William Henry Willis

William Henry Willis

• Father: Peter James Willis b. 26 March 1815, d. 25 November 1873
• Mother: Caroline Womack b. 18 July 1828, d. 19 September 1863

• William Henry Willis was born on 7 December 1845 in Texas.
• Peter James Willis and Caroline Womack appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1850 in Montgomery County, Texas, living next to Peter's brother Richard.. Other members of the household included William Henry Willis, Peter James Willis and Mary Ellen Willis.
• He married Emma Beverly Price, daughter of R. Beverly Price, on 19 December 1877 in Columbia, Boone County, Missouri.
• William Henry Willis died on 16 May 1888 at age 42 in Galveston County, Texas.
• His wife Emma Beverly Price became a widow at his death.
• The following appeared on 17 May 1888 in The Dallas Morning News: (Galveston, May 16) One of the most distressing accidents ever occurring in the city was that which occurred at an early hour this morning, by which Galveston loses one of her best and most promising citizens, and one of her leading business men. . . .
       The funeral will take place at 11 o'clock to-morrow morning from the First Presbyterian Church. The following have been selected as pall-bearers and are requested to be a the residence at 10:30 a. m.: H. A. Landes, R. B. Hawley, Chas. Hume, H. M. Trueheart, Silvain Blum, W. D. Cleveland, and J. C. Hutcheson of Houston, Leo Sellers, W. Moody and John Adriance. Nearly all the wholesale houses will close during the funeral.
       The deceased, Wm. H. Willis, was born in Montgomery, Tex., Dec. 7, 1845, the eldest son of P. J. Willis and Caroline Womack. The father of the deceased was the original founder of the mercantile establishment of P. J. Willis & Bro. of this city. The deceased came to Galveston in the fall of 1867. He assisted him in the conduct of his extensive business and after his father's death in 1873 he became a partner in the firm, and of late years had entire charge of the purchasing department of the house of P. J. Willis & Bro. He was married in 1877 or 1878 to Miss Emma Price, the daughter of R. Beverly Price, president of the Boone County National Bank of Columbia, Mo. He leaves three daughters as the issue of this marriage, the eldest 8 and the youngest but 2 years of age. He was prominently connected with various other business enterprises in and out of Galveston. At the time of his death he was president of the Park Hotel Company at Lampasas and a director in the following well known Texas corporations: Galveston Wharf Company, Texas Land and Loan Company, Texas Banking and Insurance Company, Citizens Loan Company, Belton Nantional Bank. He was also stockholder in the Colorado City National Bank of Colorado and in the national bank of Temple at Temple. He had a large cattle interest in Midland County and was largely interested in lands in Tom Green County, and he was an able and earnest worker in developing this section. He was a man of exceptionally fine business qualities and his loss will be severely felt.

• Last Edited: 8 Jan 2011