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Willis Surname DNA Database
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Status Reports To correct errors or request changes or additions to information, please email the Willis Project Administrator. November 3, 2008 We now have 87 participants. November 14, 2007 We now have 72 participants. DNA testing has confirmed a link between a descendant of Joseph Willis, born about 1759, who lived first in Essex County, New Jersey, then in Greene County, Pennsylvania, and later in Columbiana County, Ohio, and a descendant of a Joseph Willis who was born about 1680 in New Jersey:
July 1, 2007 We now have 63 participants. DNA testing has linked two large groups of Willises whose ancestors lived in North Carolina. One group is descended from Benjamin Willis, an early settler in Mitchell County, North Carolina, who was born in North Carolina about 1765. A son of Benjamin Willis was Rev. Thomas Willis, husband of Keziah Grindstaff. According to an interview with Rev. Willis' son Steven Morgan Willis in 1930, one year before Steven's death, the father of Benjamin Willis immigrated from England. The other group of Willises is descended from Henry Willis, who died in Caswell County, North Carolina in 1820 leaving three sons (according to his will): Nicholas, Henry Jr., and Anderson. Our discovery of the DNA match between Benjamin Willis and Henry Willis, combined with Steven Morgan Willis' statement that the father of Benjamin Willis immigrated from England, indicates a possibility that Henry Willis may be a brother or first cousin of Benjamin Willis. February 1, 2007 DNA testing is helping descendants of early Willis-surname settlers in Maryland confirm their ancestry:
DNA testing shows that the DNA of Willis-surname descendants of Jarvis Willis are an almost exact match with the DNA of a descendant of John Willis of Dorchester County, Maryland, who was born about 1695. January 6, 2007 We now have 55 participants. About 60% of our participants have a DNA match with at least one other participant in the project. We recently confirmed the DNA of a Willis family who lived in Gloucester County, Virginia and Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. DNA testing has shown a close match between two project participants who are both descendants of Lewis Willis (born in Fredericksburg on November 11, 1734). Lewis Willis is a son of Col. Henry Willis of Gloucester County, Virginia and his third wife Mildred Washington (aunt of General Washington). One of these two project participants is descended from Lewis Willis' son William Champe Willis (born about 1770), the sixth child of Lewis Willis and his first wife Mary Champe, through William's son John Whitaker Willis or brother who settled in Mississippi. The close relationship of this project participant to John Whitaker Willis had been suspected, but not confirmed. Recently we received the DNA test results for a second project participant, who is descended from Byrd Charles Willis (born August 29, 1781), son of Lewis Willis and his second wife Ann Carter. The DNA test results of this participant match the DNA results of the John Whitaker Willis descendant. The DNA test results of a new project member who is descended from John Willis of Old Rappahannock, Virginia (born about 1648 in Old Rappahannock, died 1716 in Richmond County, Virginia) are a close match with the DNA test results of four other project members. One of these four other project participants is descended from John Willis of Dorchester County, Maryland (born about 1695). The earliest-known Willis-surname ancestors of the three other project participants lived in Alabama, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland during the 1800s. The test results for these three other project participants are a closer match to John Willis of Dorchester County, Maryland than they are to John Willis of Old Rappahannock, Virginia. May 29, 2006 We now have 43 participants in our project. Family Tree DNA recently confirmed that one of our participants (a descendant of William Willis of Alabama, born 1820) is a direct patrilineal descendant of Niall of the Nine Hostages, who established a dynasty of chieftains that dominated Ireland for six centuries. One group of our participants has established through DNA testing that his Willis-surname ancestors who lived in Gallatin County, Illinois are descended from or related to Rev. Joseph Willis (about 1713 - 1784), who lived in the eastern part of North Carolina (Craven County). Five of our participants, whose earliest-known Willis ancestors have been shown though DNA testing to be related to each other, lived in different western locations (western Virginia, western North Carolina, western Tennessee, Iowa). None of these locations was settled until about the mid-1700's or later. Because these related ancestors are scattered, they may have an earlier Willis ancestor who lived in one of the earlier settled areas of America. DNA test results show that one of our newer participants, a descendant of William Marion Willis of Alabama (born 1856), is descended from or related to John Willis of Dorchester County, Maryland (born about 1695). February 18, 2006 The project now has 38 participants and is growing at a pace of about one new participant per month. We recently had a participant join from Canberra, Australia. His ancestor is William Willis, born in 1674 in the town of Litton, in Cambridgeshire, England. We now have seven groups of two or more related Willises. The DNA test results of about 60% of our participants match the results of at least one other participant. Some of the remaining 40% will find a match in the future as the project continues to grow. July 23, 2005 Good news! Participant 27263 received 25-marker test results that show an almost perfect match (24/25) with participant 9461. The ancestors of both participants (James Willis, b. 1790's in North Carolina, lived in Tennessee) and David Willis (b. 1799 in Tennessee) were born about the same period and lived in Tennessee. March 15, 2005 Our project now has 23 participants. We have a group of four participants whose results show a likely common ancestor who probably lived some time after the the adoption of the Willis surname ca 1200. These four ancestors are (1) Austin Willis of North Carolina, born c.1820, (2) Peter Willis of North Carolina and Tennessee, b. c.1765, (3) Abner Willis of Virginia, m. 1803, and (4) an unknown ancestor, possibly John D. Whitaker, b. 1805 in Mississippi. A descendant of each of these men has had 25 markers tested. There is a match on 22 of 25 markers for Austin Willis and Peter Willis, with only a one-step difference on the three unmatched markers. This indicates a possibility of a common American ancestor for Austin Willis and Peter Willis. For other two ancestors (Abner and the Unknown ancestor), there is a match on 21 of 25 markers. August 11, 2004 Good news! Today participant 20484 received his 25-marker test results, which matches on 24 of 25 markers with participant 10590. It is almost certain that his ancestor, William Willis, who died before 1830 in Warren County, Tennessee, is descended from or related to John Willis, born about 1695, Dorchester, Maryland, ancestor of participant 10590. July 1, 2004 Website completed. June 8, 2004 We now have 15 participants and 13 results reported. Yesterday, one of our newest participants (20484) received results for the first 12 markers of the 25 markers he has chosen to test. His results matched the results of one of our other participants (10590) on 11 of the 12 markers. Most likely, these two participants have a common Willis ancestor. The ancestor of participant 20484 is William Willis, who died before 1830 in Warren County, TN. The ancestor of participant 10590 is believed to be John Willis, born about 1695, Dorchester, MD. We will know more once participant 20484 receives the results for the other 13 markers in the next few weeks.
January 13, 2004
So far we have the following groups in our project:
One descendant of Abner Willis, b. before
1755, Pennsylvania.
One descendant of Abner Willis, b. roughly
1770, Washington County, Virginia.
One descendant of Andrew Willis,
b. 1682-85, Dorchester County, Maryland.
Five descendants of Henry Willis, b. 1628
Wiltshire, England, a Quaker who immigrated to Long Island, New York in
1674.
One descendant of James Willis, b.
179X, North Carolina.
Two descendants of Unknown Willis.
The project is less than one year old. We
are slowly adding participants.
August 27, 2003 We have 11 participants in the Project. As of today, nine participants have returned their Kit to Family Tree DNA. Of the nine kits that have been returned, results have been reported for six participants. The results may be arranged into three groups:
Group 1 - Henry Willis (b. abt. 1697
Chester County, PA - d. 1761 York County, PA) - four participants
Group 2 - James Willis (b. 1790's,
VA) - one participant
Group 3 - Abner Willis (b. bef. 1755, PA) -
one participant
We received the test results for the
ancestor of Abner Willis (Group 3) only recently. The results are
interesting. The results showed that Abner (Group 3) and Henry (Group
1) may have a common ancestor very roughly about the year 800 AD give
or take 500 years. Over time, our project will continue to
gather new participants. Hopefully, some of the new participants will link to one
of the three existing groups and provide us with helpful information.
Our most recent participant is a
representative from the Williss family. At their 86th (!) family
reunion in September, family participants discussed our project and one of
them volunteered to participate as a representative of the Williss
family. The family is descended from Andrew Willis of Maryland:
"We claim Andrew
born about 1682 d 1738 Dorchester Co MD. Fuzzy from there back, but
think we connect to the John Williss described below.
"Info from "Willis Family of Maryland 1680-1805 by William P Hunt 1975 pg 1 "THE ORIGINAL EMIGRANT. John Willis, Granted 5 A of land in Barbados, he landed in St. Michaels, MD in 1680. He is later mentioned in the famous "Quit Rents" of 1704 as being a "Planter" (On file in the Library of Congress and the London Public Record Office. "Quit rents" were an early form of taxation) [His son Andrew was born about 1682, less 20 years would put John's birth about 1655-1660]" July 21, 2003 DNA results were posted for a descendant of Henry Willis of Monroe County, (West) Virginia, all of whose known male children moved to Lawrence County, Ohio in the early 1800s. The results proved that Henry Willis of Monroe County is a descendant of Henry Willis of Long Island. This was a surprise to many of those who had researched this line for many years. The following announcement was made by our participant for whom today's DNA results were posted: "Family Tree DNA reported my ... results today. I am a 25/25 match with ... and ..., and a 24/25 match with .... I believe this now proves that Henry Willis of Monroe County, WV was the brother of Isaiah (b. abt. 1742, ... PA and John Willis (b. abt.1732, ... PA) and is the son of Henry Willis (b. ..., Chester County, PA) ... The belief of all the researchers (including Robert M. Willis whose genealogical works are in the Ironton, OH Library and were put on line by Oma Griffith) that Henry of Monroe was born before 1740 and twice married in Gloucester Co, VA has proved to be erroneous. The Gloucester Co. courthouse has burned twice and only erroneous family traditions survived ... This information will also be quite a surprise to a number of Willises that descend from the seven sons and four daughters of Henry of Monroe that for the most part all settled in the Lawrence County, OH area in the early 1800s." June 16, 2003 A descendant of Abner Willis of Pennsylvania joined the project. "I am interested on behalf of my brother with whom I have discussed this idea. Our Willis family remained in Pennsylvania until his generation. The genealogical trail established so far runs to Abner Willis c.1750 in Cumberland/York/ Lancaster counties ... "
June 8, 2003
A descendant of John Willis born c.1695, Dorchester County, Maryland, joined the project. "I ... thought that my John Willis was descended from Richard Willis (Willous) d. 1689, who patented "Roaley" (Rodley, Roadley or Rondley), 260A, in Dorchester Co, on the main branch ("Willis Dam Branch") of Transquaking River in 1687 (The Early Settlers of Dorchester County and Their Lands, by Calvin W and Mary I Mowbray, v II, p 171). This land went to his sons Richard and John Willis via will dated 21 Oct 1689, (4 1/2 Old 1). John and Richard's mother, Frances Unknown/Dawson/Willis/Fisher in a 26 Jul 1718 deed, sold other lands to the brothers with the proviso that they sell Rondley to their step brother, John Dawson (7 Old 63). All this occurs on the eastern shore of Maryland, with the group moving north into what became Caroline County ... I am now led to believe by some research done by others that this might not be my group after all. The Willis Dam crowd is for the most part Quaker, with numerous marriage, birth and death records preserved by Third Haven Monthly Meeting and with references to Transquaking and Tuccahoe Creek meetings. Thus, any proof of a tie or proof of no tie to Quaker immigrants will be beneficial to my research." May 29, 2003 We now have five in the project. Four are descended from Henry Willis of Long Island, through three different lines that branched off in the early 1700's, the fifth is descended from James Willis of North Carolina, who was born in the 1790's. It will be good to have James Willis' DNA profile on record for comparison with the many Willises down the road who will do Y-DNA tests. April 18, 2003 Birth date of the Willis project at Family Tree DNA. April 14, 2003 Family Tree DNA reported results for the first two Willises tested. The results confirmed paper evidence that John Willis, b. abt. 1732, East Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, d. 1800, Franklin County, Virginia, was a brother of Isaiah Willis, b. abt. 1742, East Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Both John Willis and Isaiah Willis are sons of Henry Willis, b. abt. 1699, Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, d. 1761, Newberry Township, York County, Pennsylvania, who is a grandson of the American Quaker immigrant Henry Willis of Long Island, New York. The significance of this DNA match is that there is now a confirmed DNA baseline against which any other Willis can compare their own DNA test results to determine if they are related to Henry Willis of Long Island. [A book entitled Henry Willis of Long Island, Vol. 1: 1550 - 1800 was published in 2008 by David W. Willis, the Administrator of this website.] |