Henry Willis II1,2

M, b. before 14 September 1628, d. 11 September 1714
FatherWilliam Willis b. b 23 Dec 1605, d. b 4 Jun 1665
MotherKatheren Woodford d. b 23 Jan 1642
     Henry was born the 14th day of the 9th month 1628 at Wiltshire, England.3 On 14 September 1628, he was christened in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, at St. Denys Church.4 Henry married Mary Peace on 25 March 1655 in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, at St. Denys Church. Her maiden name may have been Pearce.5 In 1666, Henry & Mary Willis, along with their family, moved from Devizes to London after the great fire & plaque there in the mid 1660's. It is in the public record that Henry went to visit his father and other friends in jail (they had been placed in jail because of being at a Quaker meeting). When Henry and his friends arrived at the prison, the were asked to take the Oath of Allegiance, which Quakers refuse to do, and upon their refusal, they were jailed as well. There daughter, Elizabeth was born during the time that Henry was in prison. While in London, the family was living in the Quaker Center of Spitalfields, which is located less than a mile away from the Tower of London. In 1675, the family immigrated to the New World, where Henry made a purchase of 22 acres of land on 2 Ocrtober 1675. This was in Hempstead snf was called Wood Edge which is now known as Westbury. They purchased the land from Captain John Seaman.

31 August 1698, Henry and Mary and his wife, [ROF:Hempstead Town] were listed on the Hempstead Town Census. Enumerated in this household were Henry Willis, Mary, Hester Searing. Henry departed this life the 11th day of the 7th month 1714 in Westbury, Hempstead Town, Queens County, Long Island, New York.6

Family

Mary Peace b. 12 Aug 1632, d. 23 Jun 1714
Children

Citations

  1. [S117] Mary Thomas Seaman, The Seaman Family of America, page 31.
  2. [S1045] L.I. Benjamin D. Hicks of Old Westbury, Willis Family of Long Island, page 170 - In 1760 Samuel Willis, a grandson of Henry Willis, the emigrant ancestor of the American family, wrote "An account of kindred," in which he traced, with some care, many of the branches of his paternal and maternal ancestry from his own time back to that of his English great-grandfather. In 1801 Thomas Willis, grandson of the above Samuel, perfected some parts of the record left by his grandfather, and made a few additions of later generations. Since 1852 Samuel Hicks, who married a great-great granddaughter of Samuel Willis, has been interested in completing the record, and in bringing down the main line and its collateral brances to the present. [note: the references in this work to this source are mainly coming from the work done by the above Samuel Willis in 1760. - KLM]
  3. [S1045] L.I. Benjamin D. Hicks of Old Westbury, Willis Family of Long Island, page 173 - Henry Willia born 14 September 1628 in Wiltshire County, England [These were Quaker dates transcribed incorrectly. - klm].
  4. [S1047] George I. Willis, The English Origins of Henry Willis of Westbury, Long Island, pages 66-67 - Henry Willens baptized 14 September 1628 St. Denys Church, Warminster, Wiltshire, England.
  5. [S1047] George I. Willis, The English Origins of Henry Willis of Westbury, Long Island, pages 68 - St. Denys Church Marriage Records: ...Three notes of interest should be mentioned. First, the surname of Peace is seldom found in the parish registersof St Denys. Warninster, though Pearce, Pearse, Pierce and other variations are. ...Thirdly, the St Denys parish registers include persons from the adjacent communities of Norton Bavant, Upton Scudamore, Bishopstrow and Westbury. This raises the possiblity that Henry Willis' home before marriage may have been Westbury, giving some credence to the claim that he named Westbury, Long Island for his prior home.
  6. [S1045] L.I. Benjamin D. Hicks of Old Westbury, Willis Family of Long Island, page 173 - Henry Willis d. 11 July 1714 [These were Quaker dates transcribed incorrectly. - klm].