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Foreword
This narrative history of my great grandfather was prepared in late 2007 as a part of the application for an Official Texas Historical Subject Marker. During the research for this narrative history, many unknown achievements and acts of community involvement by Thomas Middlebrook Willis came to light. These were added to his biographical sketch as well as many photographs of the Willis and Parker families and their early homes in Abilene.
Appreciation is expressed to Annette Willis Zimmerman of Abilene for her collaborative research on the Willis family since the mid 1970s. Appreciation is also expressed to Paul Zimmerman for his help with the placement of the Official Texas Historical Subject Marker for Thomas Middlebrook Willis at his grave site at the Masonic Cemetery on Inauguration Day, 2009 and for his photographs of the historical marker and the grave markers of the Parker and Willis families.
Appreciation is also expressed to Anita Lane, the chair of the Taylor County Historical Commission, for her guidance of the marker application through the Texas Historical Commission and its staff. Appreciation is expressed to Jim Dunnam, State Representative District 57, and Russell Devorsky, his Chief of Staff, for their assistance and advice on the marker application and text. Appreciation is expressed to Julie Dobson, a senior pre-dental student at Baylor University, who assisted with preparing the narrative history and the photographs.
THOMAS MIDDLEBROOK WILLIS
1859-1937
PIONEER ABILENE ATTORNEY
I. CONTEXT
Taylor County, Texas, was organized in 1878 with Buffalo Gap serving as its first county seat. During the 1870s much of the land was used by early settlers for grazing their herds. In 1878, Thomas Middlebrook Willis traveled to Taylor County from Denton County to check range possibilities. He spent several weeks with two Taylor County ranchers who were family friends.
With the expansion of the Texas and Pacific Railway in Taylor County, Abilene sprang to life in 1881 as a new settlement on the railroad. In 1883, Abilene became the county seat. Thomas Middlebrook Willis returned to Abilene after his graduation from law school in 1883 to establish his law practice. In 1886, he married Sallie A. Parker of Abilene, and they remained life-long residents of Abilene.
II. OVERVIEW
Thomas Middlebrook Willis was born on June 27, 1859 in Bainbridge, Decatur County, Georgia.1, 2 He was the son of Dr. Thomas L. Willis (June 27, 1824 – March 31, 1889) and Letitia Barnett Hutchison Willis (December 8, 1828 – January 23, 1925).3, 4 Dr. Thomas L. Willis received his medical education at the Medical College of Georgia circa 1849. In 1866, the Thomas L. Willis family moved from Alabama to Waco, McLennan County, Texas where they stayed with his cousin, Dr. James Madison Willis, for a few months. The Thomas L. Willis family later moved to Weatherford, Parker County, Texas where he began his medical practice.5 In 1869, he traveled to Maryland to attend the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. In the August 26, 1871 issue of the Weatherford Times is the following advertisement:
“Dr. T.L. Willis, Physician and Dentist,
offers his professional services to the people of Weatherford and surrounding country.
Office at A.S. Fain Drug Store where he can be found during the day,
unless professionally absent.”
In 1872, the Thomas L. Willis family finally settled in Denton County, Texas.6 Dr. Thomas L. Willis and Letitia Barnett Hutchison Willis are buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Denton.7,
Thomas Middlebrook Willis traveled to the Abilene area in 1878 from Denton County to check range possibilities.9 He spent several weeks at the ranch of James Couts and John N. Simpson,10 old friends of his father who had lived at Weatherford.11 Thomas Middlebrook Willis graduated from the Law School of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, on January 18, 1883.12, 13 His original 1883 diploma is presently owned by one of his descendants, David E. Zimmerman of Georgetown, Texas. He also received his license to practice law in Tennessee on this same day, and this license is presently owned by one of his descendants, T. Bradford Willis of Waco, Texas. On April 5, 1883 in Denton County, he received his license to practice law in Texas. Thomas Middlebrook Willis moved to Abilene, Texas, in August 1883,14, 15 and opened a law office on the west side of Chestnut Street. In 1886, he was elected the city attorney and later served as the city judge. He was a charter member of the Taylor County Bar Association. In 1907, he was elected the city recorder of Abilene. He was a charter member of the First Methodist Church of Abilene.
He and Sallie Parker Willis (March 25, 1865 – October 18, 1954)16 were married on June 16, 1886,17 at 8:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Abilene with the Rev. L.B. Chaney officiating. A reception followed at 9:00 p.m. at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Henry Parker, parents of the bride. Soon, Thomas Middlebrook Willis and Sallie Parker Willis built a house at South Seventh and Poplar Streets. They later moved to 402 Peach Street before finally residing at 341 Jeanette Street in the 1920s.
Thomas Middlebrook Willis and Sallie Parker Willis were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Abilene. They had the following children:
- Sallie Letitia Willis (1887 – 1971)
- John Todd Willis, Sr. (1888 – 1968) who married Nannie Clara Evans
- Robert Parker Willis (1892 – 1959) who married Abbie V. Thompson
- Neva Willis (1894 – 1985) who married Isaac Hudson
- Charles Grant Willis (1897 – 1977) who married Ivie Rape
- Thomas Hart Willis (1899 – 1957) who married Juanita McDaniel
- Maggie Field Willis (1901 – 1902)
- Roberta H. Willis (1904 – 1912)
On March 15, 1937 at the Hilton Hotel, the Abilene Reporter- News gave a dinner and a public reception on Abilene’s fifty-sixth birthday in “grateful recognition of the labors of the First Citizens and Founders of Abilene.” The “honored guest list” included the names of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Willis with the year 1883 next to their names for the date of their arrival in Abilene. A copy of this 1937 program is presently owned by Annette Willis Zimmerman of Abilene.
According to local and family tradition, Willis Street in Abilene was named in honor of Thomas Middlebrook Willis.18
Thomas Middlebrook Willis died on November 27, 1937,19 in Abilene and was buried in its Masonic Cemetery, block 21, lot 6, space 11.
III. SIGNIFICANCE
Thomas M. Willis moved to Abilene the year it became the county seat of Taylor County to establish his law practice. He was a charter member of the First Methodist Church of Abilene. In 1885, he served as the president of the newly organized literary and debating society of Abilene.20 In 1886, he served as the city attorney and later as the city judge. In 1887, he served as Taylor County’s delegate to the “State Non-Political Prohibition Convention” which was held in Waco.21, 22 In 1907, he was elected as the city recorder of Abilene.23 He was a charter member of the Taylor County Bar Association.24
In 1934, the Texas Bar Association honored two Abilene attorneys who had received their licenses to practice law 50 years or more ago; the two Abilene attorneys were Fred Cockrell and Thomas M. Willis. In 1937, Thomas M. Willis and Sallie Parker Willis were honored with other pioneers for their labors and contributions as “the First Citizens and Founders of Abilene.”
IV. DOCUMENTATION
1 Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, Registrar’s no. 57436, Thomas M. Willis.
2 Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Birth, John Todd Willis.
3 Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, Registrar’s no. 57436, Thomas M. Willis.
4 Grave markers, I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Denton, Denton County, Texas.
5 Abilene Reporter, 23 Jan. 1925, p. 3.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Grave markers, I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Denton, Denton County, Texas.
9 Abilene Reporter-News, 19 June 1936, p. 8.
10 Naomi Hatton Kincaid, The New Handbook of Texas, vol. 5, ed. Ron Tyler, Douglas E. Barnett, Roy R. Barkley, Penelope C. Anderson, and Mark F. Odintz (Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1996), 1055.
11 Abilene Reporter-News, 19 June 1936, p. 8.
12 Abilene Morning News, 20 June 1934, p. 10.
13 Abilene Reporter- News, 16 Sept. 1985, sec. A, p.1.
14 Abilene Morning News, 20 June 1934, p. 10.
15 Abilene Reporter-News, 19 June 1936, p. 8.
16 Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, State File no. 52131, Sallie A. Willis.
17 Connie Pickett, Taylor County Texas Marriage Records 1878-1898, (1985), 21.
18 Abilene Reporter- News, 16 Sept. 1985, sec. A, p.1.
19 Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, Registrar’s no. 57436, Thomas M. Willis.
20 Taylor County News, 17 April 1885.
21 Abilene Reporter-News, 16 Sept. 1985, sec. A, p. 1.
22 Katharyn Duff and Betty Kay Seibt, Catclaw Country An Informal History of Abilene in West Texas, (1980), 90-96
23Dallas Morning News, 4 April 1907.
24Vernon G. Spence, Judge Legett of Abilene A Texas Frontier Profile, (1977), 174.
by T. Bradford Willis, DDS, MSD
Waco, Texas
2009
Dedicated
in memory of
John Todd Willis, Sr.,
Nannie Clara Evans Willis,
and
John Todd Willis, Jr.,
and in honor of
Hester M. Beck Willis.
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![Mrs. John Todd [Beck] Willis, Jr.](http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/taylor/bios/willis/2010/article-wedding.jpg){kind=link}
