1914 Biography - James C. Willis

Willis, James Clinton, M. D., of Shreveport, was born on a plantation in Claiborne parish, La., March 17, 1865; a son of John Winston, and Sicily Ann (Nicholson) Willis. His father was born in Louisa county, Va., of English and Welsh descent. Both the Willis and Winston families number among the oldest and most esteemed in Virginia. John Winston Willis moved from Virginia to Georgia at an early date, and settled in West Point, in the latter state, where he was postmaster for several years. He came to Louisiana in 1849, and located at Forest Grove, in Claiborne parish. He came to this state with his father, Joshua Willis, who was a veteran of the War of 1812, and lived to the advanced age of 92 years. Joshua Willis established the Arizonia cotton mill on his plantation in Claiborne parish, and he was the first president of the milling of Arizonia was built. John Winston Willis and his son, John W. Willis, the secretary-treasurer. On died at the age of 79 years. He was a planter, and a veteran of the Civil war. His wife, Sicily Ann Nicholson was a sister of Prof. J. W. Nicholson, of the Louisiana State university, and a direct descendant (great-granddaughter) of Harris Nicholson, who was born in 1760 and died in 1841, a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Willis was born at Tuskegee, Ala. She bore her husband 4 children that reached maturity, namely: Dr. James Clinton Willis, the subject of this review; Ella, now Mrs. A. G. Nelson, of Houghton, La.; Ida, wife of T. H. Brown, of Gibsland, La., and John Gladden, a lumberman at Doyline, La. The subject of this biography was reared on the family plantation, and received his early education in a private school at Homer, La., and Homer college, at that place. He later enrolled at Vanderbilt university, at Nashville, graduating in 1887 with the degree of M. D. He successfully practiced his profession at Homer, La., for about 14 years, and in Jan., 1904, located in Shreveport, where he has established an excellent practice. He is regarded as one of the foremost members of his profession in Louisiana. He has taken post-graduate work at Tulane university, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities. His work is now exclusively that of a surgeon and gynecologist. He is first lieutenant of the medical corps of the United States army, and is connected with the T. E. Chumpert Memorial hospital at Shreveport as a surgeon. He is a member of the Shreveport and Louisiana State Medical societies, the American Medical association, and the clinical congress of America. Fraternally, Dr. Willis is a Master Mason, member of the Knights of Pythias and Elks, and is a charter member of the Golf and Country clubs of Shreveport. He is a steward of the Methodist church. In 1888 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mattie Taylor, a daughter of the late Dr. J. P. Taylor, a Confederate veteran and for many years a prominent physician at Homer. Dr. and Mrs. Willis have 6 sons and 2 daughters, namely: Lillian, now Mrs. W. W. Armstead, of Coushatta, La.; James Clinton, Jr.; John Winston, Charles Perry, Harper Fitzgerald, Theodore Roosevelt, Kathleen and Robert Emmett.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from Louisiana: Comprising Sketches, edited by Alcee Fortier, published in 1914, volume 3, pages 468-469.