215. Henry Willis Is 97.

RCHS Blog Post Number 215.  

Henry Willis Is 97

Winchester News-Gazette, March 19, 1969.

Henry Willis Observes 97th Birthday.   A man who has lived through the swift expansion of the country from the post civil war period to the space age is celebrating his 97th birthday today. He is Henry L. Willis, a Union township native and lifelong county resident, born March 19, 1872, north of Buena Vista. Willis, who now lives with his daughter, Mrs. James WYSONG, south of Winchester, had no special plans for the day, but was enjoying the fine Spring weather and the cards and letters he received from well wishers. Sunday, a family dinner in honor of the occasion is planned.

  Willis is recovering from a bout of winter illness, but he hopes to be out for a little gardening this spring as he has in years past. As a farmer, he particularly enjoyed ditching, and worked at that hard, physical labor up to the age of 80.

  Although hampered over the past several years with increasing deafness, Willis likes to keep up with national events. A dedicated Republican, he first voted for Benjamin Harrison for president and has not missed a chance to cast his ballot since.

  Willis is the grandson of a Randolph county pioneer who came here from North Carolina. He is the youngest and only survivor of a family of six. His two sisters were Alwilda and Diadema and his brothers were Noah, Benjamin and Rufus. None of the five lived to nearly as advanced an age as their youngest brother.

  Noted for his dry humor, Willis, informed that a longtime friend was now 88, commented "My, she's getting some years on her."

  A fond grandfather, and great-grandfather, Willis has enjoyed rocking all the family babies, and, since the death of his wife Elnora, in 1943, has paid a number of visits to his grandson Charles Willis Wysong and his family, traveling to several states in the process.

  Willis has two children, a son, Loren, and his daughter, Eva, with whom he lives. He has two grandchildren, Charles of California, and Mrs. Ronald K. NASH, formerly Shirley Wysong, now of Muncie and five great-grandchildren. He is a lifelong member of the Martindale Friends church where he at one time served as Sunday School teacher and for 18 years as janitor.

  Willis comments that over the years he has seen the gradual reduction of woodlands in the county and also the elimination of many small, dirt county roads which used to cut across country between farms.

  When Henry Willis was working the family farm in Union township, he farmed with horses and well remembers when all but train travel was by horse drawn vehicle. But only four years ago he flew by jet to California to visit his grandson, and much enjoyed the experience. "It's a quick trip," he commented on jet travel. Acceptance of all the changes of a near century of living and enjoyment of what those changes offered are undoubtedly part of the secret of Mr. Willis's long life.

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Would you like a book to learn more about local history? 

Randolph County, Indiana 1818-1990
Commonly referred to as "The Red History Book"
Compiled by the Randolph County Historical Society, 1991, Second reprint 2003.

To obtain your own copy of "The Red History Book" stop in at The RCHS Museum Shop or send an email to arrange placing a mail order.

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