In W. E. Paxton's "A History of the Baptist of Louisiana, from the Earliest Times to the Present," I find this quote on page 27: "Mr. Jones, a descendant of John Jones, from whose work I derive some of these facts, states that Richard Curtis, Jr., was a licensed preacher in South Carolina, and he conjectures that Richard Curtis, Sr., was a Baptist." It would seem that Paxton got at least part of his facts from a descendant of John Jones (before 1858). Paxton's book was not published until years after his death. Paxton also states that Richard Curtis, Jr., and Stephen d'Alvoy returned to South Carolina, in 1795, too avoid being sent "to the [Silver] mines in Mexico" by the Catholics. He gives a detailed story of this run in with the Catholics. Much of my sources, on Richard Curtis, Jr., are form W.E. Paxton (1888) and David Benedict (1813). Much of W.E. Paxton's sources in his 1888 book "A History of the Baptist of Louisiana, from the Earliest Times to the Present," on the following came from very early historian David Benedict who wrote in 1813 in his book "A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World." Their are numerous other sources, but all lead back, eventually, to these two historians. When they were wrong then everyone who followed and quoted them was wrong. Paxton wrote on pages 24-25 (I have an original rare copy of his book): "During the Revolution there lived in South Carolina, on Great Pedee river, near the mouth of Black river, and about sixty miles from Charleston, a family named Curtis, who, by their zeal for the American cause, had rendered themselves extremely obnoxious to their Tory neighbors and their British conquerors." Paxton continued: "In 1780, Richard Curtis, Sr., his wife, Phoebe Curtis, his step-son, John Jones and his wife; his three sons, William, Benjamin and Richard Curtis, Jr., with their wives, together with John Courtney, who married Hannah Curtis, with their wives, set out to go to the Mississippi country. They were also accompanied by Daniel Ogden and his family, including his son Daniel...They were also probably accompanied by James Cole...He married Jeminia Curtis, daughter of Elder Richard Curtis..." According to the above mentioned sources and others, Joseph Willis was a member of Head of Enoree in, 1797, in South Carolina. Late that year or the next, he made his first trip to Mississippi with Richard Curtis, Jr. W. E. Paxton records the results of this first trip: ".They sought not in vain, for soon after their return they were visited by William Thompson, who preached unto them the Gospel of our God: and on the first Saturday in October, 1798, came William Thompson, Richard Curtis and Joseph Willis, who constituted them into a church, subject to the government of the Cole's Creek church, calling the newly constituted arm of Cole's Creek, 'The Baptist Church on Buffaloe." This church was located near Woodville, Mississippi, near the Mississippi River east of Alexandria, Louisiana. Joseph returned for his family by 1799, but it would seem he might have made a trip across the river into Louisiana before this date since this is where he returned with his family. Mississippi Baptist historian T. C. Schilling wrote that: "...two brothers by the name of Daniel and William Ogden and a man by the name of Perkins, with their families, most of whom were Baptists" were also along on this first trip. W. E. Paxton also wrote: "The Curtises were known to be Marion men, and when not in active service, they were not permitted to enjoy the society of their families, but they were hunted like wild beasts from their hiding places in the swamps of Pedee." They were a thorn in the side of the British and their Tory neighbors. Paxton continued: "They left South Carolina in the spring of 1780 traveling by land to the northeastern corner of Tennessee. There they built three flat boats and when the Holston River reached sufficient depth toward the end of that year, they set out for the Natchez country of Mississippi by way of the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers. Those mentioned above traveled on the first two boats; the names of those on the last boat are not known. Those in the last boat had contracted smallpox and were required to travel a few hundred yards behind the other two boats. Somewhere near the Clinch River, on a bend in the Tennessee River near the northwestern corner of Georgia, they were attacked by Cherokee Indians. The first two boats escaped, but the third boat was captured. The price paid for this attack was high, for the Indians contracted smallpox from them and many died." "Those on the first two boats continued on their voyage and landed safely at the mouth of Cole's creek about 18 miles above Natchez by land. Here in this part of the state they lived. They called Richard Curtis, Jr., who was licensed to preach in S. Carolina, as their preacher. He would later organize the first Baptist Church in Mississippi, in 1791, called Sa1em. As time passed the population increased. Some were Baptists such as William Chaney from South Carolina and his son Bailey. A preacher from Georgia by the name of Harigail also arrived here and zealously denounced the 'corruption's of Romanism.' This, along with the conversion of a Spanish Catholic by the name of Stephen d'Alvoy, brought the wrath of the Spanish authorities. To make an example of d'Alvoy and Curtis, they decided to arrest them and send them to the silver mines in Mexico. Warned of this plan, d'Alvoy and Curtis and a man by the name of Bill Hamberlin fled to South Carolina, arriving in the fall of 1795. Harigail also escaped and fled this area." Paxton said that the country between Mississippi and South Carolina was "then infested by hostile Indians." It is for this reason and others, I believe, that Curtis brought Joseph Willis with him when he returned to Mississippi in 1798, and the fact that Joseph was a licensed Baptist preacher and Curtis was an ordained Baptist preacher. Curtis also knew well Joseph Willis' courage under fire since both were Marion men in the Revolutionary War. It also seems likely that Joseph knew at least part of the Cherokee language since he was half Cherokee, an asset that could be of great help if the Cherokees were encountered again on the way to Mississippi. After the trip with Curtis to Mississippi in 1798, Joseph returned to South Carolina for his family and to sell his property. As mentioned before, he sold all of his real estate to William Thurston in August of 1799, indicating his preparation to depart South Carolina. Randy Willis www.randywillis.org randy@randywillis.org ----- Original Message ----- From: <BJBrothers@aol.com> To: <NCBLADEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 7:13 PM Subject: Re: [NCBLADEN-L] Joseph Willis and General Francis Marion AKA the "Swamp Fox" > In a message dated 01-06-18 11:02:10 EDT, randywillis@ev1.net writes: > > << > Marion's troops were basically a guerrilla force, raised irregularly from > the backwoods of South Carolina, no roster was kept. The only published > record of the men who fought under him comes from the claims that were > later filed for militia pay against the state of South Carolina. Joseph > Willis, Richard Curtis and Ezekiel O'Quinn said they fought under Marion in > the Revolutionary War; but none of them filed for militia pay. > >> > What Richard Curtis is this and where did you get this information? !Am > descended from a Richard Curtis, who was in South Carolina, in the PeeDee > region. > BJBrothers@aol.com > >