The French Broad River, North CarolinaBy Pollinator, on Wikipedia

The third Dr Francis Willis

Born in Lincolnshire about 1834, son of the second Dr. Francis Willis. Educated at Uppingham School October 1847 - September 1853 (Captain of School 1853), then at St John's College, Oxford; B.A. 1857, B. Med. 1861, D. Med 1864.

Living at 52 Tavistock Square in 1864, and apparently living in London until about 1869; enumerated at Braceborough Spa in 1871 and 1881 (his mother was still living at Braceborough House). M.R.C.P 25 June 1862.

Seasonable Liberality.—The poor of Braceborough have reason to thank their kind friend and neighbour Dr. Willis, who, to help all to spend a merry Christmas, had a whole beast slaughtered and distributed amongst the parishioners. Grantham Journal, Saturday 09 January 1875

FRANCIS WILLIS, M.D., of Braceborough, was fined 6d. and costs, for assaulting Wm. Hy. Wilkinson, of the same village, on the 1st inst. Grantham Journal, Saturday 18 September 1875

DR. WILLIS, of Braceborough, was fined £1 and costs for assaulting Edward Holgate at Braceborough, on the 3rd inst. Grantham Journal, Saturday 27 September 1879

Francis Willis of Braceborough, was fined £2 and costs for cruelly illtreating a horse at Braceborough on the 13th inst. Grantham Journal, Saturday 24 December 1881

BRACEBOROUGH SPA, near STAMFORD. MR. W. LANGLEY begs to announce that he has been favoured with instructions from F. Willis, Esq., M.D., who is leaving England, to Dispose Of by PUBLIC AUCTION, upon the premises as above, on Wednesday and Thursday the 13th and 14th of June, 1883, the whole of the Household FURNITURE, 2 Pianofortes, an American Organ, upwards of 500 ounces of Plate, Linen, Pictures, &c., together with the FARM IMPLEMENTS, HORSES, and Effects, full particulars of which will shortly appear. Stamford Mercury, Friday 18 May 1883

In 1883 he seems to have emigrated to the USA and settled near Woodfin, which is in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and is now part of the city of Asheville. He practised as a physician there, and was noted for his equal treatment of all races. On his estate he built a mission church, originally named St Philip's but now known as the Church of the Redeemer. It was seemingly built in 1887 and 1888, and the first service was held on 15 June 1888 by the Rev H. S. McDuffy, an Asheville clergyman. On 29 June 1901 he presented the church to the North Carolina Diocese, and it was consecrated by the Bishop, Junius Horner.

Enumerated at Monticello, Jefferson County, Florida ('Retired physician') in 1900:

FIRE ON FRENCH BROAD – REV. DR. WILLIS RESIDENCE TOTALLY DESTROYED – Last evening a fire alarm turned in from the box near Dr. Burroughs' residence. The fire company quickly responded and went as far as Flint Street when it was found that the fire was out of the city. The fire was found to be in the house belonging to Rev. Dr. Willis on the French Broad, three miles north-west of the city, and occupied by J. C. M. Valentine. The building was totally destroyed. At the time of the fire Mr. Valentine was the only occupant of the house and he was unable to save much of his own or Dr. Willis' property. It is supposed that the fire was occasioned by a spark falling between the chimney and the shingles. The first intimation Mr. Valentine had of the fire was by hearing a report that rose above the sound of the river nearby. The house was then hopelessly ablaze and went swiftly to destruction, the blaze being fanned by the high wind that was sweeping up the river. Dr. Willis is visiting in Florida, where he has been for several months. Asheville Citizen, 13 Feb 1901, Wed, Page 4

Died 26 November 1906. Buried at the Church of the Redeemer, on 30 November 1906.

Married at Cuckfield in Sussex, on 8 June 1861 to his cousin Catherine Maria Willis. She was born in Stamford Hill in 1837, and baptised at St Thomas, Clapton Common, 30 July 1837. She died at North Carolina 3 October 1902, and is buried at the Church of the Redeemer.

CUCKFIELD. — Fashionable Wedding. — On Saturday last a marriage in high life took place this church, Miss Catherine Maria Willis, eldest daughter of the late Rev. Thomas Willis, of this place, being united to Francis Willis, Esq., M.D., of Braceborough, Lincolnshire. The bridal party, soon after 9.30 a.m., were conveyed to church in a long line of carriages, and at a quarter before 10 the bridesmaid was led to the altar by her brother, Thos. Fredk. Willis, Esq., who acted as best man, and gave her away, followed by eight bridesmaids. viz., Miss Augusta Willis, sister of the bride; Miss H., and Misses E. and E. Willis, sisters of the bridegroom; Miss Wilmot and Miss Moxon, cousins of the bride; Miss Maberly and Miss Julia Byass. The marriage service was commenced by the Rev. Alfred Willis, the bride and bridegroom kneeling, according to the directions in the rubric, outside the chancel screen. On their hands being joined the pair walked up to the altar, the choir chunting the 128th Psalm, the vicar intoning the rest of the service. On the conclusion of the ceremony the communion was celebrated, and the sacrament dispensed to a large number of communicants. Tho path from the church door to the gate was carpeted and covered, as was the entrance from the road where the carriages put down the party to the residence of the bride's mother, where an elegant dejeuner was provided, of which a large party partook, consisting of the bride and bridegroom, the bridesmaids, Mrs. Willis, T. F. Willis. Esq., the Rev. T. A. Maberly (Vicar); Rev. Mr. Appleton (Curate); Rev. H. Hawkins, Rev. A. Willis, Mrs. Maberly, Mr. and Miss Freshfield, Rev. Mr. Cooper, &c. The Rev. Vicar in a very kind, cordial, and feeling speech proposed the health of the bride and bridegroom, with the usual good wishes, and alluded to the exertions the lady had made in supporting the church, and the good she had done in the parish under his directions and ministry. At two p.m., the happy couple departed for Reigate station, where they took the train for Dover en route for the continent. Sussex Agricultural Express, Saturday 15 June 1861, p8.

WILLIS - At Asheville, N. Carolina, U.S.A, on the 3rd inst., suddenly, Catherine Maria, wife of Francis Willis, Esq., M.D., of Braceboro Spa, Stamford. Grantham Journal, 25 October 1902, p4

PHILANTHROPIC LADY WELL KNOWN HERE DEAD - Died, Mrs Catherine Willis, at her home, 48 South French Broad Avenue, yesterday afternoon at 4.30 o'clock. Mrs Willis' death was very sudden and was the result of a stroke of paralysis sustained several days ago. Mrs Willis was in her 65th year. She was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1847. She was the wife of Dr Willis, the well known Episcopal clergyman here, who with the aid of his wife, built Willis' Chapel, known as the Church of the Redeemer, located just below Asheville, on the French Broad, and donated the Chapel to the Episcopal church. Dr. and Mrs Willis also recently erected a house near the Chapel for school purposes. Mrs Willis' philanthropy, as well and that of her husband, has been felt not only in this immediate section, but in the more rural districts of the county. A husband and five children survive, four daughters and one son. The internment will be at Willis' Chapel tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock. Asheville Citizen, 4 October 1902, p 1

Issue 8 children:

  1. Annabel Mary Willis.

  2. Francis Willis.

  3. Lilian Selina Willis, born in London about 1866, emigrated with her parents in 1883, and died 10 March 1926 in the United States. Seems to have lived in Hennepin, Minnesota, after her parents' death; enumerated there in 1910 ('Parish Visitor') with her sisters Adeline and Irene, and in 1920 with an adopted daughter named Edith.

  4. Adeline Henrietta Willis, born 24 October 1867 at Upper Brook Street in London, and emigrated with her parents in 1883. With them in Florida in 1900, with her sisters in Hennepin in 1910, and living at St. Augustine, St. John, Florida in 1920 and 1924. Died at Ray-villa, Dundonald Street, Hamilton, Bermuda, on 20 December 1924.

    Miss Adeline Willis of Biltmore left recently with her aunt, Miss Willis, for England, where she is at present spending some time in Braceborough. Miss Willis and her brother, Bishop Willis, the Anglican Bishop of Tonga Island in the Pacific Ocean, both visited Biltmore during the past summer and the latter was the guest of Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Rodney Rush Swope. Both came to see their sister, Mrs. Wainwright. Asheville Gazette-News, 29 January 1913, p5

    Miss Adeline Willis, who has been spending seven months in England with relatives, has returned to Biltmore and will remain there with her aunt, Mrs. Wainwright, during the winter. Miss Willis is the guest of Miss Mary E. Spann. Asheville Gazette-News, 1 October 1913, p5

  5. Emily Beatrice Willis, born at Braceborough about 1869 and enumerated there in 1871 and 1881. Living in Hamilton, Bermuda, in 1919.

    Miss Beatrice Willis is attending the Episcopal conference now going on in Knoxville. Asheville Gazette-News, 17 Nov 1911, 25

    Miss Beatrice Willis, who has recently visited in Bermuda, has returned to Biltmore. Asheville Citizen, 2 Oct 1913, p2

  6. Catherine Gertrude Willis, born 5 June 1870 and died a week later. Buried at Braceborough.

  7. Irene Willis, born in October 1871. Emigrated with her parents in 1883, and in lodgings in Asheville in 1900, and with her sister Lilian in Hennepin in 1910 ('Nurse').

    Married on 15 October 1915 at Portland, Oregon, to Albert J McGough. He was a farmer, born at Cambria, Pennsylvania, 17 February 1872. They were both still alive in the 1941 census, living in Wasco, Oregon. She died 25 April 1946 at Wasco, Oregon, and he died 3 October 1952 at Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania. No issue.

    Mr. Alfred Joseph McGough - Miss Irene Willis - married - Wednesday, October the fifteenth - Nineteen Hundred and Fifteen. - Portland, Oregon.

    Miss Willis was a former resident of Asheville where her childhood was spent. She is a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Willis of Asheville, a niece of Mrs. Wainwright of Biltmore and a niece of the Bishop of Honolulu a distinguished divine of the Episcopal church. Mrs. McGough has a sister, Miss Adelaide Willis, residing in this city and another, Miss Beatrice Willis, formerly of Asheville who is now a resident of Colombia.

    The Willis family is connected prominently in England and old and established here Mr. and Mrs. Willis on coming to Asheville from England settled near this city on the French Broad River and near their residence there built the beautiful little rock church known as the Church of the Redeemer between Asheville and Alexander. Here Mrs. McGough and her sister spent their young girlhood, the former later going to the west where she engaged in nursing and now has a large ranch. She is a young woman of unusually fine traits of character and has many friends and relatives in this city who will hear with interest of her recent marriage Asheville Gazette-News, 26 October 1915, p6

  8. Basil Robert Willis, born 20 July and died 30 July 1875. Buried at Braceborough.