Jesse Stallings Willis, son of Rev. Cary C. Willis, was born May 8, 1835, in Muscogee County, Georgia. He was married to Amanda D. Horne, daughter of Rev. Jesse R. Horne of Houston .County, Georgia, on May 25, 1859. On March 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Forty-fifth Infantry, and was seriously wounded June 27, 1862, in the Seven Days Fight Around Richmond. He was taken by a slow train on a day coach to the railroad point nearest his home in Georgia, hauled from there in a spring wagon twenty-five miles in an unconscious condition and was for many months recovering from his wounds.
In 1869 Mr. Willis moved to Hawkinsville, Pulaski County, Georgia, where he lived the remainder of his life. He was a supply merchant and cotton buyer for forty-one years in Hawkinsville and served as a deacon in the Baptist Church for approximately fifty years.
Mr. and Mrs. Willis were the parents of the following children: Mrs. McC. Pate (deceased), Mr. Julian B. Willis (deceased), Mr. W. C. Willis of Macon, Georgia; Mr. George Willis of Jacksonville, Florida; Mrs. James R. Huff, and Mrs. Tim J. Manson of Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Miss Clyde Willis of New York City.
Mr. and Mrs. Willis celebrated their golden wedding in Hawkinsville in 1909. This anniversary was attended by several hundred people and was one of the outstanding events of their lives.
Mr. Willis was active in the affairs of his town, county and State during his entire life. His outstanding characteristic was the courage to do exactly what he thought was right, regardless of public opinion. He was never afraid to do what he thought was his duty. He was full of lofty ideas and Christian impulses, and was a man without guile but with stern integrity and virtues of a pure heart and was as nearly a perfect Christian as any man. Mr. Willis died August 16, 1910.