Jessie Sensor Archives - Digging Up Dead Relatives:

Field of Dreams – Dr. Henry Noble Willis – Part II

When we left Dr. Willis in 1899 in a Field of Dreams Part I, he had just remarried after the untimely death of his first wife Mary E. McMaster. Their two children were Mary Catherine, age eight, and Harry McMaster, age six, when Dr. Willis remarried. Jessie Sensor, his new wife, was only eighteen, a very young stepmother for these two! She was the daughter of The Reverend George Guyer Senser and Julia Frances Mendenhall.[1]

During the year between his wife’s death and his remarriage, surely family or friends helped Henry care for the children. The kids lived at Henry’s home on Second Street. Their maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Grace McMaster, lived close by in Pocomoke City on Market Street between First and Second. Henry also had a live-in cook in the household, Annie Marshall. Regardless, the trauma of losing Mary had to have been extremely painful for Henry and their children.

Jessie joined the family and settled into the Willis home on Second Street. They lived there for another nine years. The 1900 census lists the four Willis family members and Annie.[2] The Willises began attending church at the Salem Methodist Church at 500 Second Street Jessie’s father preached there on a rotating basis. Jessie was active in the church, as she had been throughout her life. She played the violin in the Salem Sunday School Orchestra.

A photo of the group published in the local paper shows her seated at the far right. According to the paper, the ensemble organized in 1904 and played for about ten years.[3] Henry and Jessie’s first child was also born in 1904, a daughter they named Grace after Jessie’s younger sister.

In 1908, the family moved to Wilmington, Delaware. Records do not indicate why the family relocated. Dr. Willis seemed to be doing well in Pocomoke City. He had served one term as a commissioner of the Orphan’s Court in Worcester.[4] He and Jessie owned their home and an office building. Initially, the children’s grandparents were close by. Elizabeth McMaster lived in town and the Sensors were only 20 miles distant. That support system disappeared when Elizabeth McMaster died, and several years later the Methodist Church reassigned George Sensor to churches in New Jersey.[5] Maybe the lure of the larger city enticed Jessie and Henry to move. Moving closer to Jessie’s parents may also have been a factor. Wilmington is about 35 miles from Camden and Wenonah, New Jersey, where Reverend Sensor was newly assigned. The extended family took another hit, however, when Rev. Sensor died in 1913. Whatever the reasoning at the time, Henry and Jessie sold their home in Pocomoke and moved.[6]

Financial Mystery

The family’s financial situation is a mystery. Henry inherited several hundreddollars from his father’s and grandfather’s estates.[7]He purchased property on Second Street in Pocomoke City for $350 in 1890. He and Jessie sold it for $2,100. That would have been a nice profit except that it was mortgaged for $1,500. The net cash to the family was only $600 less any fees. Henry and Jessie did not have enough money to buy a house in Wilmington, so they rented.

It appears that Dr. Willis had been increasingly in debt in Worcester County. Deed records show that only months after purchasing the home in Pocomoke, he borrowed money against it. Further, he refinanced the debt in larger amounts over the years.[8] When his first wife inherited an interest in property from her father, they mortgaged that as well, even before they owned part of it outright. They refinanced that property several times at increasing amounts.[9] There is no record of how Henry used the borrowed money. Did he try to start a drug store, as suggested by his purchase of soda fountain equipment? One mortgage of the office building that was part of the inherited McMaster property indicated it was occupied by, and presumably rented to, a fish and oyster dealer.[10]There should have been some income from that rental. Interestingly, deed records do not show Henry and Jessie ever selling the McMaster property. Was it repossessed for nonpayment of debt? Whatever the actual state of their finances, Henry and Jessie never bought a home in Wilmington. They lived in rented houses for the rest of their lives.

Wilmington

Dr. Willis worked as a general practitioner in Wilmington. He received specialist training in eye, ear, nose and throat diseases and was for several years the city vaccine physician for the southeastern district. Jessie worked as a secretary and pastor’s assistant at Harrison Street Methodist Church a short distance from their home(s). She became Superintendent of the Beginners Department of the Church School and staged many religious productions by the church youth. We can assume her income helped maintain the household. Family legend states that Dr. Willis sometimes took payment in kind from his patients, e.g., a chicken or two instead of currency.

Henry’s mother, Emily R. Willis moved to Wilmington from Preston by at least 1909 and lived with her son’s family until her death in 1921.[11] Emily apparently took good care of her money and probably helped with household expenses. Her personal property estate in 1921 amounted to almost $6,500, all in bank deposits or a secured loan. Henry and his sister Mary each inherited about $2,700 after expenses.[12]

Tragically, the couple’s daughter Grace died of meningitis at the age of five in 1909.[13] Henry and Jessie soon adopted a child about the same age, Katheryn, whom everyone called Kitty. In 1916, Jessie gave birth to a son, Noble Sensor Willis, who was a full generation younger than his half-sister Mary. Mary was still listed in the household in the 1920 Federal Census at age 28 and worked as a secretary.[14]

Mary Catherine Willis

Mary Willis never married. She worked most of her life for the YWCA. In 1916, she attended a reunion of The McMaster Clan in America, in Ashbury Park, New Jersey. Her uncle John S. McMaster organized this national group after extensive research on the family’s Scottish roots.[15] The McMaster Clan elected her Foreign Secretary in 1920.

Mary C. and Harry M. Willis at McMaster Clan Reunion

At the time, she was headed for Peking, China, as a secretary for The Language School, a missionary group sponsored by the YWCA. Her 1920 passport covered visits to Hong Kong, China and Japan.[16] A McMaster family history book lists both Mary and Harry with a permanent address in Wilmington, Delaware.[17] Mary returned from China to the United States before WWII broke out and continued working for the YWCA. She retired in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she died 29 Sep 1966. Mary is buried in the family plot at Silverbrook Cemetery, Wilmington, Delaware.[18]

Harry McMaster Willis

Harry Willis left Wilmington in 1917 to join the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, the precursor organization of the Army Air Corps.[19] He was a sergeant stationed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1918 when he married Margaret Allmond, a native of Wilmington.[20] She was the daughter of Dr. Charles M. and Emma Allmond. We can easily speculate that the doctors Willis and Allmond knew each other.

Harry and Margaret were married in Wichita Falls rather than Wilmington. Dr. Allmond accompanied his daughter on probably a two-day train trip from Wilmington to Wichita Falls for the wedding.[21] After being discharged from the service, Harry and Margaret moved back to Wilmington where he became an insurance agent. His listing with the McMaster Clan in 1920 showed him serving with 198^th Aero Squadron, but with an address in Wilmington.[22]

Harry and Margaret raised two daughters, Margaret and Emma May, who married two Larson brothers. The young women were wed several years apart in the home of their grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Allmond, by the pastor at Second Baptist Church. Harry’s wife Margaret died in 1967. Harry subsequently married Virginia Baker Borton, widow of Everett E. Borton. Harry died in Wilmington in 1974 and Virginia in 1981.

Part III

While his elder children were becoming independent, Dr. Willis’s health began to fail. He died of heart disease 11 April 1926.[23]Widow Jessie was left to raise eleven year old Noble Sensor Willis with only her income from working at the church. How she did that will have to wait for the third part of this family story.

One hint about what is to come — Harry’s stint with the Air Corps in World War I likely influenced the direction his young half-brother, Noble, took before World War II. Noble graduated from Duke University into the teeth of the depression in 1939. Unable to find a job that would use his new college degree, he enlisted in the Air Corps. Did Harry’s prior service have anything to do with that decision? We do not know, but it seems logical that it would. More to come.

______

A summary descendancy chart will help picture this family –

Henry Noble Willis (1865 – 1926)

Married 1^st Mary E. McMaster (1867 – 1898)

Children:

Mary Catherine Willis (1891 – 1966)

Harry McMaster Willis (1893 – 1974)

Married 1^st Margaret Lobdell Allmond (1896 – 1967)

Married 2^nd Virginia Baker Borton ( – 1981)

Married 2^nd Jessie Sensor (1881 – 1937)

Children:

Grace Willis (1904 – 1909)

Katheryn Willis (1905 – 1972)

Noble Sensor Willis (1916 – 1969)

[1] Several sources online give Jessie Sensor and her sister Grace the middle name Mendenhall, but I have found no evidence supporting either. In fact, some census records show their brothers with middle names or initials but not the two girls.

[2] 1900 Federal Census for Worcester Co., MD, Pocomoke City, page 23B, Second Street, dwelling # 80:

Dr. Henry N. Willis, 34, b Dec 1865, married 1 year, b MD; Jessie S. Willis, 19, b Jan 1881, married 1 year, b NEB; Mary C. Willis, 8, b Jul 1891, MD; Harry M. Willis, 6, b Jul 1893, MD; Annie Marshall, cook, 32, b 1868 VA

[3] The photo appeared in the 1955 Anniversary Edition of the local newspaper, the “Worcester Democrat,” copy of the clipping in possession of the author.

[4] Obituary newspaper clipping in possession of the author.

[5] Elizabeth Grace McMaster died in 1903 per tombstone on Find-A-Grave

[6] Worcester County Deed Book OCD 2:29 – 26 Jun 1908, Henry N. and Jessie S. Willis sell the Home Lot for $2,100

[7] Caroline County Deed Book ECF 61:369, 7 Dec 1894 – James S. Willis purchased lands of Zachariah Willis from his siblings or their heirs for $200 each. With sibling Henry F Willis deceased, his widow Emily R. Willis and children Mary W. Clark and Henry N. Willis shared the proceeds. Emily was apparently living with her daughter; both their signatures were notarized on the same document in Sussex County, Delaware.

[8] Worcester County Deed Book entries related to the Home Lot – FHP 1:116 – Henry N. Willis purchases for $350 in Sep 1890; FHP 1:275 – borrowed $500 in January 1891; FHP 1:310 – borrowed another $500 in February 1891; FHP 5:403 – borrowed $1,400 in October 1894 to refinance, netted $400; FHP 6:482 – borrowed $1,500 in July 1895 to refinance, netted $100.

[9] Worcester County Deed Book entries related to the Office Lot – FHP 1:202 – Elizabeth Grace McMaster gifts property to her four children in Dec 1890; FHP 3:535 – borrowed $600 secured by ¼ undivided interest in March 1893; FHP 4:524 – siblings gift the Office Lot to Mary E. Willis in December 1893; FHP 5:320 – borrowed $1,500 in July 1894 to refinance, netted $900; FHP 9:116 – borrowed $1,800 in Feb 1897 to refinance, netted $300.

[10] Worchester County Deed Book FHP 12:239 – 13 May 1899, Henry Willis borrowed $80 to be repaid at the rate of $20 every three months secured by the office building occupied by James W. Bonnefield [sic Bonneville] who appears in the 1900 census as a fish and oyster dealer.

[11] The 1909 City Directory for Wilmington lists the members of the household at 320 S. Heald Street as Henry N. Willis, Jessie S. Willis, Mary C. Willis, Harry W [sic M] Willis, and Emily R. Willis. It does not show a separate business address for Dr. Willis indicating he may have been seeing patients in his home. The 1910 Federal Census shows the same residents but lists the address as 315 S. Heald.

[12] Orphan’s Court of Caroline County, Maryland, Probate Records of the Estate of Emily P. Willis, died 13 Feb 1921, total personal property $6,452.41, net after expenses $5,407.52, distributed to each Henry N. Willis and Mary W. Clark $2,703.76.

[13] Return of a Death in the City of Wilmington, Grace Willis, 11 May 1909, Meningitis, born MD, Heald and New Castle Street.

[14] 1920 Federal Census for Wilmington shows the household at 703 West Tenth Street; Henry N. Willis, 54, physician; Jessie S, 38; Mary C., 28, secretary YWCA; Catherine [sic, Katheryn], 18; Noble, 3½; Emily P. 86.

[15] McMaster, Fitz Hugh, The History of the MacMaster-McMaster Family, The State Company, Columbia, South Carolina, 1926, 43.

[16] Passport application

[17] McMaster, 106. Miss Mary Clarke [sic Catherine] Willis, 919 Adams Street, Wilmington, Del. Born July 9, 1891, Pocomoke City, Md.; niece of John S. McMaster. The listing incorrectly states her middle name as Clarke rather than Catherine.

[18] Silverbrook Cemetery Records, Wilmington, Delaware, p 234 – Old Book; Lot #4 1/2, Section M, Deed # 418, Burial 16350, Grave 6, Mary C. Willis, 75 yrs., 10/4/66

[19] Delaware World War I Servicemen’s Records, 1917-1919, on Ancestry, Harry McMaster Willis, age 24, service date 8 Nov 1917.

[20] Wilmington Morning News 11 Oct 1918, page 12, at Newspapers.com. Sergeant Harry M. Willis married Margaret Lobdell Allmond on 30 Sep 1918 in Wichita Falls, Texas

[21] Undated newspaper clipping on Ancestry. Likely, Wilmington Morning News, Sunday, 29 Sep 1918. Also, the 1909 Wilmington City Directory lists Charles M. Allmond physician and druggist at 627 Market with a home at 914 West Street. Margaret L. Allmond is not listed in the directory. She is listed as 14 years old in the 1910 Federal Census.

[22] McMaster, 107. Harry McMaster Willis, 919 Adams Street, Wilmington, Del. Born July 27 1893 at Pocomoke City, Md.; nephew of John S. McMaster; member of 198^th Aero Squadron.

[23] State of Delaware Death Certificate No. 1274, HN Willis, MD, 11 April 1926 at 7 a.m., 1215 W. 9^th Street, Wilmington, Del. Cause of death myocarditis

A Field of Dreams – Dr. Henry Noble Willis (1865-1926)

Dr. Archibald W. “Moonlight” Graham of “Field of Dreams” fame did not play a half-inning of baseball for the Pocomoke City Salamanders of the Eastern Shore amateur league. And neither did Dr. Henry Noble Willis. But Doc Willis was the team manager in 1892, maybe longer. During his tenure, he was not involved in any time travel that we know of. His trips with the team seem to have been limited to neighboring towns in Worcester and surrounding counties. However, that travel just might have helped him find a second wife after the mother of his two young children died unexpectedly. But I am ahead of myself.

Back to the Beginning

Henry Noble Willis was born in Preston, Caroline County, Maryland on 23 Dec 1865.[1] He was baptized at age 20 months on 16 Aug 1867 at Hubbard Farm a few miles north of Preston.[2] The occasion was likely a Methodist revival or encampment of some sort. Ten children from several families were baptized at the event. Henry was the fourth child and only son of Dr. Henry F. Willis (1831-1890) and Emily Rumbold Patton (1836-1921). Two of his sisters died young — Cora (1857-1875) and Emma (1862-1863). Only Mary (1860-1941) lived well into adulthood.

The Noble Name

As noted in an earlier article Henry’s middle name seems to have been borrowed from a family highly regarded by the elder Dr. Willis rather than coming from a marriage between the two families. The most likely person is Twiford S. Noble.[3] Mr. Noble was a decade older than Henry F. Willis. Was he a mentor? Both were trustees of Bethesda Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist) Church in Preston and were possibly friends before that.[4] When Twiford’s son Jacob graduated from medical school in 1876, Dr. Willis took him into his practice for a while before Jacob moved to Dorchester County and established his own practice.[5] Whatever the reason for its adoption, the Willis family has used Noble as a first or middle name for five generations of men beginning with Henry Noble Willis.[6]

Little is known of Henry’s early life in Preston. He attended local public schools and then Williamsport College (now Lycoming College) in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. He then went to the University of Maryland College of Medicine in Baltimore, graduating in 1888 as a medical doctor.[7]

He had an obvious sense of humor. He wrote on the back of a photo taken while in medical school, “When you get sick, go have your picture taken. Be sure you are ugly a ton and break the camera at each sitting.”[8]

Moving On

Like his father, young Henry looked outside Caroline County to begin his medical practice. He went further south on the Delmarva Peninsula to Pocomoke City in Worcester County. At the time, Pocomoke City was more than ten times the size of Preston.[9] It makes sense that he opted for a location with more potential patients. The young doctor may have been invited to Pocomoke by Dr. John T. B. McMaster (1828-1889). He had graduated in 1850 from the same medical school and had become a prominent citizen of the region.[10] However, Dr. McMaster was apparently not in good health at the time. He died about a year after Henry arrived in Pocomoke City.[11] It is possible that Henry took over the elder doctor’s practice. Henry definitely was close to the McMasters. He and Mary E. McMaster, the youngest daughter of the family, married on 28 Oct 1890 at Beaver Dam Presbyterian Church in Pocomoke City.[12]

Henry and Mary had two children – Mary Catherine born 9 Jul 1891 and Harry McMaster born 27 Jul 1893.[13] Like Dr. McMaster, Henry’s father did not live to see the wedding or his grandchildren. The elder Dr. Willis died six months before the wedding. Young Henry went back to Preston to help administer his father’s estate along with his brother-in-law Joshua B. Clark.[14] (See this link). The elder Henry Willis had died intestate. Son Henry and his sister were each entitled to half the estate after their mother’s right to one third. Shortly thereafter, Henry purchased a house and lot on Second Street in Pocomoke City.[15] Mary McMaster Willis was also the beneficiary of an inheritance. Her father devised his half-acre homestead lot in Pocomoke City to his wife, who gifted the property to her four surviving children.[16] In 1893, the four divided the property with Mary and Henry Willis receiving a small part that contained an office building.[17]Henry may have established a drug store in the building. In 1896, he purchased soda fountain equipment of the type common in ice cream parlors or at drug store counters.[18]

Baseball

In addition to his medical practice and possibly running a drug store, Dr. Henry N. Willis managed the town’s amateur baseball team. An 1892 photo of the Pocomoke City baseball team with Dr. Willis as manager appeared in the local newspaper.[19] Some team members appear to be high school students, others young adults. This was typical of the era – think “Field of Dreams” – when towns fielded amateur teams for friendly competition.[20] Other towns with teams in the Eastern Shore League included those nearby, such as Crisfield in Somerset County, and others some distance away, such as Cambridge in Dorchester County.[21] As the competition grew more intense, some towns employed “ringers” – semipro or college athletes – to bolster their teams. We do not know if Henry cheated in this manner. Had he managed long enough and were so inclined, however, he might have gotten help from “Moonlight” Graham. You see, Archie Graham also went to medical school at the University of Maryland graduating in 1905. He played several sports including baseball.[22] We can imagine that for a few bucks he might have caught a train from Baltimore to help out the Pocomoke City team, especially if asked by a doctor from the same school.

Tragedy Followed by Good Fortune

The family suffered a devastating blow in 1898 when Henry’s wife died, leaving two children ages seven and five.[23] They were not without a mother for long. Henry remarried on 7 Sep 1899, less than a year after Mary’s death.[24] His bride was Jessie Sensor, the eighteen year-old daughter of Rev. George Guyer Sensor (1852-1913) and Julia Frances Mendenhall 1857-1941). The reverend was the Methodist minister of several churches in the region, conducting services in Pocomoke City and Crisfield in Maryland and Accomack in Virginia. We do not know how Henry and Jessie met. Possibly Jessie accompanied her father on his Sunday visits to Pocomoke. However, Henry’s affiliation through the McMaster family had been with local Presbyterian churches rather than Methodists. I like to think that they met because of his travels to Crisfield with the baseball team. In any event, they were married in Somerset County, so we can assume it was at the Crisfield Methodist Church with her father officiating.

It must have been quite a challenge for Jessie becoming the stepmother of two children, especially being only eleven years older than her stepdaughter! But that will have to wait for the second part of this story.

_____

[1] There is no birth certificate for Henry Noble Willis, and other evidence of his birth date is inconsistent. State of Delaware, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death #1274 states his birth date as 23 Dec 1866 and date of death as 11 Apr 1926. However, the 1900 Federal Census shows his birth as Dec 1865. That month and year is supported by his baptism on 16 Aug 1867 at age 20 months. His tombstone indicates birth in 1865.

[2] Methodist Episcopal Church Records, Dorchester District, 16 Aug 1867, Henry Noble Willis, parents Henry and Emily Willis, age 20 months, lived near Preston, by E.G. Irwin, at Hubbard Camp, http://www.collinsfactor.com/church/mec1866baptisms.htm

[3] Another Noble family, Isaac L. and his wife Mary E Noble, was a Willis neighbor in the 1870 census. I have not found any relationship between the Willises and Isaac Noble.

[4] Email 13 Jun 2012 with Dr. Eric Cheezum, historian at Bethesda Methodist.

[5] Jensen, Dr. Christian E., MD, Lives of Caroline County Maryland Physicians, 1774 – 1984, Printed by Baker Printing Company, Denton, Maryland, 1986, 118.

[6] They are Henry Noble Willis’s son Noble Sensor Willis, grandson Gary Noble Willis, great grandson Noble Sutherland Willis, and great-great grandson Christopher Noble Willis.

[7] U.S. College Student Lists, 1763-1924 on Ancestry, University of Maryland, 1891. At p 228, H. N. Willis, 1888, MD.

[8] Photo printed on front, Richard Walzh, 205 West Balto. Street, Baltimore, 477 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC

[9] https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/bulletins/demographic/28-population-md.pdf. Pocomoke City population in 1900 was 2,124 versus 192 for Preston.

[10] U.S. College Student Lists, 1763-1924 on Ancestry, University of Maryland, 1891. At p 212, John T. B. McMaster, 1850, MD

[11] McMaster died 27 Aug 1889 per Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/160117722/john_thomas_bayly_mcmaster

[12] Dryden, Ruth T., Lower Eastern Shore Maryland Marriages (including the counties of Somerset, Worcester, Wicomico) 1865-1906; Compiler and Publisher: Ruth T. Dryden, San Diego, CA, 1991, 527. Willis, Henry N, 24, McMasters, Mary E., 23, 28 Oct 1890, Wor.

[13] Social Security Death Index provides the birth date for each.

[14] Caroline County Administrations Key, online at Family Search, 169. Widow Emily P. Willis and daughter Mary W. Clark renounced their right of administration of the estate of Henry F. Willis. Letters of Administration granted to son Henry N. Willis and son-in-law Joshua B. Clark with bond of $5,000 and securities Jeremiah B. Fletcher and Robert Patton [GNW Note: Robert Patton is Emily’s brother]

[15] https://mdlandrec.net/main/. Worcester County, Maryland Deed Book FHP 1:116. 28 Sep 1890, Henry N Willis purchased for $350 from Samuel F Farlow et al a lot on the west side of Second Street with all improvements.

[16] https://mdlandrec.net/main/. Worcester County, Maryland Deed Book FHP 1:202. 25 Dec 1890, Elizabeth Grace McMaster (widow) conveys to her four named children for love and affection and $1.00 the McMaster Homestead lot, about a half-acre, between Market Street and Vine Street while retaining during her lifetime the right of use the property, including the right to lease but not mortgage it.

[17] https://mdlandrec.net/main/. Worcester County, Maryland Deed Book FHP 4:524. 1 Dec 1893, Harriet McMaster King and husband Herbert H. King of Pocomoke City, John S. McMaster of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Samuel B. McMaster of New York City sell to Mary E. Willis wife of Henry N. Willis for $1.00 the southwest part of the McMaster Homestead with 30 feet fronting on Market Street by about 100 feet deep. The lot contains an office building referred to in the boundary description of a lease recorded at FHP 8:548.

[18] https://mdlandrec.net/main/. Worcester County, Maryland Deed Book FHP 7:511, 1 May 1896, Henry N Willis purchased soda fountain equipment for $166.50 from Robert M Green & Sons of Baltimore.

[19] The photo appeared in the 1955 Anniversary Edition of the local newspaper, the “Worcester Democrat,” copy of the clipping in possession of the author.

[20] See, e.g., https://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-online/exhibits/show/friends-rivals-baseball-delmar/early-days-of-baseball-on-the-

[21] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Shore_League. The amateur competition grew into a professional minor league in 1922.

[22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_Graham

[23] Dryden, Ruth T., Cemetery Records of Worcester County, Maryland, reprint by Heritage Books, 2013, p. 202. Mary E. McMaster Willis died 19 May 1898 with burial in Pitt’s Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Pocomoke City, Maryland.

[24] Dryden, Ruth T., Lower Eastern Shore Maryland Marriages (including the counties of Somerset, Worcester, Wicomico) 1865-1906; San Diego, CA, 1991, 527. Willis, Henry, 34 w(idower), Senser, Jessie, 18, 7 Sep 1899, Somerset.

A Willis Christmas Thank You Note

Some time ago, I found a ninety-eight year old letter from my grandfather, Doctor Henry Noble Willis of Wilmington, Delaware, to his older sister Mary Clark in Preston, Maryland. The 31 December 1924 letter thanked her for a check, presumably a Christmas gift or a birthday present.[1]

Items like this are a treasure. They reveal our ancestors as real people. The brief note shows Doctor Willis was in poor health but retained a sense of humor. The letter mentions his daughter Mary Willis, his cousin Cora Willis Noble, his wife Jessie (“Boss”), and his son Noble, who was eight years old at the time.

The transcribed letter below is followed by some explanatory comments. A couple of words were unclear. I indicated them with a question mark in brackets:

Envelope Addressed: Mrs. M. W. Clark Preston, Md

Postmarked: Dec 31, 1924, 7 PM Wilmington, Del.

Dear Sister,

Your check arrived ok and waited to find out if you were in Preston before thanking you for same.

Mary leaves us tomorrow for supper in Phila. then on to Yonkers next morning.

She certainly looks fine … weighs 148 almost as much as her Dad. I think she enjoyed her stay very much.

We have had quite a cold snap. The weather man has predicted sun but has not arrived yet.

Don’t kill yourself eating this Xmas with all the fine dinners.

Cora stopped over between trains[?], think she’s looking better.

Well, I am doing fine no change in my blood pressure for 6 weeks. Dr. T told me on Monday A M more[?] drainage and he thought I would be good for 5 or 6 years. Sounds good to me, I shall open the office with the New Year starting in slow – avoiding exceptional strain.

Wishing you a Happy New Year and many of them. Noble had more Xmas in his bones than the rest of us.

Boss says she will write later.

Your Brother

H.N.W.

Henry Noble Willis

Henry Noble Willis was 59 years old at the time he wrote this letter. He was born and raised in Preston, Maryland. He graduated from Williamsport College, Pennsylvania in about 1885. After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1888, he became a doctor like his father, Henry Fisher Willis. The younger Doctor Willis established his practice in Pocomoke City, Worcester County, Maryland. In 1890, he married Mary E. McMaster, daughter of a local physician. Mary died in 1898, leaving two children: Mary Catherine Willis, born in 1891 and Harry McMaster Willis, born in 1893.

In 1899, the widowed Doctor Willis married Jessie Sensor in Pocomoke City. She was a daughter of the Methodist minister who served several communities in the region. The couple had a daughter Grace in 1905. She died of meningitis at age five. Shortly thereafter, they adopted a daughter Kathryn, who had also been born in 1905. In 1908, Henry and Jessie moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where they resided until their deaths. In Wilmington, they had a son, Noble Sensor Willis who was born 1916.

Mary Willis Clark

The recipient of the letter was Doctor Willis’s 64-year old sister Mary.[2] She was born in Sussex County, Delaware, where their father then practiced medicine. About 1863, the elder Doctor Willis family moved Preston, Caroline County, Maryland. In Preston, he took over the practice of a doctor who had joined the Union Army. Mary grew up in Preston and married Joshua Bascom Clark there in 1878.[3] A report of the marriage indicated he was of Seaford, Delaware where he served as junior editor of “The Sussex County Index,” a local newspaper. The childless couple subsequently moved to Georgetown, Sussex County, Delaware where he became publisher and editor of the “Sussan Journal.”

Joshua Clark died in 1892, and Mary managed and edited the newspaper until 1894. She continued to live at her home in Georgetown until her death in 1941.[4] However, Doctor Willis mailed the 1924 thank you letter to Preston, Maryland rather than to her home in Georgetown. He must have known she was traveling, probably visiting relatives during the holidays, and somehow got word that she was in Preston. Mary or her relatives must have been well known in Preston, a town of about 300 people in the early 1900s, because Henry did not include a street address, just her name and the town.

Cora Fisher Willis Noble

Mary Willis Clark and Henry Noble Willis were the surviving children of Doctor Henry Fisher Willis and his wife Emily Rumbold Patton. Their other two children, Cora Fisher Willis and Emma Patton Willis died young … Cora died as a young school teacher in 1875 at age 18, and Emma died in 1863 before her first birthday.

The Cora referred to in the letter is a second Cora Fisher Willis, born in 1879. She was Mary’s and Henry’s first cousin, the daughter of Henry Fisher Willis’s brother James Spry Willis and his wife Mary E. Shufelt. About 1900, Cora married Charles Fulton Noble, son of Isaac Noble. The Nobles were close to the Willis family although this is the first record I have found of a marriage between the two families.

Isaac Noble was a successful carpenter and a neighbor of Henry Fisher Willis in Preston, Maryland. Doctor Jacob L. Noble joined Henry Fisher Willis’s medical practice in Preston. The elder Doctor Willis so admired the Noble family that he adopted their surname as the middle name for his son. It has been used now as a given name in the Willis family through five generations – the doctor’s son, Henry Noble Willis, grandson Noble Sensor Willis, great grandson Gary Noble Willis, great-great grandson Noble Sutherland Willis, and great-great-great grandson Christopher Noble Willis.

Doctor T

I cannot identify the “Doctor T” mentioned in the letter. However, he was overly optimistic about Henry Noble Willis’s expected life span. Henry died 11 April 1926, a little more than two years after this letter, rather than being “good for 5 or 6 years”. I haven’t found a death certificate, so don’t know the official cause of death. I suspect some sort of heart disease based on Henry’s mention of high blood pressure and “drainage.” Maybe some reader can speculate intelligently as to the cause.

Mary Catherine Willis

The Mary referred to in the second sentence of the letter is Mary Catherine Willis, daughter of Henry Noble Willis and his first wife, Mary McMaster. Mary Catherine was working at the time as a secretary at the YWCA in Philadelphia and had obviously come to Wilmington for the Christmas holiday and her father’s birthday. In 1925, Mary applied for a passport to visit Hong Kong, China and Japan. She later served in China as a secretary for a missionary group sponsored by the YWCA, returning to the United States before war broke out. After her years of employment, she retired in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Our family had the pleasure of Mary’s company when she visited Shreveport, Louisiana in the late 1940s. I remember her as an imposing woman. Doctor Willis’s estimate of her weight was far too low by that time. My mother frequently told a story about Mary, who never married or had children, instructing Mom on how to diaper my younger sister, Mom’s third child. Mary complained, “Charlotte, that diaper is too tight. That child is not going to be comfortable.” Mom backed off and said, “Here. You do it.” Mary did so and with a self-satisfied smile placed Barbara in the playpen. Five minutes later, the naked baby was standing in the playpen swinging the not-too-tight diaper over her head!

Noble and “Boss”

Henry’s and Jessie’s son Noble Sensor Willis referred to near the end of the letter was at the age when children are really excited about the magic of Christmas. With his half-siblings half a generation older than he, I can imagine Noble was an exuberant center of attention. Reading Henry’s letter reminded me that later in life Noble adopted some of his father’s habits. As an adult, Noble opened letters with “Dear Sister” and closed with “Your Brother” as did his father. Also, Doctor Willis called his wife Jessie “Boss” in the last line of the letter. Noble referred throughout his married life to his wife Charlotte as “Boss,” when he wasn’t calling her “Imp.” Noble also usually signed notes and messages with three initials rather than a full name. Interesting to note that those patterns all arose with his father.

The letter does not mention adopted daughter Kathryn who was nineteen by 1924 and possibly no longer in the household. She married William New in 1926. In the 1930 census, however, the two resided with the widow Jessie S. Willis and young Noble at Jessie’s home in Wilmington. The couple continued living in New Castle County, Delaware, but had no children.

That is about all I can glean from this letter right now. I have enjoyed re-discovering more about these people and sharing it. Here’s hoping you can find such treasures among your family memorabilia.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

—–

[1] Henry Noble Willis was born 23 December 1865.

[2] Mary Willis was born 21 January 1860.

[3] Mary Willis and Joshua Bascom Clark married 23 January 1868.

[4] From Newspapers.com – The News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware, 31 Jan 1941, page 20.

Jessie Sensor Willis – The Blizzard Baby

My grandmother Jessie Sensor (1881-1937) was born this date 136 years ago during one of the worst blizzards in Nebraska history. Her parents were the Reverend George Guyer Sensor (1852-1913) and Julia Frances Mendenhall (1857-1941). George’s Methodist ministry took the family eventually to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It was there in Somerset County that Jessie at age 18 married Dr. Henry Noble Willis (1865-1926) who was almost twice her age. Henry had a daughter and a son by his first wife, Mary E. McMaster (1867-1898), who were only 10 years and 12 years, respectively, younger than his new bride. Henry and Jessie had two children of their own, Grace (1904-1909) and Noble (1916-1968), and adopted a third, Kathryn (1905-1972).

The family moved to Wilmington, Delaware where Dr. Willis established his practice. By 1930 with her husband deceased, Jessie still lived in Wilmington with her son Noble. Living in her household were Kathryn and her husband William New. Jessie worked as Assistant to the Pastor of Harrison Street Methodist Church. Shortly after Jessie’s 39^th birthday, her mother Julia wrote a letter describing the blizzard that occurred during the winter of Jessie’s birth. Julia says in the letter that the current year’s weather had reminder her of the winter of Jessie’s birth and inspired her to write.

Below is my transcription of that letter followed by a few explanatory comments:

1373 Park Boulevard, Camden – N.J., Jan 29^th 1930

My Dear Jessie –

“Once upon a time”, many years ago there lived on the plains of Nebraska a young couple. They were far from childhoods home and loved ones. Many times they had been homesick and longed for familiar faces. ‘Twas in the month of January – a great blizzard was on. The worst storm, ‘twas said, that was ever known in that part of the country. Snow was piled high, roads were drifted so that one could not find the familiar path. Many, on account of the blinding snow that bewildered them, perished within a few rods of home. Houses were so completely covered with snow that it was impossible to get in or out. A coal famine, caused by snow drifted railroads, made more terrible the suffering of those without fuel. Many perished from cold and lack of food. When relief came it was [Page 2] found that all furniture in many homes had been burned and that partitions were being torn down for fuel to keep the inmates from freezing – food was exhausted and had help been delayed a day longer many would have been added to the victims who had already perished. In the midst of this dreadful storm and suffering there came to this young couple a darling baby girl to bless their lives. She was warmly welcomed and how thankful they were for her safe arrival in the storm – also that there was coal in the bin to protect her little life. $26.00 per ton was what it cost but they were too thankful to get it to consider the cost and while the fire did smell like greenbacks they were not deterred from using it for, did not a new young life need to be protected? And no expense must be spared for the comfort of the mother and babe – now you may go on with the story. Rather a cold reception after months in that cozy little nest provided for the little stranger by the dear heavenly father. Whose tender [Page 3] care for many years has shielded that life midst storm and sunshine and today we pray that the same care and protection may follow her the balance of her life – Blessing her and making her a blessing each day. The present snow storm and suffering in the west has made me rather reminiscent. They tell me this is a sign of old age but I don’t believe it.

Have just had a nice letter from Aunt Maggie which has somehow renewed my youth. She has just passed her 76^th birthday and writes a beautiful hand and such a cheery letter. Here [sic] daughter Anna is living in California and has located Annabell your Uncle Will’s daughter. She has not met her yet but has met the lady she with whom she lives a Miss Brown who is supervisor of music in the schools and who told her that Annabell has specialized in music and art and is now a teacher and a very fine girl. She [Page 4] also told her that Emma her mother had died last Jan. her brother Edward is in Chicago. I was glad to get this bit of family news. I would love to see these children. Dear Maggie thinks I should undertake the trip to see her. Well maybe we will some day when your ship and mine come in.

I must now hurry to a close as it is getting late. I came in to Grace’s today to keep house while she went to buy her coal. Began this letter yesterday was interrupted so am finishing it here. My chair came last evening. It is beautiful, my couch is also in place and now I have a really fine sitting room.

Oh! I must not forget to tell you that Glennie Davis of Woodetown is living near me and we have an invitation to take dinner with her when you come as she [Page 5] is very anxious to see you.

Another item still – the burglars tried again to get here this week but as Doc has so completely fastened all windows and doors they did not make it. He and Grace watched them as they worked and saw them leave. He thinks he has discovered who they are.

Tell Kitty I say “Thank you” for getting my chair and to come see it. Grace joins me in love.

Write or come up when you can.

Goodnight –

Mother

What a wonderful story of the first days of Jessie’s life. I love Julia’s writing skill and sense of humor … the coal was so expensive the fire smelled like greenbacks. And what wonderful additional clues about the family’s current life are embedded in this letter. See the following explanatory comments regarding certain statements in the letter:

“Many times they had been homesick and longed for familiar faces.”

Reverend Sensor was assigned to Grand Island, Nebraska when he married Julia Mendenhall in Pennsylvania on Christmas Day, 1879. Both had been born and raised in central Pennsylvania. The Mendenhall family had been established there as early as 1685. The Sensor family, George’s father Frederick and grandfather George, moved to Pennsylvania from Maryland in 1805.

“‘Twas in the month of January – a great blizzard was on.”

This was January 1881. Records available on the web indicate this winter was known as the winter of the great snows.

“Many, on account of the blinding snow that bewildered them, perished within a few rods of home.”

A rod is 16 ½ feet, a common unit of measure of the period, and one still used in land surveying.

“A coal famine, caused by snow drifted railroads, made more terrible the suffering of those without fuel.”

An article in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat dated February 24, 1881 stated that between February 2 and February 19 there were no trains on the Pacific Extension of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern line.

“In the midst of this dreadful storm and suffering there came to this young couple a darling baby girl to bless their lives.”

Jessie was born in Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska, January 16, 1881.

“Have just had a nice letter from Aunt Maggie which has somehow renewed my youth. She has just passed her 76^th birthday and writes a beautiful hand and such a cheery letter. Here [sic Her] daughter Anna is living in California and has located Annabell your Uncle Will’s daughter.”

Aunt Maggie is likely Margaret Hoyt who married Julia’s brother Judson Phineas Mendenhall, and Anna is their daughter. Uncle Will is probably Julia’s brother, William Henry Mendenhall and Annabell his daughter.

“She also told her that Emma her mother had died last Jan. Her brother Edward is in Chicago.”

William H. Mendenhall married Emma Muttersbach. Emma apparently died in January 1929, Will was still alive at the time, and they had at least two grown children … Annabell living in California and Edward in Chicago.

“I came in to Grace’s today to keep house while she went to buy her coal.”

Grace Sensor Miller (1882-1966) is Jessie’s sister who lived in Collingswood, New Jersey. She was Julia’s second daughter, born July 15, 1882, also in Nebraska. Reverend Sensor was assigned to Grand Island in 1879 and to St. Paul, Nebraska in 1882, but shortly after that appointment had to return east for health reasons, according to his official Methodist obituary.

“I must not forget to tell you that Glennie Davis of Woodstown is living near me and we have an invitation to take dinner with her when you come as she is very anxious to see you.”

I have not identified Glennie (Glenda?) Davis. Woodstown, New Jersey is about 20 miles south of Camden. Reverend Sensor was assigned to Woodstown, NJ, where Julia likely met Glennie Davis, sometime late in the period between 1886 an 1899. In 1899, Sensor transferred from the New Jersey Conference to the Wilmington Conference and served four years at Pocomoke City and Crisfield, Maryland and Chincoteague, Virginia (all on the Delmarva Peninsula). During that time, Dr. Henry Willis met and married Jessie Sensor.

“Another item still – the burglars tried again to get here this week but as Doc has so completely fastened all windows and doors they did not make it.”

Doc is Dr. William Edwin Miller (1870-1947), Grace’s husband.

“Tell Kitty I say “Thank you” for getting my chair and to come see it.”

Kitty is Kathryn Willis, adopted daughter of Jessie Sensor and the late Dr. Henry Noble Willis.

Well, that’s it for now. I have a trove of letters between Jessie and Noble during the last three years he was a student at Duke. I will share some of these in the future, although they are heartbreaking as Jessie was slowly dying during Noble’s senior year but did not want him to know it.

Thanks for reading …