The History of the Surname Willis, National Park Service histories, http://www.nps.gov/frsp/willis.shtml
The name of Willis is said to have been of Welsh origin and to mean "son of Will or William". It is found on ancient English records in the various forms of Willis, Wylles, Wyllis, Wylis,Wyllys, Willys, Williss, Willies, Wilis and Willis, of which the last form is that most generally accepted in America today.
Familes bearing this name were to be found at early dates in the English counties of Warwick, Oxford, Hertford, Cambridge, Berke, Dorsit, Essex, Worcester, Buckingham, Lancaster and London; and were, for the most part, of the landed gentry and yeomanry of Great Britain.
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In 1640 or before, Colonel Francis Willis came to York County, Virginia from England. He was accompanied by his brothers, Henry and William, of whom the first was the father of a son named Francis and possibly by his cousin Hugh, who is said to have been the son of John Willis of Oxford, England who was the grandson of Francis Willis of the same county.
Henry Willis, son of Henry Willis of Wiltshire, England is believed to have come to Long Island about 1675 and made his home at Westbury. He was married in 1654 to Mary Peace, by whom he had issue of Mary, Elizabeth, William, Henry, Rachael, Sarah and Hester.
Before 1690, a Lewis Willis was living in Virginia and was the father of Henry Willis who married the Widow Mildred (nee Washington) Brown, by whom he was the father of Lewis, Anne and Francis and is said to have been the founder of Fredericksburg, Virginia in the year 1720. (Webmaster's note: It is generally believed that the father of the above Henry Willis was Francis; he and Mildred Washington Brown had only one son, Lewis.)
Others of the name who emigrated to America at early dates but left few records of themselves and their families were Jost or Joist (of German or Dutch ancestry) of Mass. in 1631; John of Boston in 1632; Nicholas of Boston in 1634 (who may have had a son of the same name); Thomas and Edward of Virginia in 1635; Walter and Elizabeth of Virginia in 1637; Jeremiah of Lynn, Mass., in 1637; John of Virginia in 1642; Robert of Boston in 1643; James of Virginia in 1649; Richard of Virginia in 1650; Henry of Virginia in 1652; William of Virginia in 1653; Godfrey of Virginia in 1654; John of Boston before 1655; Richard of Plymouth, Mass. before 1670; Josiah of Boston in 1675; Robert of Rowley, Mass. in 1691; and Dr. Daniel (of German ancestry) who made his home in New Jersey in 1765 and was the father of at least one son named Allen.
The descendants of these and possibly of other branches of the family in America have spread to practically every state of the Union and have aided as much in the growth of the country as their ancestors aided in the founding of the nation. They have been noted for their industry, energy, ambition, integrity, piety, patience, loyalty, perseverance, fortitude, resourcefulness, initiative, courage and leadership.
Among those of the name who fought as officers in the War of the Revolution were Lt. Henry of Virginia, Captain Thomas, James and Francis of Virginia, Captain Henry of Pennsylvania, Major John of Virginia and Lt. Colonel Lewis of Virginia.
Thomas, Richard, John, George, Henry, Michael, Samuel, Edward, Francis, William, James and Lewis are some of the Christian names most highly favored by the family for its male members.
Two of the many members of the family who have distinguished themselves in America in more recent times are Nathaniel Parker Willis of Maine, noted author who was born in 1806 and died in 1967 and Henry Parker Willis of Mass., financial expert who was born in 1874.
One of the most ancient and frequently recurrent of the many coats-of-arms of the Willis Family of England is described as follows: Arms - "per fess gules and arbent three lions rampant counter-changed, a border ermine."
Crest - "Two lions" gambs erased, the dexter argent, the sinister gules, supporting an escutcheon or." (arms taken from Burke's "General Armory", 1884)
Bardsley - "English and Welsh Surnames", 1901
Harleian Society - "Warwickshire Visitation", 1877
Savage - "Genealogical Dictionary of New England", 1862
New England Historical and Genealogical Register 1868
Morse - "The Descendants of Several Ancient Puritans", 1859
White - "Willys Family", 1899
P.Willis - "Willis Records", 1906
Mitchell - History of Bridgewater, Mass." 1897
Hughes - "American Ancestry" 1877, 1888, 1893, 1895
B.C. and R.H. Willis - "A sketch of the Willis Family in Virginia", 1898
Bunker - "Long Island Genealogies", 1895
Kennedy - "Seldins of Virginia and allied Families" 1911
Greer - "Early Virginia Immigrants", 1912
Heitman - "Officers of the Continental Army" 1914
The Americana, 1932
Burke - "General Armory" 1884
[http://www.geocities.com/kentmsmith/heraldry/WillisHistory.shtmll] 5/11/2003
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