JOSEPH WILLIS The Apostle to the Opelousas The First Baptist Preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ West of the Mississippi River By Randy Willis www.randywillis.org Joseph Willis’ tombstone reads: "First Baptist Preacher of the Word West of the Mississippi River." This historical fact placed him in the history books but is only a footnote in this remarkable man’s life. His life reads as a dramatic play performed on the stage of history. He was born an Indian slave to his own father. His family took him to court to deprive him of his inheritance, a battle that involved the governor of the state. He fought in the Revolutionary War under the most colorful of all the American generals, Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox." He placed his own life in harms way by crossing the most hostile country and entered a land under a foreign government while the dreaded "Black Code" was in effect. He preached a message there that put him in constant danger. He fought racial and religious prejudice of the most dangerous kind. He lost three wives and several children in the wilderness but never wavered in his belief in God. Joseph Willis’ American roots do not begin in Louisiana but in Southeast Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay area, the same area that the Pilgrims first settled. There in the 1740’s, in Isle of Wight and Nansemond Counties (now the city of Suffolk) was the place that Joseph Willis’ father, three uncles and one aunt called home. The family came to America from Devonshire, England (although there is some evidence that the family immigrated from Wales). I believe, but I cannot prove it, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the English father of these five children was Benjamin Willis, Jr. (born circa 1690) and the grandfather was Benjamin Willis, Sr. (born circa 1670). These four Willis brothers were Joseph’s father, Agerton Willis (born circa 1727; died 1777), and his brothers Daniel Willis (born circa 1716; died 1785), Benjamin Willis III (born circa 1725; died 1785), and George Willis (born circa 1730). The one known sister of these four brothers was Joanna Willis (born circa 1730; died 1791). Joanna married James Council (born circa 1716) of Isle of Wight County, Virginia in about 1751. James was the son of John Council and Benjamin Willis Jr.’s sister Josie Willis (born circa 1681), and grandson of Hodges Council. Hodges’ family had also immigrated from Devonshire, England to America. In the early 1750’s, the four brothers along with James and Joanna moved south. Between 1740 and 1770, hundreds of Virginians moved to North Carolina as a result of the Virginia legislature passing a law requiring all non-residents to acquire ten acres of land for each head of stock ranging in the colony or to become citizens. The family left Virginia, probably by sea, and landed down the coast at New Hanover (now named Wilmington), North Carolina. New Hanover had North Carolina’s most navigable seaport and even though it was not used much for transatlantic trade, this meant the area of the state was easily accessible from all other English settlements along the coast. Well-to-do North Carolina Planters It was here that Joseph’s father, Agerton, would first buy land in North Carolina. On December 13, 1754, he purchased 300 acres in New Hanover in what is now southeastern Pender County "on the East Side of a Branch of Long Creek." Pender was not established until 1874. New Hanover included what is now Pender and parts of Brunswick County. Agerton was taxed on this property the next year, 1755. There were only 362 white people taxed in New Hanover that year. About twenty families owned a great number of slaves there during that time. These families and others like them in southeastern North Carolina controlled the affairs of the counties, in which they lived and set the standards of morals and religion. Between 1755 and 1758, Agerton moved to Bladen County, just to the northeast. Daniel, Benjamin and Joanna and her husband James Council, had been living there since 1753. It was there between 1755 and 1758, that Agerton’s only son, Joseph, was born. Joseph would someday play a major roll in early Louisiana Baptist history. Most of the early Bladen County deeds, before 1784, were lost due to a series of fires; thus we are unable to find Agerton’s first purchase of land in Bladen County. Nevertheless a description of the bulk of his lands can be gleaned from later deeds. He purchased 640 acres from his brother Daniel on May 21, 1762, on the West Side of the Northwest Cape Fear River. He then purchased an additional 2,560 acres between October 1766 and May 1773, which was located on both sides of the Northwest Cape Fear River near Goodman’s Swamp. Altogether, Agerton’s holdings formed a very large and nearly contiguous extent of land on both sides of the Northwest Cape Fear River near the current Cumberland County line in present-day northwest Bladen County. Agerton, Daniel, Benjamin, James, and Joanna were all neighbors on the Northwest Cape Fear River. The other brother, George Willis, came first to New Hanover, obtaining a land grant on Widow Creek in 1761 and selling out in 1767. He then moved to Robeson County (formerly part of Bladen County) not very far west from the rest of the family. The four brothers were all well-to-do planters with large land holdings. As a large planter, Agerton would have owned slaves. "An Act Concerning Servants and Slaves" It was to a part-Indian slave of Agerton’s that his only son, Joseph, was born. The relationship of Agerton and Joseph’s mother can only be speculation, but under the North Carolina laws of 1741 all interracial marriages were illegal. Since Joseph’s mother was a slave he was born to a slave-status. It is clear from Agerton’s will that his father considered him as his only son and loved him as one. This fact did not sit well with some other members of the family. Clearly, Agerton intended to free Joseph, but this presented great legal problems. The laws of 1741, in North Carolina, stated in "An Act Concerning Servants and Slaves" "That no Negro or Mulatto Slaves shall be set free, upon any Pretense whatsoever, except for meritorious Services, to be adjudged and allowed of by the County Court and License thereupon first had and obtained." In her book, "North Carolina Indian Records," Donna Spindel writes about the Indians of this area of the state and the broad use of the term mulatto: "The Lumbee Indians, most of whom reside in Robeson County, constitute the largest group of Indians in eastern North Carolina. Although their exact origin is a complex matter, they are undoubtedly the descendants of several tribes that occupied eastern Carolina during the earliest days of white settlement. Living along the Pee Dee and Lumber rivers in present-day Robeson and adjacent counties, these Indians of mixed blood were officially designated as Lumbees by the General Assembly in 1956. …Most of the Indians have Anglo-Saxon names and they are generally designated as ‘black’ or ‘mulatto’ in nineteenth-century documents; for example, in the U.S. Censuses of 1850-1880, the designation for Lumbee families is usually ‘mulatto.’ " According to one of North Carolina’s top genealogists and historians, the late William Perry Johnson, "In North Carolina, American Indians up until Mid 1880’s, were labeled Mulattos" Joseph could not be freed solely by Agerton’s wishes. Agerton was in poor health and Joseph was still too young to prove "meritorious Services," therefore Agerton attempted to free him through his will, written September 18, 1776, and also too bequeath to him most of his property. Just eighty-days before this will was written, the Declaration of Independence was signed and times were, to say the least, chaotic. This was not the time to get anything through the court and time was running out, for Agerton would be dead within a year. My Cousin’s Keeper The problem for Joseph was that the family was advised that this part of the will could be overturned, and thus, Joseph would not be freed according to his father’s wishes. This was an important legal point for a slave could not legally inherit real estate at this time in North Carolina. Therefore, if Joseph was not freed he could not be a legal heir. Since Agerton had no other children, this would make his eldest brother "legal heir at law" under the laws of primogeniture in effect until 1784. It is clear that Agerton had intended the trustee to obtain Joseph’s freedom and then he could obtain his inheritance but Agerton’s brother Daniel ignored these wishes as the following letter to the governor of North Carolina reveals: Daniel Willis Senr. To Gov. Caswell Respecting Admtn. & C. (From MS Records in Office of Secretary of State.) "Oct. 10th 1777. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY I have a small favr. [sic] to beg if your Excellency will be pleased to grant it Viz. as my Deceas’d [sic] Brother Agerton Willis gave the graitest [sic] Part of his Estate to his Molata [sic] boy Joseph and as he is a born slave & not set free Agreeable to Law my Brothers heirs are not satisfied that he shall have it. I am One of the Exectrs. [sic] and by Mr. M. Grice’s Directions have the Estate in my possession as the Trustee Refused giving Security that the boy should have it when off [sic] Age If he Could Inherit it and now this seting [sic] of counsel some of them Intends to Apply for Administration as graitest [sic] Credittors [sic]. I am my Brothers heir at Law and if Administration is to be obtained I will apply myself Before the Rise of the Counsel and begg [sic] your Excellency will not grant it to any off [sic] them Untill [sic] I Come your Excellency’s Compliance will graitly [sic] Oblige your most Obedient Humble Servt [sic] to Command DAN. WILLIS, SEN. Pray Excuse my freedm. [sic]" Daniel’s petition to the court also reveals that Joseph was not of legal age as of the date of the will, September 18, 1776. Legal age was then twenty-one; therefore, Joseph could not have been born before September 18, 1755, as some have supposed. It should also be pointed out that technically this case should have proceeded to the District Superior Court at Wilmington but this court was in abeyance until 1778, following the collapse of the Court Law in November, 1772. Therefore, Daniel was writing to the Governor and Council instead. The Bladen County tax list of 1784 indicates that the case had been decided by then, since Agerton’s property was taxed in that year under different family member’s names. Even though Agerton’s will had been probated and Joseph was living as if he were free, as he had always done, he was still technically a slave. In November of 1787, Joseph’s first cousin John Willis, by then a member of the General Assembly of North Carolina and ironically the eldest son of Daniel, introduced a "bill to emancipate Joseph, a Mulatto Slave, the property of the Estate of Agerton Willis, late of Bladen, deceased." The bill passed its third reading on December 6, 1787, and Joseph was free. The following quotes from the settlement listed in the final act are of interest: "Whereas, Agerton Willis, late of Bladen County…did by his last will and testament devise to the said Joseph his freedom and emancipation, and did also give unto the said Joseph a considerable property, both real and personal: And whereas the executor and next of kin to the said Joseph did in pursuance of the said will take counsel thereon, and were well advised that the same could not by any means take effect, but would be of prejudice to the said slave and subject him still as property of the said Agerton Willis; whereupon the said executor and next of kin, together with the heirs of the said Agerton Willis, deceased, did cause a fair and equal distribution of the said estate, as well as do equity and justice in the said case to the said Joseph, as in pursuance of their natural love and affection to the said Agerton, and did resolve on the freedom of the said Joseph and to give an equal proportion of the said estate…Joseph Willis shall henceforward be entitled to all the rights and privileges of a free person of mixed blood: Provided nevertheless, That this act shall not extend to enable the said Joseph by himself or attorney, or any other person in trust for him, in any manner to commence or prosecute any suit or suits for any other property but such as may be given him by this act…" There is a lot revealed in this document. First, note that they call themselves the "next of kin" to the said Joseph. The "fair and equal distribution" that is spoken of turns out to be considerably less than the "graitest [sic] Part" mentioned in Daniel’s letter. A later deed reveals that Joseph got 320 acres as settlement and the above document indicates he also received some personal property as "consideration" for what "he may have acquired by his own industry." As we are about to see Joseph Willis could certainly relate to another Joseph, from the Bible, who later in his life would say "they meant it for evil but God meant it for good." The other property that Joseph should have received is described as "unbequeathed lands of Agerton" in later deeds because this part of the will was overturned. These deeds reveal that Joseph should have received at least 2,490 acres and other deeds are no doubt lost. There was also a vast amount of personal property that Joseph did not get. There was also an additional 970 acres deeded directly to other members of the family. Agerton’s will is lost and this information is gleaned from other documents and later deeds. CONTINUED SEE PART II