named children/grandchildren in Reuben’s will. Because of the similarity of names, especially Brisus/Bryceas, the 1836 will of Nancy Willis is the will of the wife of the late Reuben Willis.

Further Research

What else can be discovered about the lives of Reuben and Nancy in Virginia?
Did their children scatter or remain in Kentucky?

Author at the Library of Virginia, 2018. Many Willis Gordon Garnett and Allied Families Reunion Journals are available in the library.

SOURCES

1
Karrie Blees, Photograph of Locust Grove. August 11, 2018.
2
Garnett Deed. Culpeper County VA Deed Book CC, pg 97. February 10, 1808. Robert Garnett and Lucy, his wife, “…for love and affection” to their son Oliver Garnett…”
3
Will of Robert Garnett. Cumberland County KY Will Book C, p. 9-10. Proved March 21, 1831.
4
Orange County VA Deed Book 17, Marriages Section, page 3; FHL 007724923, image 248.
5
Virginia, Wililam Waller Hening, ed. Hening’s Statues at Large, Vol. 10 (Richmond: Hening, 1822), pages 326-327.
6
Virginia DAR GRC, s1 v213, List of Classes in Culpeper County 1781, pg 2. Reuben Willis in Class No. 7.
7
Land Tax, Personal Property Tax and Miscellaneous Separated Records of the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts, 1782-1922 (bulk 1782-1856). Accession 50217, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Culpeper County, Reel 89.
8
John R. Van Atta, “Conscription in Revolutionary Virginia: The Case of Culpeper County, 1780-1781,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 92, No. 3 (Jul., 1984), pp. 263-281. Quoted text from page 279.
9
Willis v. Willis, 1819. Superior Court of Chancery for the Fredericksburg (VA) District, Suit #300-006, CR-SC-H. May 1, 1819 ordering the defendants before the Court.
10
Will of Reuben Willis. Todd Co VA Will Book A, pages 435-437. signed July 27, 1826, proven September 11, 1826.
11
Will of Nancy Willis. Christian Co KY Will Book K, page 47-48. Written December 12, 1836, proven February 6, 1837.

Author: Karrie Blees

Filed Under: Garnett, Willis