All that is known of the first Willis to arrive on US soil is that he immigrated in 1730 and came from Wales. These stories of his descendants, however, offer a glimpse into the development and settlement of the United States and Texas.
Extensively researched and written by Olive Elizabeth Martin Burns (née Willis), a.k.a. Tucker, The Braided Cord: The Story of the Willis Family traces the lives seven generations of Willises through the present day. Tucker brings her family's past to life, chronicling their successes and failures, their military service and businesses, and the family's move to the rough-and-ready farmlands of Texas.
You'll meet Peter J. Willis and his brothers, who first moved to Texas and established a successful business firm only to have a manipulative wife brings down the family empire.
There's the story of Short Adam, a fifth-generation Willis who left Texas to live the life of a country squire in Connecticut, returning late in life with a young wife and three children.
The history of the Willises is always set against the grand backdrop of Texas. To read this book is to understand the settlement of a state and the growth of a family.
