The Rev Francis Willis
Francis Willis, born in St. Pancras, London, 19 March 1864 and baptised at All Saints, St Marylebone, 30 March 1864. Emigrated to the USA with his parents in 1883.
Obtained a Bachelor of Divinity from the Seabury Divinity School in Minnesota, and ordained deacon in 1889, and priest in the Episcopal Church on June 8 1890. Ministered in Minnesota : St John in the Wild and St. Antipas, Red Lake, Minnesota, 1889-1901; Christ Church, Glencoe, Minnesota, 1901; a brief spell at DeWitt in Nebraska in 1902, and then at the Church of the Redeemer 1902-1908:
...after serving for a short time in the middle west, was sent for by his father and leading him to the Church that had been built said "Here is your work." For a time he served at the Redeemer, but felt the urge to return to the west and carry on the work he had begun among the Indians. Historical sketches of churches in the Diocese of Western North Carolina Episcopal Church, James B. Sill, Asheville, 1955
102 1/2 acres for sale, 3 miles from Asheville, on the French Broad river, 7-room house and barn, 2 cottages and dairy barn for 12 cows, good springs and nice timber. Apply owner, Rev. Francis Willis, Excelsior, Minn. Asheville Citizen, 17 November 1914, p11
Then he lived at Excelsior in Minnesota until the 1940s, but then at Billings in Montana in 1942 (where his daughter was living). Died there 9 December 1942.
Married at Red Lake, Minnesota, on 25 May 1892 to Ida Elizabeth Rowe. She was born in Minnesota about 1863, and died in Montana 4 February 1943.
At St. John's Parish Church, Red Lake, Minnesota, U.S.. on May 25th (by the Rev. C. C. Rollit), the Rev. Francis Willis, only son of Francis Willis, Esq., M.D., of Braceborough Spa, and eldest grandson of Mrs. Willis, senr., of Braceborough House, Braceborough, Stamford, to Ida Elizabeth Rowe, step daughter of Captain Read, of Red Lake, Minnesota Grantham Journal, Saturday 25 June 1892
Issue one daughter:
Katherine Beatrice Willis. Born 23 August 1901 at St. Paul, Minnesota, and married on 5 Jun 1926 to Ronald Bayers Ries. Living at Billings, Montana, in 1930 and 1940, and died at Roswell, New Mexico, January 1983.