A Moment of Courage: John Henry Willis IV

John Henry Willis [IV] was born on 5 March 1937 in Mobile, Alabama, the eldest child of John Henry Willis III and Rubeline Marie Martin.1 After the loss of his mother in 1947 and his father in 1952, he was raised by his paternal grandmother, Arnita (Harris) Willis Jackson.2  At the age of 17, John Henry enlisted in the U.S. Army.  He served from 26 August 1954 until his honorable discharge on 12 July 1957. 3

John Henry transitioned from serving in an integrated military back into second-class citizenship under Jim Crow laws.  In Mobile and across the South, racial segregation had been a way of life since the end of Reconstruction.  But the times were “a-changing.”  The Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954 energized the nascent Civil Rights movement to push forward for equality.

Upon returning to his hometown, John Henry registered to vote in Mobile County on 17 September 1958 at age 21.4

On 26 February 1959, 22-year-old John Henry Willis IV took a bold and courageous action. He, and two fellow Black military veterans, Earl R. Ponquinette and Ernest L. Koen, attempted to apply for enrollment at Southwest State,  the all-white State Trade School in Mobile. They were initially refused application forms and told that state policies on segregation had not changed.5

Reports of the enrollment attempt were widely reported in newspapers across the state of Alabama.  Publishing the names of the men put them at risk of harassment, economic retaliation, and physical violence from pro-segregationists.

On 1 March 1959 the State Superintendent of Education issued a public statement:

  “The Alabama State Board of Education has approved forms for use of the State Trade School for any resident citizen of the State who wishes to secure trade and industrial education at State expense.   
Mr. Clay Knight, Director of the Mobile Vocational Trade School, Mobile, Alabama, is fully authorized to give the information forms to any native citizen in that area for the purpose of assisting such applicant to secure trade and industrial education for any trade for which the applicant may be qualified to pursue, in the judgment of the Director of the Trade School.” 6

John Henry Willis and his two fellow veterans returned to the state trade school on Friday, 20 March 1959, and were permitted to fill out information forms. Clay Knight, director of the State Trade School, did not say how the forms would be handled.  However he did take the step of identifying the three men to the media and providing details from their completed forms. Knight described John Henry Willis as last employed at a branch post office in Mobile, seeking to enroll in a course in woodworking and cabinet making.7  

In August 1960 a federal lawsuit was filed by Ernest Koen and Frank E. Lee against H. Clay Knight, director of state trade school.  The plaintiffs were seeking admission to the school. 8  

John Henry Willis was not a named plaintiff in the federal lawsuit, Koen v. Knight.  However, his earlier decision to walk through the doors of the all-white state trade school and demand equal access to vocational education was a documented moment of personal courage.

John Henry Willis, IV is my first cousin.  Our most recent common ancestors (MRCA) are our grandparents, John Henry and Arnita (Harris) Willis, Jr. 

Note: Gemini Notebook was used to edit the text for clarity, readability, and flow.  The final content was revised and refined by me.

Sources

  1. The National Archives, Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (https://aad.archives.gov/aad/ : accessed 18 November 2021) “Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), created, 1936 – 2007, documenting the period 1936 – 2007,” database entry for John Henry Willis, Jr., no. 418-44-3674, August 1952; citing Record Group 47: Records of the Social Security Administration. ↩︎
  2. 1950 U.S. census, Mobile, Alabama, Mobile, enumeration district (ED) 69-95, sheet 12, dwelling 107, John Henry Willis; imaged, “1950 Census,” U.S. National Archives, History Hub (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/ : accessed 1 April 2022). ↩︎
  3. “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11445184:2441 : accessed 8 November 2022), John Henry Willis; citing “Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.” ↩︎
  4. Mobile County, Alabama, Poll Tax Cards, vol. W: 4779-4780, John Henry Willis; digital images, “Alabama Voter Registration and Poll Tax Cards, 1834-1981,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C33M-879R : accessed 5 November 2024). ↩︎
  5. “Application Forms Refused War Veterans; ‘Negro School B’gham,” Alabama Citizen, 28 March 1959, page 1, column 4; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/572057423/ : accessed 4 October 2026). ↩︎
  6. “Letters: Trade School Ruling,” The Anniston [Alabama] Star, 1 March 1959, page 4-A, column 5, carried over to p. 11-A, col. 1; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/115145888/  : accessed 2 October 2026). ↩︎
  7. Associated Press (AP), “Negroes File State School Entry Forms,” The Montgomery [Alabama] Advertiser, 21 March 1959, page 9-A, column 2; image copy, Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com/image/257345224/ : accessed 3 October 2026). ↩︎
  8. “Koen v. Knight (Ala. Vocational Schools.) (SD Ala., #2434),” Civil Liberties Docket, Vol. X, No. 1 (November 1964): 57; imaged, The Bancroft Library; UC Berkeley Digital Collections (https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/222221/files/meik-10_1.pdf? : accessed 5 October 2026). ↩︎

Oldest Confirmed Record for Mingo Bryant

It’s Saturday Night — are you ready for some football Genealogy Fun?  Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings is quarterbacking the following topic, courtesy of Linda Stufflebean:

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

  1. What is “Your Oldest Confirmed Record?” What is one of the oldest documents you’ve personally found for any ancestor?
  2. Share your oldest confirmed record: what it is, where it came from, and what it revealed.
  3. Share your oldest confirmed record in your own blog post…..”

My oldest confirmed record is a probate record which traces my 2nd great-grandfather, Mingo Bryant, back to 1848.

The distribution of the estate of Echols Hightower lists the following:

“Henry A. Hightower Son of Said deceased Minor represented by the said Joel W. Hightower as Guardian…No . 6. Henry A Hightower , consisted of Mingo…”1

Mingo in the distribution of the estate of Echols Hightower, 1848, Dooly County Georgia.

One thing that the record revealed is that Mingo resided in Dooly County, Georgia as an enslaved person.

  • The reference point for this record is the appraisal of Mingo in the 1861 probate file of Henry A. Hightower. 
  • The anchor of the research is the proximity of Mingo Bryant to his enslaver’s F.A.N. club after Emancipation. 

Additional details about my research on Mingo Bryant can be found in: “Mingo Bryant —Brick Wall,” and “Brick Wall Research on Mingo Bryant.”  

Source

  1. Dooly County, Georgia, “Returns and Vouchers, Book No. 1 (1847-1854): 12-13, Mingo in the distribution of the estate of Echols Hightower, 1848; imaged, “Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93T-XZJC?view=fullText : accessed 13 March 2025) > image group no. 5768004 > image 26 of 653; Georgia. Department of Archives and History. ↩︎

What Wasn’t Written Down

John Henry Willis, Jr., son of John Henry Willis, Sr. and Virginia Fuller, was born 6 May 1889 in Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama, and died there on 15 January 1917.1 On 30 October 1907, John married Arnita Juanita Harris in Mobile.2 Arnita, the daughter of Willis Harris and Emmaline Senar, was born on 23 December 1889 in Baldwin County, Alabama. She died on 28 October 1980 in Mobile.3

Together, John Henry Willis, Jr. and Arnita Juanita Harris had five known children, all born in Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama:

  1. Zanafrey Lamont Willis, born 11 April 1908;4 died 12 March 1987, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.5
  2. Vernon Harris Willis, born 4 July 1909; died 11 July 1910 of cholera in Mobile, Alabama.6
  3. John Henry Willis III, born 3 December 1910;7 died 18 September 1952 in Mobile, Alabama.8
  4. Annis Virginia Willis, born March 1912; died 26 March 1995 in Athens, Limestone County, Alabama.9
  5. ______ Willis, born March 1912; died 6 December 1912 in Mobile, Alabama.10

The Willis Twins — Family Lore

According to family lore, my mother and her twin sister were so small at birth that neither was expected to live. The tiny twins could both fit together on a single bed pillow, which was how they were carried around. In late November 1912, both girls contracted pneumonia. Although my mother was the smaller and weaker twin, it was her sister who passed away. It is said that their father, John Henry Willis, believed that by the time they returned from burying one daughter, the surviving twin would also have passed. Expecting the worst, he had two graves dug at Magnolia Cemetery. My mother, however, unexpectedly survived and thrived.

“Infant” Willis

What wasn’t written down was the name of the fifth child of John Henry and Arnita (Harris) Willis — my mother’s twin sister. Although official birth registration in Mobile, Alabama began in 1871, my mother and her sister were born at home and were never issued official birth certificates.

The only indication of my aunt’s name comes through oral tradition: my mother was told her sister’s name was “Bernice,” which rhymed with her own name, Annis (pronounced An-neess). Yet, written records offer no confirmation. The death certificate designates the child simply as “Infant Mr. & Mrs. J. H. Willis,”11 while the Magnolia Cemetery burial register similarly records the deceased as “Willis, Inft of John H.”12

So far, I have not been able to substantiate my aunt’s name.

Note: I used Gemini Notebook to edit the text for clarity, readability, and flow. The final content was revised and refined by me.

Sources

  1. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118747097/john_henry-willis: accessed 15 January 2023), “John Henry Willis Jr.” (6 May 1889–16 Feb 1917), memorial and tombstone image created by “G-Man”; citing Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama.
    Alabama Center for Health Statistics, death certificate (certified copy) no. 394, (1917), John Willis Jr, d. 15 January 1917; Alabama Department of Public Health, Montgomery. ↩︎
  2. Mobile County, Alabama,  “Colored Marriage Book”, Vol. 19: 621, John Henry Willis Jr. and Arnita Harris, 30 October 1907, minister’s return by A. J. Rodgers; imaged as “Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950,”  FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-TT2G-5 : accessed 5 Nov 2017). ↩︎
  3. Social Security Administration, “Social Security Death Index,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 1998), entry for Arnita Jackson, 1980, SS no. 418-86-1936; Born 23 Dec 1889, died Oct 1980.
    St. Peter Claver Church (Mobile, Alabama), Registrum Defunctorium, (Death and Burial Records, 1927-1971), page 20, 1980, Arnita Jackson death, 28 October 1980; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 September 2022) microfilm 2047606 / digital 8500586 > image 527. This image is only viewable at a FamilySearch center or FamilySearch affiliate library. ↩︎
  4. “Pennsylvania, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHW-3Z6F : accessed 12 April 2021) > image group no. 102239971 > image 494 of 1012 > Lamont Willis : registration card, serial no. 2258, Local Draft Board: Philadelphia (Philadelphia County) Pennsylvania; citing “NAID 5324575. Records of the Selective Service System, 1926 – 1975, RG 147. National Archives at St. Louis, Missouri.” ↩︎
  5. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189989233/zanafrey_lamont-willis: accessed June 27, 2025), “Zanafrey Lamont Willis Sr.” (11 Apr 1908–12 Mar 1987) memorial and tombstone image by “Carol R”; citing Rolling Green Memorial Park, West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. ↩︎
  6. Alabama Department of Health, death certificate no. 484 (1910), Vernon Harold Willis; digital image,  “Alabama Deaths, 1908-1974,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 August 2022). This image is only viewable at a family history center or affiliate library. ↩︎
  7. “Alabama, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945,” database with images digitized by Ancestry, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8J-1SFK-X : accessed 21 May 2024), imaged card for John Henry Willis, serial no. 4490, order no. 2264, Draft Board 4, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama; citing NARA “Draft Registration Cards for Alabama, 10/16/1940 – 3/31/1947.” Records of the Selective Service System, 1926 – 1975, RG 147. National Archives at St. Louis, Missouri, n.d. ↩︎
  8.  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207763166/john-henry-willis: accessed 20 August 2022), “John Henry ‘Bubba’ Willis III” (1910–1952) memorial created by “Georgeann Ellis,”; citing Oaklawn Memorial Cemetery, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama. Newspaper obituary clipping uploaded by “Lilith”; citing Mobile [Alabama] Register, 21 September 1952, page a4. ↩︎
  9.  “Funeral Liturgy Celebrating the Life of Annis Willis Salter, 1912-1995,” 31 March 1995, H.L. Moses Memorial Chapel, Peoples Funeral Home, Athens, Alabama; privately held. ↩︎
  10. Alabama Department of Health, death certificate no. 149 (1912), :”Infant Mr. & Mrs J. H. Willis,” d. 6 December 1912; digital image,  “Alabama Deaths, 1908-1974,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JK35-HJQ : accessed 4 June 2024). This image is only viewable at a family history center or affiliate library. ↩︎
  11. Ibid. ↩︎
  12.  Magnolia Cemetery (Mobile, Alabama), “Registers of Burials, City of Mobile, 1912-1930,” page 591, “Willis Inft of John H” entry; imaged FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-MSTM-Z : accessed 26 August 2022) > image group number 8151786 > image 504 of 943. ↩︎

SNGF – Unfinished Genealogy Projects

It’s Saturday Night and Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings has given his faithful fans the following Genealogy Fun task:

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

  1. What started but unfinished projects do you have? Define one or more of them, and how far along you are in the project.
  2. Share one or more of your unfinished projects in your own blog post…”

My major unfinished genealogy projects are:

  • Write a mini-biography (or blog post) for each known direct ancestor in our family trees.  I have completed all but two ancestors for my Salter-Willis tree and have nine ancestors to go on my husband’s Byers-Guice tree.
  • Clean-up my Legacy Family Tree software files. I started standardizing locations and revising old citations several years ago and have only scratched the surface.  Now I only clean up the citations when I am adding the person to WikiTree.
  • Sort and scan family photographs.  I have several large albums of my personal photographs. I have started scanning and logging them into a photo index spreadsheet.

John Salter (1871-?): A Biographical Sketch

Early Life in Southwest Georgia (1870s–1880s)

John Salter was born in Georgia circa 1871.  He was raised by his parents, Pinkney and Martha Salter. On 1 June 1880, nine-year-old John was enumerated in his father’s household in Miller County, Georgia, alongside his brothers Zack, Charles, James, and Pinkney. According to the census record, John worked on the family farm, did not attend school, and could not read or write at that time.1

Marriage and Early Career (1890s–1900)

On 9 May 1893, a marriage license was issued for “Jno.” Salter and Roxey Bryant in Miller County, Georgia, and the couple was joined in matrimony on 13 May 1893, by R. J. Jackson.2  In the years following their marriage, John and Roxey began building their family with the births of their daughter Ethel in September 1894, daughter Rose in March 1897, and son Franklin in December 1898.3 

In 1897 the Georgia Pine Railroad was completed through Damascus and a big sawmill operation located in the settlement known as Kestler or “New Damascus.”4  On 1 June 1900, John and his family owned their home in Damascus District 854 of Early County, Georgia. John had found a wage paying job outside of the farming economy. The 1900 census recorded that he worked as a “Butting Saw”, a term used in timber harvesting. The record noted that Roxey had given birth to four children, three of whom were living, and that neither John nor Roxey could read or write.5

Farm Labor and Family Life in Blakely (1900s–1910s)

By 15 April 1910, John and Roxey Salter were living in Militia District 866 (Blakely) in Early County, Georgia.  John had transitioned back into tenant farming; he rented a farm and worked as a general farmer. Roxey had given birth to eleven children, six of whom were living at the time.  Four of their children were enumerated: Ethel (age 16), Rose (age 13), Frank (age 10; actual age 12), and Arnold (age 8).  The children were listed as farm laborers on the home farm. All of the family members, except Arnold, are semi-literate. Only Rose and Arnold had attended school since 1 September 1909.6

Departure and Later Years (1912–1939)

On 18 April 1912, an article titled “Wholesale Stealing” in the Early County News of Blakely named John Salter among several local men involved in an investigation regarding stolen horse and mule feed from M. T. Chipstead’s dray line. The report noted that John Salter and another named individual had “left the city”.7

Before abandoning his family, John put his eldest son Frank in charge.  John informed his son he was leaving and Frank was now the “man” of the family.  Frank never saw his father again.8  

Decades later, on 29 September 1939, John Salter completed an Application for Social Security Account Number (Form SS-5) and gave his address as 211 Carter Hill Road in Montgomery, Alabama. On the application, he listed his age as 60, provided a birth date of 27 May 1879, and identified his birthplace as Damascus, Early County, Georgia. He named his parents as Pinkie Salter and Marthy, listed his wife’s name prior to marriage as Mary Fisher, and recorded his employment status as unemployed. Being unable to write, John signed the application with his mark (“X”).9

The story of John Salter is incomplete, but the book is not closed. Family lore is that John moved to Alabama and started another family. Someday the final missing pieces of John’s story will be discovered.

John Salter is my paternal great-grandfather.

Disclosure: Gemini Notebook assisted in the writing of this blog post based on my research notes.  The final content was reviewed, revised, and refined by me.

Sources

  1. 1880 U.S. census, Miller County, Georgia, population schedule, Militia District 903 [Colquitt], enumeration district (ED) 44, page 31B, dwelling 272, family 279, Pinkney Salter household; imaged, “United States, Census, 1880,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB6-1QT : accessed 24 November 2018). ↩︎
  2.  Miller County, Georgia, “Marriage Record, 1890-1906, Ordinary”, page 32, Jno [John] Salter and Roxey Bryant, recorded license and return, 13 May 1893; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-LBZJ-NDL : accessed 3 Apr 2013). ↩︎
  3. 1900 U.S. census, Early, Georgia, population schedule, Damascus District 854, enumeration district (ED) 50, sheet 4A, page 194 (stamped), dwelling 56, family 56, John Salter household;  imaged, “United States, Census, 1900,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DZZ3-VQ4: accessed 9 September 2012). ↩︎
  4.  “Town Owes Its First Name To A Bird Dog,” Early County News (Blakely, Georgia), 20 May 1993, page 4, column 5; imaged, Georgia Historic Newspapers (https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034007/1993-05-20/ed-1/seq-4/ : accessed 10 September 2026). ↩︎
  5. 1900 U.S. census, Early, Georgia, pop. sch., Damascus District 854, ED 50, sheet 4A, p. 194 (stamped), dwell. 56, fam. 56, John Salter household. ↩︎
  6. 1910 U.S. census, Early County, Georgia, Militia District 866, Blakely, enumeration district (ED) 81, sheet 13B, dwelling 252, family 252, John Salter household; imaged, “United States, Census, 1910,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1727033 : accessed 27 February 2016). ↩︎
  7. “Wholesale Stealing,” Early County News (Blakely, Georgia), 18 April 1912, page 1, column 5; imaged, Georgia Historic Newspapers (https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034007/1912-04-18/ed-1/seq-1/ : accessed 5 January 2024). ↩︎
  8. Frank Salter, personal communication, December 1981. ↩︎
  9. John Salter, SS no. 419-18-2095, 29 September 1939, “Application for Account Number” (Form SS-5), Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland.  ↩︎

SNGF – Serendipity

Usually on a Saturday in September people are focused on their favorite college football team.  Fans of Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings take a time out to engage in some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. Tonight Randy has given us the following task, courtesy of Marion B. Wood:

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

  1. Serendipity! What happened when you went looking for an ancestor or a genealogical record and were pleasantly surprised to find someone else or something else you didn’t expect while you were doing that search?
  2. Please share an instance when you had a serendipitous experience.
  3. Share your serenditous experience in a your own blog post,…”

Last year I was researching two young girls who were enumerated in the 1920 U.S. Census with the family of my husband’s maternal grandmother, Ola May Scovil. The details of that FAN Club research is detailed in “Georgia and ‘Ivie’ Walker – F.A.N. to Family.”   

Richard Walker was the father of Georgia Walker. A petition for probate of his will cited among the next of kin “Georgia Williams, daughter… resides at 624 Dillard Avenue, Enion Ridge, Birmingham, Alabama.”  A copy of the Notice to Georgia Williams, 526 Dillard Ave., Birmingham, Ala. has the pencilled in notation “14 Ct No.”  According to Bham Wiki, Dillard Avenue is now known as 14th Court North.  

My husband grew up on 14th Court North.  As it turns out, his caregiver before he started school—his “Big Mama”— was Georgia Williams.  He had no idea that “Big Mama” was his first cousin, twice removed (1C2R). Serendipity? Yes!

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