Maj. John Willis (1724-1790)
Major "Jack" Willis, of Orange Co., Virginia
His half-brother, Byrd Willis, recalled: "He was sent, as was the fashion in those days, to school in Scotland, but though not deficient in genius, was a wild fellow, ran away, and my father's agent was a long time in catching him to send back to America... As he advanced in life he became very fat; he weighed at one time from three hundred and forty-five to four hundred and forty-four pounds, was a man of inexhaustible humor, full of anecdote and greatly beloved; everybody remembers Maj. Jack Willis, Poor fellow! He married an heiress and died insolvent." His mother-in-law, Elizabeth (Madison) Beale, was the aunt of U.S. President James Madison.
