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Arts, Culture, Media - Music, Opera, Theater and Dance
POP MUSIC IN CHINA: FROM SHANGHAI JAZZ IN THE 1920s TO K-POP IN THE 2020s
CHINESE POP MUSIC
Aaron Kwok, one of the
Four Kings of Cantopop The centers of Chinese pop music have traditionally been Hong Kong and Taiwan not mainland China. Even Malaysia and Singapore often have had more happening in them than mainland China. Typically nine out of ten songs on the top of the play list in Beijing radio are not from mainland China. Hong Kong and Taiwan pop tends to be dominated by sickenly-sweet, sentimental ballad music in Chinese.
Beijing-based music critic Wang Xiaofeng told NPR that mainstream of Chinese popular musical taste has two main qualities. "The first is that its melody is very easy to remember," Wang says. "The second is that its rhythm is very simple, like a disco beat." Wang says this may explain the Chinese preference for the sort of light Western music (remember Hooked on Classics?) you often hear in public spaces throughout China. While the nation's tastes are diverse, Wang says, Chinese aesthetics generally value moderation and balance. [Source: NPR, July 19, 2013]
According to China Policy: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been adapting folk culture since its founding, but so have others. Cui Jian and Beijing rockers fused folk with Western beats to create the sound track for the late 1980s. They kept exploring, needing to come to terms with new realities in the 90s. For mainland musicians, however, gaining an audience beyond the underground was almost impossible. Hong Kong and Taiwan dominated pop music, setting the pace into the new millennium:Jay Chou's Chinese Wind, blowing from Taiwan, chimed nicely with official refashioning of Confucianism, and cutesy singer-songwriters from across the Strait gained huge followings among dreamy mainland 'young pure and fresh' hipsters. [Source: China Policy, February 12, 2016]
"But some things have changed.. From 2000, open-air music festivals gradually grew to attract tens of thousands of fans. Rock could now be heard outside of the usual underground bars. After Supergirl hit screens in 2004, TV talent shows have provided a new platform for a wide range of aspiring musicians, including those playing ethnic music. Despite this relative diversity, however, in the end the patriotic power ballad prevails. Through new social media, silly divine songs have 'gone viral'. Appealing to cynical white-collar workers and urban 'losers', these novelty hits have made unlikely heroes of some. Conversely, the same platforms have assisted the spread of local adaptations of Korean-style boy bands and European electronic dance music, upbeat expressions of national positive energy.
See Separate Articles: MUSIC, OPERA, THEATER AND DANCE factsanddetails.com CHINESE POP MUSIC INDUSTRY factsanddetails.com BIG CHINESE POP ARTISTS: FAYE WONG, LUHAN AND THE FOUR KINGS OF HONG KONG factsanddetails.com ; ROCK IN CHINA: HISTORY, GROUPS, POLITICS AND FESTIVALS factsanddetails.com ; CUI JIAN: HIS MUSIC, CONCERTS AND TIANANMEN SQUARE factsanddetails.com ; PUNK ROCK AND UNDERGROUND MUSIC SCENE IN CHINA factsanddetails.com ; HIP HOP AND RAP IN CHINA factsanddetails.com ; WESTERN POP MUSIC IN CHINA: WHAM, BJORK, THE STONES factsanddetails.com
Websites and Sources: Inter Asia Pop interasiapop.org; Sinomania, with old postings but still online sinomania.com ; Wikipedia article on C-Pop Wikipedia ; Wikipedia article on Cantopop Wikipedia ; Wikipedia article on Mandopop Wikipedia ; Chinese, Japanese, and Korean CDs and DVDs at Yes Asia yesasia.com and Zoom Movie zoommovie.com ; Book about Chinese pop music: "Like a Knife" by Andrew Jones.
Cantopop, Mandopop and Hong Kong Pop
The Chinese music scene is currently dominated by "Cantopop" singers, who sing in the Cantonese dialect of southern China and Hong Kong. "Mandopop" is pop music sung in Mandarin, the dominant Chinese dialect and one associated with northern China. Mandopop is gaining in popularity. Mandarin is not only the most widely spoken language in China, there are also many people who speak it in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Music journalist Mark Levin told Reuter in the late 2000s, "Cantopop is going down very quickly and Mandopop is replacing it. Mandopop is very, very, very strong. If you look at sales in Hong Kong you probably se that half of the top singers are Mandarin, whereas five years ago nine of 10 would have been Cantonese."
In the 1990s many of the most popular pop songs in Asia were sung by Hong Kong artists, many of them homegrown. They released both Cantonese and Mandarin versions of their songs, and were helped immensely by Channel V and MTV. Hong Kong pop stars also got Asia-wide exposure by appearing in popular Hong Kong films. Hong Kong pop is also popular in mainland China, Taiwan. Singapore, Southeast Asia and among the Chinese community in the United States, Canada, Malaysia and Australia. One Classic Hong Kong songs — "This Pair of Eyes Is Looking at You" — goes "You know I can't, I can't, I can't take my eyes off you. I can't take my eyes of you, you, you, you, you, you..."
In Hong Kong, there were three major Cantopop award ceremonies: the Metro Radio's Hit Awards, Commercial Radio's Ultimate Song Chart Awards and TVB Jade's Solid Gold Awards. In 2003, the Hong Kong music industry was rocked by a big scandal that involved bribes for better chart positions and music awards, stock swindles, and the arrest of 28 people in the recording industry. The scandal was uncovered through an investigaton of Juno Mak, a 19-year-old Cantopop singer who won several awards and had hit songs despite his reputation for being a terrible singer and dancer, and ugly ta boot. . Mak was so disliked that he was booed every time he accepted an award at the TVB Jade's Solid Gold Award. Among those arrested were Mak's father.
Jeroen Groenewegen of www.keepmakingsense.com wrote: "To my knowledge there is no English language academic book-length study devoted entirely to Cantopop. But there are a number of seminal articles written by Anthony Fung (on Faye Wong, Sammy, Andy Lau, LMF and others), Lawrence Witzleben (on Anita Mui), Chow Yiu-fai (with De Kloet on Leon Lai) and others. Jeroen de Kloet discusses some Cantopop (such as Anthony Wong) in chapter 4 of his recent book "China with a Cut" . I also recommend you the mockumentary Four Heavenly King (2004) by Daniel Wu.But yes, more work is needed in this field. Fortunately Inter-Asia pop (http://interasiapop.org) is trying to get researchers of Asian popular music together.
Shanghai Jazz Era in the 1920s, 30s and 40s
Jazz thrived in Shanghai in the 1920s, 30s and 40s as an American import — a legacy of the international city's colonial history. According to NPR: "That "beautiful fusion" eventually spread to other Chinese-speaking parts of the world like Hong Kong and Taiwan. But in mainland China, songs about romantic love and living lush that once filled the dance halls of Shanghai's jazz age had virtually disappeared after the government deemed them "yellow music" ("Sort of a term for pornographic music"). [Source: Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, January 28, 2015]
"Shanghai had a veneer of foreign sophistication in the '30s," journalist Paul French wrote, "when Noel Coward sat in the Cathay Hotel writing Private Lives and partying with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin at Victor Sassoon's mixed-sex (in the sense of mixed-up-sex) fancy dress parties. The city was then the world's third largest financial center, rich and exotic, and London and New York were a long way away. [Source: Paul French, Foreign journalists in China, from the Opium Wars to Mao ]
Nightlife centered around Chinese cabarets and dance halls called wuting. A good book on the subject is Shanghai's Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics, 1919-1954 by Andrew Field. On the book Field wrote: " The first five chapters recount the emergence and flourishing of Shanghai's "dancing world" (wujie, wuguo) including chapters on the role of Westerners in introducing Jazz Age dance and music culture to China, the first Chinese cabarets to operate in Shanghai during the 1920s, the design and construction of cabarets and nightclubs in the 1930s, the role of Chinese "dance hostesses" (wunu) in popularizing and facilitating the JazzAge in China, and Chinese ballroom patrons and the political culture of Chinese nationalism.
David Moser wrote in The Anthill: "Shanghai nightlife in the 1920s and 30s included jazz as a part of the cultural mix. Dozens of African-American jazz musicians traveled by steamboat to China to seek gigs in the freewheeling international club scene. Buck Clayton, who later on would play trumpet with Count Basie, formed his first jazz band in Shanghai. And local Chinese musicians absorbed it all to create a form of jazz with Chinese characteristics, a hybrid of New York's Tin Pan Alley and Shanghai pop songs.[Source: David Moser: The Anthill, January 2016]
After the Communists came to power in China in 1949 things were different. "To the army upper echelons, jazz was a quintessentially degenerate style of music, closely associated with the KMT, prostitutes and Western decadence. Watch any Chinese revolutionary film from the 50s and 60s, and you'll find that scenes of qipao-clad harlots cavorting with slick-haired KMT spies in smoke-filled cabaret halls are invariably accompanied by cheesy jazz. Du Yinjiao, a saxophonist in the People's Liberation Army band, did his best to convince the leadership of jazz's politically correct credentials. "Jazz should be championed by the Communist Party," he would tell them. "After all, it's music of the oppressed class, former black slaves of the land-owners!" But the army brass was unbending.
After the Communist take over of mainland China, according to the New York Times, "the musical world of Shanghai was largely recreated in Hong Kong, which was then a British colony. EMI opened offices there and invited many popular singers and performers that had been in Shanghai to record.
For an article on Jazz in China in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s See "25 Years of Jazz in China by David Moser MCLC Resource Center u.osu.edu/mclc
China's Seven Great Singing Stars
China's Seven Great Singing Stars from the Jazz Era in Shanghai in the 1930s and 40s were 1) Bai Guang, Queen of the Low Voice (active from 1943 to 1959), best known for "Waiting For Your Return", "Hypocrite" and "Autumn Night"; 2 Bai Hong, White Rainow, (active from 1933 to 1979), best known for "He Is Like The Spring Wind" and "The Intoxicating Lipstick"; 3) Gong Qiuxia, Big Sister (active 1933-1980), best known for "Best Wishes"; 4) Li Xianglan (Yoshiko Yamaguchi), The Judy Garland of Japan (active 1938 to 1958), best known for "Candy Selling Song", "Fragrance of the Night" and "Suzhou Nocturne"; 5) Wu Yingyin, Queen of the Nasal Voice (active 1945 to 2003), best known for "The Heartbreaking Red", "The Moon Sends My Love to Afar" and "Spring Returns to the World"; 6) Yao Li (Yao Lee), See Below; and 7) Zhou Xuan, See Below. [Source: Wikipedia]
Several of the stars acted in films, and their music played a prominent role in developing Chinese cinema. They dominated the Chinese pop music industry in the 1930s and 1940s, which was centered in Shanghai, and often performed in a genre known as Shidaiqu. Amongst the earliest of the stars to emerge in the 1930s were Zhou Xuan, Gong Qiuxia, Yao Lee, and Bai Hong. In the 40s, Bai Guang, Li Xianglan, and Wu Yingyin also became popular, and these seven were grouped as the seven great singing stars of the period.
Shanghai was occupied by the Japanese from 1937 to 1945. Popular at that time was Yoshiko Yamaguchi, who was Japanese and went by the Chinese name Li Xianglan (Li Hsiang-lan) without revealing here Japanese ancestry. After the Communist victory in 1949, there was a large migration of people from Shanghai to Hong Kong that included many entertainers but some stayed on in Communist China.. While some of the seven continued to perform for many years, Zhou Xuan died in 1957, Yoshiko retired from entertainment in 1958, and Bai Guang stopped recording in 1959.
Zhou Xuan
Zhou Xuan (1920-1957, also romanized as Chow Hsuan) was an iconic Chinese singer and film actress of the 1930s and 40s. She was the best known of China's Seven Great Singing Stars and was nicknamed the "Golden Voice". Active until 1954, she recorded more than 200 songs and appeared in over 40 films. Among her biggest were "The Wandering Songstress", "Shanghai Nights", "When Will You Return?", "Song of the Four Seasons", and "Yellow Leaves Dancing in Autumn Wind", In 1957 she died in Shanghai in a mental asylum at the age of 37 during the Anti-Rightist Movement. It is believed that she died of encephalitis following a nervous breakdown. Zhou's diary concluded that she suffered from cerebritis. [Source: Wikipedia]
Zhou was born Su Pu but was separated from her natural parents at a young age and raised by adoptive parents. She spent her entire life searching for her biological parents but her parentage was never established until after her death. According to later family research, a relative who was an opium addict took her at the age of 3 to another city and sold her to a family named Wang, who named her Wang Xiaohong. She was later adopted by a family named Zhou, changing her name to Zhou Xiaohong.
At the age of 13, she took Zhou Xuan as her stage name. 'Xuan' means "beautiful jade" in Chinese. In 1932, Zhou began acting as a member of Li Jinhui's Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe. When she was twelve, she won second prize in a singing contest in Shanghai and was given the nickname "Golden Voice" for her effortless high-pitched melodies. Zhou began her film career in 1935, and she achieved stardom in 1937 when director Yuan Muzhi cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl in Street Angel. Zhou rapidly became the most famous and marketable popular singer in the gramophone era up to her death, singing many famous tunes from her own movies.
Between 1946 and 1950, she often went to Hong Kong to make films such as "All-Consuming Love", "Hua wai liu ying", Sorrows of the Forbidden City, and "Rainbow Song". After introducing "Shanghai Nights" in 1949, Zhou returned to Shanghai. She spent the next few years in and out of a mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns. Through the years, Zhou led a complicated and unhappy life marked by her failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts. Zhou's first husband was the composer Yan Hua (1912–1992), who wrote and sometimes also performed songs with her.
Yao Li
Yao Li (Yao Lee, 1922-2019) was a celebrated singer in Shanghai in the midst of war in the 1930s and '40s, whose music remained popular after she moved to Hong Kong when China became Communist in 1949. Richard Sandomir wrote in the New York Times: "Ms. Yao was called "the silver voice" in Shanghai, her music influenced by jazz and Chinese folk. She was not famous well beyond Asia, but at least two of her songs made an impact in the United States. An English-language version of one of her hits, "Rose, Rose, I Love You" (1940), was recorded by the American singer Frankie Laine in 1951 and rose to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2018, "Ren Sheng Jiu Shi Xi" (or "Life Is Just a Play"), which she released in Hong Kong in 1959, was used on the soundtrack of Jon M. Chu's romantic comedy "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018), a movie about a New Yorker who travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's wealthy family. [Source: Richard Sandomir, New York Times, July 25, 2019]
"Ms. Yao (whose name was sometimes spelled Yao Lee) was born on Sept. 3, 1922, and raised in Shanghai. As a girl in the early 1930s she listened to Zhou on the radio but was too poor to buy her records. Ms. Yao herself began singing on the radio at 13 — at least once on a program with Zhou — and signed her first contract, with Pathé Records, a part of EMI, three years later. She became a popular nightclub attraction. "Big movie stars like Li Lihua would come every Sunday to watch me perform and request specific songs," she recalled in an interview in 2013 with The Glass, a cultural magazine.
With her soft, high voice, Ms. Yao was long referred to as one of the seven great singing stars of Shanghai, along with her idol,Zhou Xuan, who was known as "the golden voice." The music of Shanghai bore not only the rhythms of jazz, but also global sounds like Cuban rumba and the Hawaiian steel guitar. Li's hits included "Rose, Rose, I Love You", "Meet Again", "Congratulations", "Love That I Can't Have" and "Love for Sale".
"Li married Huang Baoluo in the late 1940s but did not stay in Shanghai much longer. The Communist Party took power in 1949 and, fearing that she might have to endure re-education by the new regime, she fled to Hong Kong with her husband the next year. "I was so scared and very sad," she told The Glass. "I thought my life, and career, were finished." They were not. She and other Pathé artists recorded with EMI. "She also started working in the film industry, providing vocals that were lip-synced by the actress Chung Ching in a series of pictures, including "Songs of the Peach Blossom River" (1956). By then Ms. Yao had begun to emulate the pop and country singer Patti Page by deepening her voice. She continued to sing into the mid-1960s. In 1967, she took an executive job at EMI.
Pop Music in China in the 1980s and 90s
Popular artist from the old days include Teresa Tang "the empress of Taiwanese love ballads." Her song "The Moon Represents My Heart" was popular in the mainland in the 1980s Pop music was banned during the Cultural Revolution as capitalist "poison." Before appearing in concert or releasing a record, Chinese artists must submit their lyrics for approval from the Ministry of Culture, anything deemed obscene, unpatriotic or politically sensitive is censored.
Deng Lijun.was a singer who was very popular in the 1980s and 90s and shaped views of women should look like at time. Pop culture researcher Jeroen de Kloet wrote: "In a country that seems particularly keen to periodise, these developments have given birth to yet another term for a generation conveniently classified by a decade: the 1980s (balinghou). This new generation of "little emperors," as they are often cynically referred to, all come from one-child families, born after the Cultural Revolution.
"Everyday I am somebody else," sings Shen Lihui in one of his songs from 1997, an apt prediction of the spirit of the 80s generation, a spirit which became increasingly important in order to keep in tune with a post-socialist China of the 21st century. The celebration of agency as evoked by the references to individualism tends to ignore the more structural conditions that contain, steer and produce subjectivities like "the 80s generation." On a par with the assumed relation between modernization and individualization, this generation is often accused in public discourse of being selfish and overtly materialistic, a generation driven by pleasure rather than politics, for whom "being alternative" — linglei (other species) has become merely a lifestyle choice. A generation for which life has to be "niubi" — literally, a cow's vagina, metaphorically standing for cool and exciting.
Pop Music Scene in China in the 2000s
Describing the general music scene in Beijing in the late 2000s, Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker: "Concert halls may be filled and conservatories mobbed but classical music is hobbled by commercial and political pressures. The creative climate with its system of punishments and rewards, still resembles that of the late-period Soviet Union, which heavily influenced the development of China's musical institutions. At the same time, the wider soundscape of Beijing is as chaotically rich as that of any Western city: nights of experimental music, indie-rock shows soaked in hipster attitude, pop idols cavorting on HD monitors in malls, retirees singing Peking Opera in parks."
On the music scene in Shanghai in the late 2000s, John Howkins wrote in The Australian: "Mainstream pop is everywhere and cutesy muzak blasts out in every shopping mall and foyer, indistinguishable from other Asian pop. But alternative, edgier music is so underground as to be almost invisible. Young people enjoy fashion, clubbing and gaming, but the idea that pop and rock might be an act of youthful rebellion has not taken root. China doesn't really have a youth culture in that sense. The idea of doing something to be different from one's parents is seen as a Western malaise. The Ministry of Culture keeps a watchful eye and has veto rights over lyrics before they can be recorded." [Source: John Howkins, The Australian July 28, 2008]
In the late 2000s, Beijing had a small but active techno and rave scene. 2Kolegas, a bar inside a drive-in movie theater in eastern Beijing, and Sugar Jar, a Beijing music store, were ground zero for China's avant-garde music scene. The former hosted a range of experimental and abstract electronica musicians. The latter sold recordings with titles like China; the Sonic Avant-Garde. Recordings deemed successful sell hundreds of copies. Artists make the little money they make playing at art galleries and making ambient music for real estate developers.
Techno artists active in Beijing include Wang Fan; Sulumi; Yan Jun; FM3, the inventors of the drone-producing Buddha Machine; 718 (the performer Sun Wei); the rock musician Dou Wei, who has a number of spacey recordings that use traditional Chinese instruments; Huanqing, a Sichian-based group that records traditional folk music in villages and manipulates it electronically; and Tortured Nurse, described by the New York Times as one of the "most extreme noise groups" in China.
See Separate Article PUNK ROCK AND UNDERGROUND MUSIC SCENE IN CHINA factsanddetails.com
China Becomes Enraptured with K-Pop Culture in the Mid 2000s
Reporting from Beijing, Norimitsu Onishi wrote in the New York Times: "At Korea City, on the top floor of the Xidan Shopping Center, a warren of tiny shops sell hip-hop clothes, movies, music, cosmetics and other offerings in the South Korean style. To young Chinese shoppers, it seemed not to matter that some of the products, like New York Yankees caps or Japan's Astro Boy dolls, clearly have little to do with South Korea. Or that most items originated, in fact, in Chinese factories. "We know that the products at Korea City are made in China," said Wang Ying, 28, who works for the local branch of an American company. "But to many young people, 'Korea' stands for fashionable or stylish. So they copy the Korean style." [Source: Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, January 2, 2006]
"From clothes to hairstyle, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and other Asians for the past half decade. As part of the Korean Wave,a television drama about a royal cook, "The Jewel in the Palace," is garnering record ratings throughout Asia, and Rain, a 23-year-old singer from Seoul, drew more than 40,000 fans to a sold-out concert at a sports stadium here.
"For a country that has been influenced by other cultures, especially China but also Japan and America, South Korea finds itself at a turning point in its new role as exporter. South Korean movies and dramas about urban professionals in Seoul, though not overtly political, present images of modern lives centering on individual happiness and sophisticated consumerism. They also show enduring Confucian-rooted values in their emphasis on family relations, offering to Chinese both a reminder of what was lost during the Cultural Revolution and an example of an Asian country that has modernized and retained its traditions. "Three Guys and Three Girls" and "Three Friends" are South Korea's homegrown version of the American TV show "Friends." As for "Sex and the City," its South Korean twin, "The Marrying Type," a sitcom about three single professional women in their 30's looking for love in Seoul, was so popular in China that episodes were illegally downloaded or sold on pirated DVD's.
""We feel that we can see a modern lifestyle in those shows," said Qu Yuan, 23, a student at Tsinghua University here. "American dramas also show the same kind of lifestyle. We know that South Korea and America have similar political systems and economies. But it's easier to accept that lifestyle from South Koreans because they are culturally closer to us. We feel we can live like them in a few years." "They seem to have similar lifestyles," Ms. Qu said. "They have friends and go to bars. They have good mobile phones and good cars and lead comfortable lives." Her classmate, Huo Kan, 23, said, "American dramas are too modern....Something like 'Sex and the City' is too alien to us." Jin Yaxi, 25, a graduate student at Beijing University, said, "We like American culture, but we can't accept it directly." "And there is no obstacle to our accepting South Korean culture, unlike Japanese culture," said Ms. Jin, who has studied both Korean and Japanese. "Because of the history between China and Japan, if a young person here likes Japanese culture, the parents will get angry."
"Politics also seems to underlie the Chinese preference for South Korean-filtered American hip-hop culture. Messages about rebelliousness, teenage angst and freedom appear more palatable to Chinese in their Koreanized versions. Kwon Ki Joon, 22, a South Korean who attends Beijing University and graduated from a Chinese high school here, said his male Chinese friends were fans of South Korea hip-hop bands, like H.O.T., and its song "We Are the Future." A sample of the song's lyrics translate roughly as: "We are still under the shadows of adults/Still not Free/To go through the day with all sorts of interferences is tiring." To Mr. Kwon, there is no mystery about the band's appeal. "It's about wanting a more open world, about rebelliousness," he said. "Korean hip-hop is basically trying to adapt American hip-hop."
Chinese Government Control of Pop Music
Leon Lai,
another Four King
The Communist government likes pop music that promotes party values and soothes the masses:. Most of the stiff hear in the radio these days is uplifting ballads and gentle love songs. Rock is given only brief moments of air time in the middle of the night. The lyrics of one song often played on state-run radio went in 2007: "Don't care about loneliness/ I don't think it really matters." Another went "Ah, little man, ah, succeed quickly/ Enjoy being poor but happy every day."
The Chinese government keeps tight control of the music industry through ownership of all the broadcast media, the screening of lyrics for all commercial music and direct control of performing sites.The result if this is an incredible bland state-approved music scene and encouragement to serious musicians to work underground.
One Chinese music told the New York Times, "Nowadays singers can sing many songs, but in the end, they're all singing the same song, the core of which is, "Have fun." Culture has become an empty vessel." The lead singer of a Shanghai-based rock group called Three Yellow Chicken said, "What prevails here is worse than garbage. Because China emphasizes stability and harmony, the greatest utility of these pop songs is that they aren't dangerous to the system. If people could hear undergrown music, it would make them feel the problems in their lives and want ti change things."
Rock fans at an underground club popular with university students in Shanghai told the New York Times, "What's on the radio are brainless mouthwash songs that all copy each other...Once you hear the first rhythm you know the rest."
Defending what is played on the radio, insisting it reflects popular tastes, on DJ on a state-owned radio station told the New York Times, "It's whether you're happy or not that counts, and not the substance. Life is smooth, and so music is more about soothing things. Anyone can criticize or blame. What we need right now is guidance."
Shanghai band Top Floor Circus, whose satirical lyrics poked fun at government projects in the city, had concerts banned by police in 2009. "Rock as entertainment is totally safe, but there are limits. Some things are OK but suddenly you bump up against the wall," Jonathan Campbell, a scholar of Chinese pop music, told NPR.
China Outlaws Lip-Synching
"In November 2008, in the wake of the international response to nine-year-old girl lip-synching during the Olympic opening ceremony, decided to outlaw lip-synching. The Ministry of Culture said it was outlawing the widespread practice during live performances, as well as clamping down on musicians who pretend to play their instruments during shows." [Source:David Eimer, The Telegraph, November 14, 2008]
"There was an outpouring of anger following the revelation that child star Lin Miaoke had been miming when she sang "Ode To The Motherland" during the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. The cute nine-year-old's performance captured the hearts of the Chinese, until organizers of the ceremony admitted she had been lip-synching. Another girl had sung the popular song, but had been judged not pretty enough to represent China in front of the world. Officials justified the decision as being in the "national interest"."
"The Ministry of Culture said it would name and shame performers caught lip-synching. Those who are caught miming twice will have their performing licenses revoked, according to proposed new legislation. Sun Qiuxia, an official with the Ministry of Culture, said: "People who perform for profit should not cheat audiences with fake singing or by pretending to play instruments."
"Lip-synching has long been common practice in China. One Chinese pop star claimed that less than 20 per cent of singers actually sang when performing live. Zheng Jun told local media: "I once met a well-known singer at a show who didn't even recognize his song was playing, because it had been so long since he performed it live."
"In February, China's biggest movie star Zhang Ziyi was the subject of widespread derision after she mimed her way through a song while appearing on China's most-watched TV show on Chinese New Year's Eve."
In April 2010, two Chinese singers have become the first people in the country to fall foul of new rules banning lip-synching. The two young women were spotted lip-synching during a concert in the south-western city of Chengdu last year, the official Xinhua news agency said on its website. "No signals were received from their microphones while the show was on," it quoted an official with the local government's cultural affairs office as saying. The two have been fined 50,000 yuan (£4,763) each, Xinhua added. Some have wondered why these first fines were levelled against two unknown singers. "Why do they choose to keep their eyes closed when it's a famous singer miming?" one commentator wrote on the website of the Beijing Daily. [Source: The Guardian, Reuters, April 11, 2010]
Andy Lau, another Four King These days the pop music scene in China, like much of Asia, is dominated by K-Pop and cutesy "boy bands." Fans are predominantly female, ranging from teenagers to recent college graduates. The term "husband" is used by such fans to describe male pop stars who are so charming they fantasize about marrying them. Female fans at concerts are sometimes reminiscent of the female fans during Beatlemania. They shriek and cry uncontrollably, drown out the songs, and lung forward to touch the hands of their idols and give them bouquets of flowers. [Source: Zheping Huang, Quartz, March 30, 2017]
After the hip group IN3 was detained for a week and their music was banned in 2015, AFP reported: "There are now dozens of commercial acts, but IN3's lyrics "are reflections of our generation and are real", said DJ Wordy, a mainstay of the Beijing scene. "In hip hop, if you don't talk about the government and real stuff, you can do whatever you want," he said. "Right now in Beijing it is not a good time for anything in music.[Source: AFP, December 31, 2015]
In the late 2010s, the Chinese government began increasing using music, videos and animation to convey its propaganda. In October 2015, according to the New York Times, the Fuxing Lushang Studio, a mysterious team that has produced several viral videos praising the party, released a song in English about China's 13th Five-Year Plan. [Source: Vanessay Piao and Patrick Boehler, Sinosphere, New York Times, February 2, 2016]
In early 2016, a video extolling Xi Jinping's ideology tapped into rap and Beethoven to get its message across. "It is everyone's dream, to build a moderately prosperous society comprehensively," goes the song in a cartoon video released by Xinhua, the state news agency. It then goes on to promote the "Four Comprehensives," priorities that President Xi Jinping laid out in December 2014: 1) Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society; 2) Comprehensively deepen reform; 3) Comprehensively govern the country according to the law; and 4) Comprehensively apply strictness in governing the party.
"There will be no panic in our hearts, as long as food is not a concern and our hands are full of money," the main singer shouts in a heavy Beijing accent. The video then cuts to the the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, as the cartoon figures sing that, "with the Four Comprehensives, the China Dream will not be far away." According to Xinhua the song will "both enrich your knowledge and help you achieve physical fitnes."
Clampdown of the Pop Music Under Xi Jinping
In 2014, Communist leader Xi last year urged artists not to chase popularity with "vulgar works". "Art and culture will emit the greatest positive energy when the Marxist view is firmly established," he said in a speech which drew comparison with the diktats of Mao Zedong. In 2015, all of Beijing's biggest popular music festivals were cancelled without notice throughout the year, he pointed out. [Source: AFP, December 31, 2015]
In 2015, the Ministry of Culture blacklisted 120 songs that it deemed "immoral." The rap group IN3 claims they were grabbed by plain clothes police and detained for five days without charge. The atmosphere has become particularly repressive since Xi Jinping took power. Rocker Cui Jan told The Times of London:"The fear is always around. It's like smoke." [Source: Jamie Fullerton, The Times of London, August 2016]
According to The Atlantic: Although the laws governing the censorship were left deliberately vague, they were strictly enforced. Artists "whose heart and morality are not aligned with the party and whose morality is not noble," the Communist Party said, were no longer able to perform in public. "In China, you never know exactly what is forbidden," says a Chinese rapper in David Verbeek's short documentary Trapped in the City of a Thousand Mountains. "That's actually a very clever tactic. It makes everyone more careful. Without a clear boundary, people will be more prone to self-censor."[Source: The Atlantic, Oct 11, 2019]
"According to Verbeek, censorship, digital espionage, and surveillance have had a widespread impact on Chinese youth. The situation "has numbed people's brains to critical thought, and has, ironically, turned them into the perfect consumers for Western materialism," he said. "But despite all the brainwashing, the Chinese remain soulful people, full of character and spirit. Their openness and generosity will always continue to surprise me — it's in direct contrast to their government."
Chinese Government Worries About BTS Idol Effect on Its Young Men
The government in Beijing has become worried that the popularity of BTS and other makle K-Pop groups was turning Chinese boys and young men into 'sissy pants' men who wear make-up and earrings. Associated Press reported: "China's boy bands and celebrities are influenced by K-pop idols from South Korea like BTS. People such as Jackson Yee — with their delicate beauty, dyed hair and haute couture wardrobes — have a massive following among women in the country. But China's state-run media condemns the young idols, calling them "sissy pants" and "young fresh meat". The backlash deepened after a back-to-school TV programme featured the boy band F4. Angry parents attacked the Education Ministry's decision to hold up the cosmetics-wearing young men as role models; state media warned that a "sick" and "decadent" culture threatened the future of the nation. [Source: Associated Press, May 8, 2019]
"The gender stereotyping is not just about gender identity itself," said an author and researcher on Chinese masculinity. "It's about the reproduction of the nation and how to properly cultivate the next generation." Dr Song Geng of the University of Hong Kong said the fear partly reflects deep-seated insecurity about Chinese power, after historical humiliations such as the opium wars and domination of Chinese rulers by foreign imperial powers. "They're worrying that if Chinese men are so effeminate … then we will become a weak country in future and we cannot compete with our rivals," he said. "There's anxiety about the virility of the nation being harmed by those effeminate male images."
"In a nation where men dominate political and business leadership and campaigns for gender equality have gained little traction, the debate over what is "effeminate" has become a popular pastime among older conservative residents, and mostly among men. Screenwriter Wang Hailin says the young men resemble male prostitutes sought after by some affluent older women. "We need to be aware of this effeminacy before it's too late and deal with it," said Wang, 48. He has berated fellow screenwriters, saying they portray men as "wimps, cowards, losers and idiots" and that China should look to Hollywood for strong alpha male characters. "It has created the impression that Chinese men are all weak, irresponsible and indifferent," he warned. "Male actors represent national ideology. We cannot encourage the younger generation to look up to them as role models."
"Chinese military leaders seem to share fears about the nation's men, with the army newspaper People's Liberation Army Daily complaining that 20 per cent of recruits were not fit enough to pass the fitness test for admission because they were overweight, watched too many cellphone videos, drank too much or masturbated too often.
See Separate Article EFFEMINATE MEN IN CHINA AND THE GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST THEM factsanddetails.com
Books and Journals about Chinese pop music: "Like a Knife" by Andrew Jones. Volume 32 - Issue 01 of the journal Popular Music (http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=pmu) is dedicated to East Asian pop music. Articles: 1) Introduction: Special Issue – East Asian popular music and its (dis)contents by Hyunjoon Shin and Yoshitaka Mo-ri and Tunghung Ho pp 1-5; 2) "Strumming a place of one's own: gender, independence and the East Asian pop-rock screen" by Eva Tsai and Hyunjoon Shin pp 7-22; 3) "English and identity in East Asian popular music" by Phil Benson pp 23-33; 4) "Representing Japan: 'national' style among Japanese hip-hop DJs" by Noriko Manabe pp 35-50; 5) "The poetics of resistance and the politics of crossing borders: Korean hip-hop and 'cultural reterritorialisation'" by Hae-Kyung Um pp 51-64; 6) "Remapping Hong Kong popular music: covers, localisation and the waning hybridity of Cantopop" by Yiu-Wai Chu and Eve Leung pp 65-78; 7) Deliberating fandom and the new wave of Chinese pop: a case study of Chris Li by Anthony Fung pp 79-89; 8) Troubling genre, ethnicity and geopolitics in Taiwanese American independent rock music by Wendy F. Hsu pp 91-109; 9)'A new stereophonic sound spectacular': Shibuya-kei as transnational soundscape by Martin Roberts pp 111-123.
Image Sources: Fan blogs and websites
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton's Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated November 2021


text:
Tag: Mary Willis
WILLIS or WILLEY – A Critical Misread
Occasionally, we each run into difficulty interpreting handwriting in old documents. It comes with the territory. Modern genealogists are not the only ones affected by the problem. Decades ago, clerks who hand copied original documents ran into the same issue. Worse, publishers then printed typeset versions of those recopied texts (or abstracts of them). Once a misinterpreted word gets into print, it becomes accepted wisdom and resistant to change.
The situation is particularly vexing when the misinterpreted word is a person's name. Willis and Willey provide a good example. Families of each surname lived close to each other in early Dorchester County, Maryland. The handwritten name Willis in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often ended with a downward swooping tail on the "s," which made it look like a "y." [1]
The following illustrates the script anomaly. Parties to legal documents of the era often took an oath on the "Holy Evangels of Almighty God," meaning the Christian Gospels. Here is the way that phrase appears in a Dorchester County Will Book:
There is no discernable difference in the "y" at the end of the words Holy and Almighty and what is supposed to be an "s" at the end of Evangels. The scribe who recopied this deed into a nicely readable volume misread a long-tailed "s" in the original, writing it as a "y."
No harm done. We know there is no such word as "Evangely," so we can just move on … maybe tsk, tsk-ing under our breath. But what of the poor Willis and Willey families? A similar misread could easily convert a Willis into a Willey, or vice versa. In fact, an authoritative source of marriages in early Maryland states that Francis Insley married Keziah Willey on 27 Oct 1785 in Dorchester County.[2] However, a land sale by that couple twenty years later provides evidence that the bride's name was actually Keziah Willis, not Willey.
In 1805, the Insleys's sold 60 acres of land called "Addition to Adventure."[3] The Willis family had owned that parcel for four decades, dating back to Richard Willis's purchase in 1764.[4] The 1805 Insley deed recites that Benedict Meekins and his wife Mary [nee Willis] had sold the land to Andrew Willis, who devised it to his son Andrew. The deed does not state how Francis Insley and his wife Keziah got title to the land from the younger Andrew, and there are no other deeds that explain their ownership.
Explaining the Insley's ownership is simple, however, if Keziah's maiden name were Willis rather than Willey. Keziah was one of four children of the elder Andrew Willis and his wife Sarah.[5] The elder Andrew willed the land to his son Andrew, Jr. The younger Andrew subsequently died without a will and without children some time after 1796. His estate therefore passed to his heirs as defined under the Maryland laws of intestate descent and distribution, i.e., his siblings and the children of any already deceased siblings.
Keziah Willis Insley and her husband possessed the land in 1805 because she was Andrew's only surviving sibling, and her brother George and sister Mary had each died without surviving children. Dorchester records make no mention in the relevant time frame of either George or Mary — no marriage, deed, death, or migration information. Their absence from the record supports the theory that they both died young and without issue.
The circumstantial evidence is sufficient to conclude that 1) a transcriber erroneously interpreted Keziah's last name in the marriage record, 2) that Francis Insley married Keziah Willis in 1785, and 3) she was a party to the sale of Willis family land twenty years later.
The critical misinterpretation of Keziah Willis's name will never be corrected in most published sources, but some of us will know the truth.
[1]Lower case "i" and "e" are also hard to distinguish.
[2]Palmer, Katherine H., Dorchester County, Maryland: Marriage License Records, 1780-1855, 1960.
[3]McAllister, James A., Jr., Abstracts from the Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 42 (Liber HD No. 21), Cambridge, Maryland, 21 HD 569
[4]McAllister, Abstracts, Volume 15 (Liber Old No. 19), Cambridge, Maryland, 1964, 19 Old 163
[5]Old Trinity Church records show that the elder Andrew Willis and his wife Sarah baptized three children — Andrew, Keziah, and George — between 1768 and 1775. The couple also had a fourth child, Mary.
Author Gary WillisPosted on May 28, 2019 May 28, 2019 Categories Willis ArticlesTags Addition to Adventure, Andrew Willis, Dorchester County MD, Francis Insley, George Willis, Keziah Insley, Keziah Willey, Keziah Willis, Mary Willis, Richard Willis2 Comments on WILLIS or WILLEY – A Critical Misread
Revised – A Surprising Willis – Quaker Connection
Subsequent to the original posting of this article, significant new information came to my attention requiring a substantial rewrite. I have deleted the original and post this revised version in order to clear the record of incorrect information.
During the 18thand 19thcenturies, several Willis families on the Eastern Shore of Maryland were Quakers. I have long believed that the John Willis family who lived on land called Wantage in Dorchester County was not one of them.[1]The evidence I had found to date supported that conclusion.
For example, Wantage John's eldest son John, Jr. lived on Marshy Creek in what became Caroline County. Several Quaker Meetings and the Anglican St. Mary's White Chapel Parish served the region. The Anglican records do not survive, so whether John Jr.'s family attended there is lost to history. On the other hand, numerous Quaker Meeting records of the period exist. John, Jr.'s family does not appear in any of them. Apparently, the family was not Quaker.
The record for Wantage John's son Andrew is more straightforward. Andrew lived in Dorchester County. Three of his four sons appear in the records of Old Trinity Church near Church Creek at the baptism of several children between 1754 and 1775.[2]No Quaker record names any of these people. This family was clearly Anglican and not Quaker.
The elder John had two other sons, Thomas and William. Thomas lived adjacent John Jr. on Marshy Creek. William inherited Wantage from his father and lived there until moving close to his wife's family on Hodson's/Hudson's Creek in the Neck Region of Dorchester County. Neither of these sons appears in any religious record, Anglican or otherwise. Therefore, no evidence suggests a connection to Quakerism for anyone in the Wantage John family for the first couple of generations. And, there is evidence that one family group was Anglican.
Beyond these first generations, descendants of John of Wantage and related families were prominent in Methodism. Barratt's Chapel in neighboring Kent County, Delaware was the birthplace of Methodism in America.[3]Lydia Barratt, granddaughter of Philip Barratt who built the chapel in 1780 is the great grandmother of Henry Fisher Willis, a direct descendant of Wantage John. Henry was a significant supporter of the Bethesda Methodist Church in Preston, Caroline County, Maryland, with a stained glass window honoring his service in the late 1800s. Henry's father Zachariah Willis was a trustee of the Methodist Church whose twin brother Foster gave land for a church in 1831.[4]
I concluded from this data it highly unlikely that any of Wantage John's descendants belonged to the Society of Friends. In fact, I used membership in the Society as a screening tool to eliminate various Willis lineages as being related to John of Wantage. For example, there is a Quaker Willis line in eastern Dorchester County and in the Federalsburg region of Caroline County.[5]Another Willis line in Talbot and Caroline County attended the Tuckahoe Monthly Meeting. Indeed, many researchers have conflated a Richard Willis in that line, who married Margaret Cox, with a Richard Willis in Wantage John's line. A third line of Willises who lived in Kent County, Maryland were also Quaker. None of these families are related to John Willis of Wantage at least on this side of the pond.
With a high level of confidence in the religious affiliation of the John Willis family, or at least its lack of affiliation with the Quakers, imagine my surprise when I came across the following entries reportedly from the birth records of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting, New Castle, Delaware.[6]Oops:
Richard Willis 24 of 1 mo 1794 Son of Richard Willis and Britanna his wife
Ann Willis 2 of 6 mo 1799 Daughter of Do & Do
Senah Willis 19 of 4 mo 1802 Son of Do & Do
Zachariah Willis and Foster Willis 27 of 12 mo 1804 Sons of Do & Do
Peter Willis 21 of 4 mo 1811 Son of Do & Do
The same document contains the following burial records:
Richard Willis 27 of 5 mo 1820 in 26thyear
Richard Willis 2 mo 14 1823 63rd
Britanna Willis 1 mo 2 1826 in the 59th
The listed parents Richard Willis and Britanna (Britannia Goutee) are well known to me, but I had no inkling they were Quakers. Richard, born 8 Aug 1759, is the son of Richard Willis, died 1764, and the great grandson of John of Wantage. Richard and Britannia, born about 1765, married in Caroline County on 22 Jan 1788.[7]She is descended from John Gootee and Margaret Besson/Beeson, who came to the colony from France with Margaret's father and became naturalized citizens in 1671.[8]So, have I been wrong all along about this Willis line and Quakerism?
Well, I don't know. Certainly, I was wrong about Richard and Britannia, however, these seem to be the only Quaker records online for the family … no marriages, no grandchildren's births, no deaths recorded after Britannia's in 1826.
This particular record does reveal some other information. First, the record is handwritten … an Index plus a section of Births and one of Burials. However, the cover page is typewritten, stating that it is from the Wilmington Monthly Meeting.[9]An examination of the contents reveals, however, that the cover page is incorrect. The record is actually from the Northwest Fork Meeting in Federalsburg based on the following. For one thing, the record noted that two of the listed people were "Elders in the NW Fork Monthly Meeting." Additionally, surnames in the record, such as, Charles, Dawson, Kelley, Leverton, Noble, and Wright, are of Quaker families known to have lived near the Northwest Fork of the Nanticoke River. Finally, the record indicates the residence of a few of the listed persons. The record mentions only three counties: Caroline and Dorchester, Maryland, and Sussex, Delaware. Federalsburg is located at the intersection of those counties. Clearly, the record is from that Meeting and not Wilmington.
The second thing apparent from this register is that it is a copy and not the original register. The handwriting is identical throughout, both in the index and the birth and death entries. Had the entries been made at the times the events occurred from 1790 to 1828, the person making the entries surely would have changed from time to time. Therefore, the handwriting would have varied. Furthermore, many entries relating to a single family are grouped together regardless of date. For example, all the Willis birth entries are on a single page.[10]The same is true of some other families. One would expect the original register to be in chronological order with the family names mixed together. Apparently, a clerk prepared a copy of the original register, reorganized and indexed it. Likely, this document was intended for the files of a Quarterly or Yearly Meeting to which the Northwest Fork Meeting was subordinate. That would have been the Southern Quarterly and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting during the years in question.[11]
One additional Quaker reference to this family is Kenneth Carroll's Quakerism on the Eastern Shore.That source lists under the Northwest Fork Monthly Meeting the birth of Ann Willis, daughter of Richard and Britannia and the death of Ann Willis "daughter of Richard."[12]If this is the same Ann, she died unmarried at age 35. Interestingly, Carroll's work does not include the other data found in the mislabeled Northwest Fork record. Obviously, he did not have access to that register.
In conclusion, it is clear that Richard and Britannia Willis affiliated with the Quakers. Apparently, the Friend's connection ended with Ann's death. Possibly she was the motivating factor for the family's involvement in the sect.
[1]John Willis, died 1712, patented a 50-acre tract named Wantage in Dorchester County in 1702.
[2]Palmer, Katherine H., transcribed Baptism Record, Old Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Church Creek, MD, (Cambridge, MD), 19, baptisms of son Richard's children Mary (1754), John (1755), Elizabeth (1758) and Richard (1761); son John's child Jarvis (1758); son Andrew's children Keziah (1770) and George (1775).
[3]See www.barrattschapel.org
[4]Caroline County, MD Land Records, Liber JR-R, Folio 115, 29 Oct 1831 deed for ½ acre from Foster Willis and Wife Ann to trustees of the Methodist Church, proved 31 Jan 1832.
[5]Actually, this family were Nicholites, or New Quakers, until that sect reunited with the Quakers in 1798. See Carroll, Kenneth Lane, Joseph Nichols and the Nicholites: A Look at the "New Quakers" of Maryland, Delaware, North and South Carolina (Easton, Maryland: The Easton Publishing Company, 1962), 78, Births of the children of Andrew and Sarah Willis: Andrew, 3 Nov 1774; Mary, 5 Dec 1770; Rhoda, 18 May 1766; Roger, 14 May 1768; and Shadrick, 15 May 1772. Births of children of Thomas and Sina Willis: Anne, 5 Dec 1770; Elic, 1 Feb 1785; Jesse, 15 Feb 1773; Joshua, 15 Dec 1774; Milby, & Aug 1768; Milley, 3 Feb 1784; Thomas, 28 Oct 1776; and William 20 Sep 1771.
[6]Ancestry.com, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935: Births & Deaths, 1790-1828, Wilmington Monthly Meeting, New Castle, Delaware. Birth records are all at p. 19; Burial records at pp. 7, 8, and 10, respectively.
[7]Cranor, Henry Downes, Marriage Licenses of Caroline County, Maryland, 1744-1815(Philadelphia: Henry Downes Cranor, 1904), 18.
[8]Browne, William Hand, Archives of Maryland v.2, Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, April 1666 – June 1676(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1884), 270, Naturalization of John Gootee and Margarett Gootee his wife of Dorchester County and Stephen Besson of Dorchester County all born in the Kingdom of France. Act read as being passed by the Assembly at 19 Apr 1671 closing of the session on the General Assembly, which began 27 Mar 1671 in St. Mary's County.
[9]The typewritten text on the cover page reads, "II Department of Friends' Records, 302 Arch Street, Phila., PA, Wilmington Monthly Meeting, Del., Births and Deaths, 1790-1828, Births 22 pp.; Deaths 11 pp.; Index 32 pp."
[10]This record, however, does not include the couple's two eldest daughters, Rebecca, born 9 Nov 1788, and Dorcas, born between 1790 and 1793.
[11]Jacobsen, Phebe R., Quaker Records in Maryland(Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission, State of Maryland, 1966), 78, In 1800, by permission of the Southern Quarterly, a Monthly Meeting was established at Northwest Fork, consisting of Marshy Creek [Note: later named Snow Hill and then Preston], Centre, and Northwest Fork Preparative Meetings … When the Separation occurred within the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1827, the Southern Quarterly Meeting was simply dissolved by the Orthodox."
[12] Carroll, Kenneth Lane, Quakerism on the Eastern Shore(Baltimore: The Maryland Historical Society, Garamond/Pridemark Press, 1970) 255, Ann Willis daughter of Richard and Britana [sic] born 19 Apr 1799; 260, Ann Willis daughter of Richard died 22 Sep 1834.
Author Gary WillisPosted on July 1, 2018 Categories Willis ArticlesTags Andrew Willis, Ann Willis, Barrat's Chapel, Bethesda Methodist Curch, Britannia Gootee Willis, Caroline County MD, Church Creek, Dorchester County MD, Elic Willis, Elizabeth Willis, Federalsburg MD, Foster Willis, George Willis, Henry Fisher Willis, Henry Willis, Hodson's Creek, Jarvis Willis, Jesse Willis, John Gootee, John Willis, Joseph Nichols, Joshua Willis, Kent County MD, Keziah Willis, Lydia Barratt, Margaret Besson/Beeson, Marshy Creek, Mary Willis, Milby Willis, Milley Willis, New Castle County DE, Nicholites, Northwest Fork Monthly Meeting, Northwest Fork of the Nanticoke River, Old Trinity Church, Peter Willis, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Philip Barratt, Preston MD, Quaker, Rhoda Willis, Richard Willis, Roger Willis, Sarah Willis, Senah Willis, Shadrick Willis, Sina Willis, Society Of Friends, Southern Quarterly Meeting, Talbot County MD, Thomas Willis, Tuckahoe Monthly Meeting, Wantage, William Willis, Wilmington Monthly Meeting, Zachariah Willis6 Comments on Revised – A Surprising Willis – Quaker Connection
Appendix to The John Willis Family and The Maryland Supply Tax of 1783
An abbreviated descendant chart for John Willis of Wantage with highlighted names of people and tracts of interest. This Appendix supplements the narrative article "The John Willis Family and The Maryland Supply Tax of 1783," which is located immediately below this posting:
….. 1 John Willis b: 3 Jan 1668/9, Wantage, Berkshire, England, d: Nov 1712 in Dorchester Co, MD (patented Wantage in 1702)
……….. 2 John Willis, Jr. b: Abt. 1689 in Dorchester Co, MD, d: bef 23 Jan 1764 (1717 land on Marshy Creek, Willis Regulation)
……….. + Mary Unknown d: Bef. 1731, m: Abt. 1702
…………….. 3 John Willis b: Abt. 1703 (25 Old 26), d: likely Bef. 1783
…………….. 3 Mary Willis
…………….. + Unknown Clift (Poss. Joseph or Mark)
…………….. 3 Judeath Willis
…………….. 3 Elizabeth Willis
…………….. + Unknown Killingsworth
…………….. 3 Isaac Willis d: Abt. May 1789 (Letters Admin to Henry & Joshua Willis)
………………….. 4 Henry Willis b: Bef. 1760 ("of Isaac" in Loyalty Oath 1778)
………………….. 4 Andrew Willis b: Bet. 1761-1767 ("of Ic" in 1783 Supply Tax)
…………….. 3 Richard Willis b: Abt. 1718 (15 Old 452), d: 1764 in Dorchester Co., MD
…………….. + Rebecca Granger d: Aft. 14 Aug 1771
………………….. 4 Richard Willis, Jr. b: 08 Aug 1759 in Dorchester Co., MD, d: 14 Feb 1823 in Caroline Co., MD (Sarah's Delight, New Foundland)
………………….. + Britannia Gootee b: Abt. 1765 in Dorchester Co., MD, d: 03 Jan 1826 in Caroline Co., MD, m: 22 Jan 1788 in Caroline Co., MD
………………….. 4 Thomas Willis d: 1795 in Caroline County, MD (Perry's Delight, New Land)
………………….. + Elizabeth Perry
………………….. 4 Joshua Willis b: Abt. 1765, d: Bet. 1793-1805 (Good Luck, New Land)
………………….. 4 Robert Willis d: 1804 in Caroline County, MD (Perry's Discovery)
………………….. + Sarah Rumbold b: 31 Oct 1757, m: 08 Nov 1774 Dorchester Co., MD
…………….. 3 Joshua Willis b: Abt. 1720, d: Abt. 1797 (First Constable Caroline Co.) (Painter's Range, Bank of Pleasure, Willis's Right)
…………….. + Susannah Unknown poss. Richardson d: Bef. 1774
………………….. 4 Elizabeth Willis b: Abt. 1762
………………….. + William Everngham m: 1786
………………….. 4 Joshua Willis b: Abt. 1763
………………….. + Elizabeth Wright m: 02 Sep 1799
………………….. 4 Frances Willis b: Abt. 1767
………………….. + Charles Baker d: Bef. 1805 in 23 HD 181, m: 1785
…………….. +Deborah Greenhawk m: 1774
………………….. 4 Deborah Willis
………………….. + Joshua Lucas m: 1789
………………….. 4 Charles Willis b: Abt. 1776, d: Bef. 1801
………………….. 4 Peter Willis b: Abt. 1777, d: 03 Oct 1834
………………….. + Elizabeth Holmes m: 1798
………………….. 4 Thomas Willis b: Abt. 1778, d: Bef. 1801
………………….. 4 James Willis b: Abt. 1779
………………….. 4 John Willis b: Abt. 1780
………………….. 4 Annaretta Willis b: Abt. 1781
………………….. + Unknown Fleming
………………….. 4 Mary Willis b: Abt. 1783
…………….. 3 Dorcas Willis
…………….. + Benjamin Nicols
……….. + Elizabeth Sharp d: Aft. Nov 1768, m: 1730
…………….. 3 John Willis III b: 1731, d: Abt. Nov 1794 (inherited Willis Regulation)
…………….. + Keziah Unknown d: Aft. Nov 1794
………………….. 4 Philemon Willis b: 1764, d: 05 Mar 1836 in Talbot Co., MD
………………….. 4 John Willis
………………….. 4 William Willis
………………….. 4 Lewis Willis
………………….. 4 Sarah Willis
………………….. + John Nabb
………………….. 4 Nicholas Willis b: Aft. 1771
………………….. 4 Henry Willis b: Aft. 1771
…………….. 3 Gernay "Jarvis" Willis b: 1735, d: 1799
……….. 2 Grace Willis b: Abt. 1685, d: Aft. 1722
……….. 2 Andrew Willis b: 1690, d: 1738 in Dorchester Co., MD
……….. + Jennet Jones d: Bef. Apr 1728
…………….. 3 William Willis b: 1717, d: 1782
…………….. + Unknown poss. Elizabeth Hill
………………….. 4 Elizabeth Willis b: Abt. 1736, d: 1793
………………….. + James Buchanan b: 1737, d: 1805
………………….. 4 William Willis b: Abt. 1740, d: 1793
………………….. 4 Jacob Willis b: Abt. 1742, d: 1782
………………….. + Elizabeth Nancy Eaves b: 1756, d: 1782
…………….. 3 Thomas Willis b: 1715, d: 1751
…………….. + Rachel Bullock d: 1757
…………….. 3 Andrew Willis b: 1719, d: 1778
…………….. + Sarah Hill b: 1720
………………….. 4 Andrew Willis b: 12 Feb 1768 in Dorchester Co., MD (Fisher's Venture)
………………….. 4 Keziah Willis b: 12 Oct 1770 in Dorchester Co., MD
………………….. 4 George Willis b: 03 Dec 1775
…………….. 3 Sarah Willis b: 1721
……….. + Rebecca Goostree b: 1697, d: 1746 (inherited land that became New Town)
…………….. 3 Richard Willis b: 1721, d: 1773 (inherited New Town)
…………….. + Rachel Possibly Pritchett
………………….. 4 Mary Willis b: 17 Feb 1754 in Dorchester Co., MD (inherited New Town)
………………….. + Benjamin Meekins b: 03 Oct 1747 in Dorchester Co., Maryland, d: Bef. Sep 1782
………………….. 4 John Willis b: 03 Jan 1755
………………….. 4 Elizabeth Willis b: 08 Dec 1755 in Dorchester Co., MD (inherited Buttons Chance)
………………….. + possibly Budd Shinton (owner of Buttons Chance in 1783)
………………….. 4 Richard Willis b: 20 Mar 1761 in Dorchester Co., MD
…………….. 3 George Willis b: 1723, d: Bef. 1784 without issue
…………….. 3 John Willis b: 1725, d: Aft. 1784 (inherited New Town through George)
…………….. + Ann/Nancy Unknown
………………….. 4 Jarvis Willis b: 06 Dec 1758 in Dorchester Co., MD, d: 1852 in Lawrence, AL
………………….. 4 John Willis b: 21 Apr 1762 in Dorchester Co., MD
……….. 2 Thomas Willis b: Abt. 1692, d: 1722
……….. 2 William Willis b: Bet. 1694-1700, d: Aft. 1746 (inherited Wantage)
……….. + Judith Seward/Soward b: Bet. 1696-1702, d: Aft. 1746
…………….. 3 Thomas Willis b: Abt. 1714, d: Aft. 1784
Author Gary WillisPosted on July 21, 2017 July 10, 2018 Categories Charts, Willis ChartsTags Andrew Willis, Bank of Pleasure, Benjamin Meekins, Britannia Gootee, Buttons Chance, Caroline County MD, Dorchester County MD, Elizabeth Perry, Fishers Venture, Good Luck, Henry Willis, Isaac Willis, Jarvis Willis, John Willis, Joshua Willis, Judith Soward, Mary Willis, New Foundland, New Land, New Town, Painters Range, Perry's Delight, Perrys Discovery, Rebecca Goostree, Rebecca Granger, Richard Willis, Robert Willis, Sarah Rumbold, Sarahs Delight, Thomas Willis, Wantage, William Willis, Willis's Regulation, Willis's Right4 Comments on Appendix to The John Willis Family and The Maryland Supply Tax of 1783
The John Willis Family … The Second Generation
by Gary N. Willis
Note: This article has been updated to include a likely child of William and Judith Willis and to correct name of the second wife of John Willis, Jr. She was Elizabeth Nichols/Nicolls, not Elizabeth Sharpe.
An earlier article on this site concluded that John Willis, the Court Cryer of Dorchester County Court and owner of "Wantage" several miles from Cambridge, had six children at the time of his death in 1712. He made a will on 18 September 1712 and died soon thereafter.[1] In his will, John devised or bequeathed the following to his children:
To son William and his heirs, all of John's land and a mare, a cow, three yearlings, and a frying pan;
To daughter Grace, 2 cows, three yearlings, a young horse, bed & furniture, and his "Great Chest", and all of John's land if William died without issue;
To daughter Elizabeth, a mare and colt; and
To son John, 12 pence.
The will named four children … William, Grace, Elizabeth and John. Probate records prove an additional son, Andrew,[2] and circumstantial evidence points to a fourth son named Thomas.
Assigning accurate dates of birth to the children is difficult. Andrew was born about 1690 based on his testimony in a 1730 deposition.[3] Another deposition proves John Jr. was the eldest son.[4] A third deposition establishes that William was born between 1694 and 1700.[5] Grace was named before Elizabeth in the 1712 will, suggesting she might be the elder of the two. It is unclear whether Thomas was older than William. I suspect William was the youngest child. It was not uncommon for the youngest son, the last to leave the household, to serve as a caregiver for aging or ill parents. Such service would put him in good stead with regard to inheritance. The same is true of unmarried daughters who remained in their parents' household.
Although establishing a birth order is not necessary to this discussion, it provides a picture of the family consistent with the known facts. A feasible order of birth satisfying that criterion is:
1689 – John, Jr. 1690 – Andrew
1692 – Thomas 1694 – William
1696 – Grace 1698 – Elizabeth
Records indicate that of these children, John, Andrew, and William had offspring. This article discusses first the three siblings who had no children.
Elizabeth Willis
Beyond the 1712 will there is no further mention of an Elizabeth Willis in the Dorchester County records in the early 1700's. However, one item of interest is a corrected interpretation of her name. Several abstracters have called this daughter Eliza, but a close review of the Dorchester Will Book entry suggests otherwise. The hand-written record shows the letters "Eliz," followed by a colon, and then followed by a superscript that appears to be "th." I interpret this writing as shorthand for Elizabeth, not Eliza.
Thomas and Grace Willis
A Thomas Wallis [Willis] bought 50 acres of land from John Sharpe in 1717 on Marshy Creek. This land was half of a 100-acre tract called "Sharp's Prosperity" that Sharpe patented a year earlier.[6] Thomas's purchase adjoined the other half of the same tract that Sharpe sold on 10 Mar 1717 to John Willis.[7]
There is no record of a marriage or children for either Thomas or his sister Grace.[8] I speculate that neither brother nor sister married and that they lived under the same roof on the land Thomas bought. Thomas Wallis [Willis] died intestate five years later and a Grace Wallis [Willis] administered his estate.[9] Nothing further is known of Grace, except that she likely died before 1734, based on the sale of Wantage mentioned below.
William Willis
William married Judith (likely Seward/Soward), and they probably lived at Wantage, devised to William by his father in 1712. In 1734, William and Judith sold Wantage to Richard Seward for six pounds. Two weeks earlier, William's brother John Willis sold the same land to Henry Ennalls for 20 shillings.[10] It is unclear from the extant records how John and William could both sell that same land to different people. The de minimis price paid to John suggests his transaction may have been to clear the title rather than to sell the land. John had filed a will contest back in 1712, which must have been unsuccessful. Otherwise, John would have been in possession of Wantage rather than William. But, that old suit may have been enough to cloud the title. I speculate that the document missing from the record is a Power of Attorney whereby Henry Ennalls acts on behalf of William to buy any claim John might have to the property. That action would clear the way for William to sell to Seward.
The sale of Wantage also suggests that sister Grace Willis may have died before the date of the transaction. The 1712 will devised the land to Grace if William died without heirs. There is no record of Grace having signed away that conditional interest, which would have descended to her heirs, if any. Two possibilities exist to explain William being able to sell the land without a quitclaim deed from Grace. Either William and Judith had children, or Grace died before 1734 and without issue, extinguishing her potential ownership. In the absence of a quitclaim deed or proof of children of William and Judith, it would be more likely that Grace had died. However, William and Judith likely had at least one son, as we shall see.
Between 1746 and 1752, William and Judith each testified regarding the boundaries of a tract of land located in Casson's Neck or Ross's Neck. [11] The so-called Neck Region of Dorchester County is on the north side of Little Choptank River about 10 miles west of Cambridge and 14-15 miles from Wantage. Ross's Neck lies east of Hudson's Creek with Casson's Neck to the west. William and Judith must have lived nearby to give credible testimony about those property boundaries. While there is no record that they bought land in this area, a William Willis is definitely living on Hudson's Creek at the head of Willis's Cove.[12] With no evidence of any other Willis family in the vicinity, I conclude that this is the home of William and Judith.
Either the Willis's deed for that land is lost or they rented the land, possibly from a relative. In that regard, various facts suggest a family connection between Judith and the Sewards. First, William and Judith sold Wantage to Richard Seward. Second, a woman named Mary Seward testified in the 1746 boundary proceeding along with William and Judith. Mary was 68 years old at the time of that deposition and Judith was 50, so Mary was old enough to be Judith's mother. It is probably not a coincidence that the Willises sold land to a man named Seward, and then, a dozen years later, lived near a woman named Seward. The following records suggest a family connection rather than a coincidence:
In 1669, a tract called "Bridge North" located west of Hodson's [Hudson's] Creek was first surveyed.[13]
In 1710, John Seward and his wife Mary conveyed an interest in land called "Bridge North" on Hudson's Creek to a sister Clare and her husband.[14]
In 1749, Richard Seward administered the estate of John Seward, deceased.[15]
In 1750, widow Mary Soward [Seward] made a will leaving land on Hudson's Creek to her son Richard Seward.[16] The devised tract was named "Bridgeworth" ["Bridge North."]
Those facts establish that John and Mary Seward were husband and wife, and they had a son named Richard. Mary named him as a son and executor in her will, and he was administrator of John's estate. The Sewards owned land west of Hudson's Creek, which qualified Mary to testify in the boundary dispute. William and Judith sold Wantage to Richard Seward for only £6, a favorable price suggesting a "brother-in-law" deal. Finally, after selling Wantage, William and Judith Willis lived in the vicinity Richard's parents John and Mary Seward.
One explanation for the Willises' sale of Wantage and move to the Neck Region might have been to help farm Bridge North and to care for Judith's parents as they aged. Perhaps to assist in the Willises' transition, the family arranged for Richard to buy Wantage. At her death, Mary gave Bridge North to Richard, and William and Judith may have lived at the head of Willis's Cove until they died. In any event, I believe there is enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that Judith who married William Willis was the daughter of John and Mary Seward and the sister of Richard. Richard Seward still possessed Wantage as late as 1755.[17]
Circumstantial evidence also suggests William and Judith had a son. A Thomas Willis gave a deposition in 1784 about the boundaries of Bridge North, owned by William Seward. At the time of that deposition, Thomas was 70 years old, meaning he was born about 1714. He testified that he was shown the boundary markers in about 1754. Therefore, Thomas was definitely the right age to be a son of William and Judith Willis and to have come with them to the Neck Region of Dorchester County as a young man in 1734. If so, he had been a resident of the area for 50 years at the time of his deposition.[18] With no evidence of another Willis family in the area, it is highly likely that Thomas was a son of William and Judith. We can also speculate that Thomas's parents were deceased by 1784 (they would have been 88 – 90 years old) or they also would have been deposed about the boundaries. Possibly, Thomas was living at the head of Willis's Cove.
John Willis, Jr.
Even before the death in 1712 of John Willis, Sr., his eldest son John had established a large family. He married Mary (last name unknown) probably by 1702, and they had several children. He was a carpenter and likely also farmed on rented land. Five years after the unsuccessful contest of his father's will, John Willis, Jr., bought a 50-acre tract of land from John Sharpe on Marshy Creek Branch, about 15 miles from Cambridge upstream on the Choptank River.[19] As noted previously, less than five months later, Sharpe sold an adjoining 50 acres to Thomas Wallis (Willis).[20] In 1723, John expanded his property. That year, John sought a warrant to survey an additional 50 acres that he named "Willis's Right;" the patent for the land issued in 1726.[21] In 1728, John Willis engaged John Edmondson to build a new house, probably on this new land. A lane from his new home opened onto Marsh Creek Road, which ran westward from Hunting Creek Mill past John's property.[22]
John eventually discovered that some of his land encroached on earlier surveys. In 1736, he resurveyed Willis's Right and his half of Sharp's Prosperity. The resurvey found Willis's Right ran into an elder tract called "The Plains" to the south and east. Furthermore, Sharps Prosperity ran into an elder tract to the north and east called "Bennett's Purchase."[23] About half of Willis's 50 acres purchased from Sharp fell within the Bennett survey, and a few acres of Willis's new land overlapped The Plains. The consolidated resurvey compensated for the loss of land to the elder surveys and added some vacant land for a total of 111 acres. The new patent, named "Willis's Regulation," included some of the land that now falls within the town of Preston.[24]
John and Mary had at least eight children who were alive in 1764: John, Mary, Judeath [Judith], Elizabeth, Isaac, Richard, Joshua and Dorcas. There is no record of Mary's death, but she probably died between 1720-1725 based on John's subsequent marriage and children. After Mary's death, the senior John Willis married Elizabeth Nicolls, a daughter of his neighbor John Nicolls.[25] John and Elizabeth had two children, a son also named John born in 1731 and a son Jarvis born about 1735.[26]
John Willis's 1764 will named all of these children.[27] Significantly, his will referred to him as a planter rather than a carpenter. "Planter" most often applied to those who had others working the land for them, and denoted a more elevated status than "carpenter," "farmer," or "yeoman." John's will left a very small amount of money to the children of his first wife: five shillings to John, Jr. and two shillings, sixpence to each of the other seven. He devised a life estate in his land to his second wife Elizabeth and then to their son John 3rd after her death. Also after her death, John 3rd and Jarvis were to split the remaining personal property.
All the children of his first wife were not only grown but were relatively old by the time John passed away. In effect, he had two families separated by almost a generation in age. Most of these children lived to see the formation in 1774 of Caroline County from parts of Dorchester and Talbot Counties. Some were involved in governance of the new county. Others added land to Willis's Regulation or established other farms in the region. They also witnessed or took part in the formation of a new country as the Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain and established a new republic.
While John, Jr. moved his family north up the Choptank River and further into the county, Andrew initially remained closer to his father's original land on the headwaters of the Little Blackwater River. Andrew married Jennett Jones, the daughter of neighbor William Jones, who was one of the executors of John, Sr.'s will. The 1718 will of Thomas Ennals and a 1722 land sale both mention Andrew Willis and William Jones as having previously lived on adjacent tracts at head of Shoal Creek.[28] That location is about three miles from Cambridge (near the current Cambridge-Dorchester Airport), and a mile or so from the headwaters of the Little Blackwater River. Those records establish that, prior to 1718, Andrew occupied a 50-acre tract owned by Thomas Ennals called "Ennalls Purchase." Presumably, Andrew was a tenant farmer. There is no record of Andrew's family residence for ten years after leaving the Ennals tract. He may have moved to new farmland purchased by his father-in-law, or he may have rented elsewhere. In 1718 and 1719, William Jones bought 250 acres on Cabin Creek, which flows into the Choptank River further upstream of Cambridge and Shoal Creek, but not as far upstream as Marsh Creek where brothers John and Thomas had moved.[29]
Andrew's and Jennett's four children were Andrew, William, Thomas and Sarah. Doubtless they named the sons for Andrew and two of his brothers, and daughter Sarah for one of Jennet's sisters. Jennet died about 1725. William Jones died in 1729 and devised 100 acres of his land on Cabin Creek to his son William, and 150 acres to his daughters Sarah and Elizabeth. He gave 1 shilling each to his four grandchildren by Andrew and Jones's deceased daughter Jennet.[30]
Shortly after Jennet died, Andrew married Rebecca Goostree, daughter of Richard and Rebecca Goostree. It is unclear where Andrew and Rebecca met. Later generations of the Goostree and Willis families attended Old Trinity Church at Church Creek.[31] It is possible Andrew and Rebecca attended as well and their names are just not in the record. In any event, the couple had three sons, Richard, George and John. Those names honor her father, her brother George, and Andrew's elder brother and father John. In 1728, Rebecca's father died, and she inherited half of a 100-acre parcel named "Newtown" near the Great Beaver Dam.[32] I have not located the deed record for Goostree's acquisition of Newtown. However, land records indicate in 1694 he surveyed 100 acres called "Goostree's Delight" between Cattail Marsh and Russell Swamp, which he devised to his wife during her lifetime.[33] Current Maryland maps show Russell Swamp and Beaverdam Creek located close together about 12 miles southeast of Cambridge west of State Highway 335. Richard Goostree's Newtown property was in that vicinity, some 20 miles or more from Cabin Creek.
Within two years after Rebecca inherited the 50 acres from her father, she and Andrew had established their residence on the land. At that time, Andrew patented an adjoining 45 acres named "New Town."[34] The land office record locates the new 45 acres on the west side of the Blackwater River, east of the Cattail Swamp and adjacent Andrew's dwelling plantation, presumably the inherited land.
Andrew Willis, Sr., died in 1738 leaving a will naming his wife and all seven of his children. He devised New Town, divided equally, to his sons Richard and George. If either died without issue, his share would descend to son John. Andrew gave a pewter plate each to Sarah, William, Thomas, Andrew, and John. He left a featherbed and iron pot to Richard. Andrew named his wife Rebecca executrix and left her the residue of the personal estate as long as she was single. If she remarried, the remainder of the personal estate was to be equally divided among Richard, George, and John.[35]
Some of Andrew's children would expand New Town and occupy the land for almost another 50 years. Some of the children and grandchildren were active supporters of the coming revolution, while at least one opposed it. However, those are all stories for the next generation.
[1] Cotton, Jane Baldwin, The Maryland Calendar of Wills, (Baltimore: Kohn & Pollock, 1904, reprinted Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1988), IV:23 – The date given in this source for the submission to probate is 24 Nov 1714. This date conflicts with the date John Willis, Jr., filed a protest to the will and the dates of activity in the Perogative Court records. I conclude the correct date for submission to probate is 24 Nov 1712. Dorchester County Will Book 14:12.
[2] Wright, F. Edward, Judgment Records of Dorchester, Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties, (Lewes, DE: Delmarva Roots, 2001), 33, L36A:203, Inventory of John Willis, Dorchester County – £23.14.1 – Appraisers John Kirke, Arthur Smith. Next of Kin: Andrew Willis (son), William Willis (son). FHL 975.2 P28w
[3] McAllister, James A., Jr., Abstracts from the Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 5 (Libers Old No. 7 – Old No. 8), (Cambridge, MD, 1962), V:145. 8 Old 404, 13 Jun-30 Sep 1730 – Commission to John Hodson, Mark Fisher, Thomas Nevett & Henry Ennalls, Jr to perpetuate bounds of Patrick Brawhaun's land at the head of Blackwater called "Hoggs Island." Deposition of Andrew Willis, about age 40, regarding the first bounder of "Littleworth" or "Stevens."
[4] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 9 (Liber Old No. 13: Liber Old No. 14, folios 1-373), (Cambridge, MD, 1963), IX:36, 14 Old 130, 14 Mar 1746 – Deposition of Thomas Pierson, planter of Dorchester County, aged about 60 years, states that John Willis now living in St. Mary's White Chappel Parish near Hunting Creek was to the best of deponent's knowledge the eldest son of John Willis who lived on Blackwater River about 4-5 miles from Cambridge, and who was formerly Cryer of Dorchester County Court.
[5] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 10 (Liber Old No. 14, folios 374-741), (Cambridge, MD, 1963), X:74. 14 Old 658, 11 Nov 1746 to 27 May 1752, Commission to perpetuate the bounds of John Harrington's land called "Rosses Range" and "David Ropies", and Return. Nine men and women give depositions regarding this land on Hobson's Creek. Among them are William Willis, age about 52; Judah (Judith) Willis, age about 50; and Mary Seward, age 68.
[6] FHL 13080, Maryland Land Office, v. FF 7:23 – Survey Certificate 22 Nov 1716 for 100 acres to John Sharpe called "Sharp's Prosperity" in Dorchester County beginning at a red oak in the woods on south side of the head of Marshy Creek Branch that issues out of south side of Great Choptank River above Hunting Creek. Beginning at a red oak, then S 13 deg E 80 perches, then S 85 deg E 80 perches, then N 38 deg E 145 p, then N 13 deg W 46 p, then by a straight line to the beginning. Patent issued 6 Aug 1718
[7] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 5 (Libers Old No. 7 – Old No. 8), (Cambridge, MD, 1962), at 23, 7 Old 68, no day or month 1717 – John Sharp of Dorchester Co sold to Thomas Wallis, of the same county, 50 acres, part of "Sharps Prosperity" on south side of the head of Marshy Creek branch out of Great Choptank River above Hunting Creek. Bounded on one side by land sold to John Willis. Wits Jerem? Thomas, J Lookerman. Acknowledged 19 Aug 1718
[8] The land on Marshy Creek was located within St. Mary's White Chapel Parish. Unfortunately, the church records for that locale which might prove the marital status of Thomas or Grace do not survive.
[9] Skinner, Testamentary Proceedings of the Prerogative Court, XVI:60, 61 and 151. Filings by John Pitts, gentleman, of Dorchester County, bond of Grace Wallis, administratrix of Thomas Wallis, and inventories of the estate of Thomas Wallis, and Skinner, Administration Accounts of the Perogative Court, Libers 1-5, 1718-1724, (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1995), 138. L5:38, Account of Thomas Wallis of Dorchester dated 13 Mar 1723 – Account total £12.17.7, Payments totaled £18.5.2 made to Patrick Mackalister, Mr. Charles Ungle, John Sharp, John Pitt, Edward Billeter, William Edmondson. Administratrix Grace Willis.
[10] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 6 (Liber Old No. 9), (Cambridge, Maryland, 1962), 9 Old 223, 30 Jul 1730 [or 1734], John Willis of Dorchester County, planter, for 20 shillings to Henry Ennalls, of same, gentleman, "Wantage," 50 acres, originally taken up by John Willis, dec'd, on Blackwater Riv., adjoining "Littleworth." Signed by mark, John Willis. Witnesses: William Murray, Bw. Ennalls. Acknowledged 30 Jul 1734, and 9 Old 214, 15 Aug 1734, William Willis and wife Judith of Dorchester Co., planter, for 6 pounds to Richard Seward, of same, "Wantage," 50 acres near head of Blackwater River adjoining "Littleworth." Signed by marks, William Willis, Judith Willis. Witnesses: Henry Trippe, Cha. Lowndes. Dorchester County Court (Land Records) MSA CE46 10, http://mdlandrec.com
[11] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 10 (Liber Old No. 14, folios 374-741), (Cambridge, MD, 1963), X:74. 14 Old 658, 11 Nov 1746 to 27 May 1752, Commission to perpetuate the bounds of John Harrington's land called "Rosses Range" and "David Ropies", and Return. Nine men and women give depositions regarding this land on Hobson's Creek. Among them are William Willis, age about 52; Judah [Judith] Willis, age about 50; and Mary Seward, age 68.
[12] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 15 (Liber Old No. 19, (Cambridge, MD, 1964). 19 Old 343, 11 Jun 1764, John Taylor Sr. of Dorchester Co, Merchant, to Nicholas MacCubbin of Annapolis, Merchant: ½ of "Rosses Chance" containing 42 A. Also 200 A, being part of "Addition to Rosses Chance" on Hudson's Creek, laid out to said John Taylor for 400 acres. Also "Littleworth" on east side of Hudson's Creek, at the head of Willis's Cove near where Wm. Willis lives, 49 A. (Mortgage). Wit: Thomas Taylor, Thos. Harwood. Ackn: Robt. How and Jno. Anderson, Justices.
[13] Keddie, Leslie and Neil, Dorchester County, Maryland, Rent Rolls 1659 – 1772 Volume #1, (The Family Tree Bookshop, 2001), 35, "Bridge North" surveyed 8 Apr 1669 for John Tench, lying on the west side of Hodsons Creek.
[14] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 4 (Liber Old No. 6), (Cambridge, MD, 1961), 6 Old 154, 13 Jun 1710 – John Seward of Dorchester County, planter, and Mary his wife, to their sister Clare and to Aaron Tunice of said county, planter, her husband, part of two parcels of land of the west side of Hudson's Creek called "Bridge North" and "Addition", containing 98 acres more or less. Conveyed to Aaron and Clare Tunice for the lifetime of Clare, and after her death to Edward Tunice their son. Wit: Jno Snelson, Theo. Bonner, Jno Hambrooke. Acknowledged 14 Jun 1710
[15] Skinner, V.L., Jr., Abstracts of the Inventories and Accounts of the Perogative Court, 1744-1750, (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1994), 131 – Admin Accounts of John Soward, dec'd, of Dorchester County, 10 Sep 1749 – Account Balance £29.9.6, Payments £35.3.1; Received from: Joseph Harrington; Payments to: Foster Cunliff & Sons per John Caile, Thomas McKeel, Henry Ennalls, Henry Hooper, Jr.; Administrator Richard Soward.
[16] Cotton, v. 10 at 218, Will of Mary Soward, widow of Dorchester County, 5 Oct 1750 – To son Edward Soward 1 Shilling; to son William Soward 1 Shilling; to son Richard Soward dwelling house and plantation, which is part of two tracts "Bridgeworth" and "Addition". Executor: son Richard. Wit: Thomas Calwell (or Caldwell), Abraham Walker, and Cornelia Jones. Probate 4 Nov 1751. 43. V.10, P 218 28:323
[17] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 11 (Liber Old No. 15, folios 1 – 368), (Cambridge, MD, 1963), XI:52, 15 Old 247, 11 Aug 1754 -15 Mar 1755, Commission to perpetuate the bounds of Richard Soward's land called Wantage. A deposition of Thomas Soward, about 30 years old, mentions the widow Brawhawn; John Stevens grandfather of the present John Stevens; Richard Soward, brother of the deponent; and a bounded tree of Littleworth and Wantage between Roger Woolford's plantation and Brawhawn's, about 15-16 years ago.
[18] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 27 (Liber NH No. 5), (Cambridge, MD, 1967), 5 NH 259, 12 Oct 1784 – 8 Oct 1785, Commission to Charles Eccleston, Nathaniel Manning, Stanley Byus and John Trippe of Dorchester Co, Gent., to perpetuate the bounds of Wm Soward's land called "Bridge North", and Return. Deposition of Thomas Willis, aged about 70 years, concerning a bounder on a cove of Hudson's Creek, shown about 30 years ago by Joseph Blades who had possession of the land. Mentions Henry Claridge who was also present when Blades showed the bounder, and who has died in the last two years. The land where the said Joseph Blades lived 30 years ago is the same land where Wm. Lee now lives, called "Bridge North".
[19] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 5 (Libers Old No. 7 – Old No. 8), (Cambridge, MD, 1962), 16. 7 Old 51, 10 Mar 1717 – John Sharp of Dorchester Co sold to John Willis, of the same county, carpenter, 50 acres, part of "Sharps Prosperity" on Marshy Creek Branch above Hunting Creek. Wits Thomas Noble, Jane Noble. John Nichols, attorney for John Sharp. (Note that Thomas Noble and John Nicols co-owned "Hampton" located on west side of Hunting Creek, bought from Richard Bennett 15 Jan 1713, 6 Old 230)
[20] Clerks frequently varied the spelling of the name Willis, sometimes within the same document. Those variants include Wallis, Wallace, Wallice, Willace, Willes and Willous. In fact, John Willis Sr. appears in early rent rolls as John "Wallis" in possession of "Wantige."
[21] Maryland Land Office – Warrant for 50 acres surveyed, called "Willes's Right," beginning at red oak standing in the woods on south side of Great Choptank River and west side of main road from Hunting Creek Mill [Murray's Mill] to Parsons Landing, then N 82 deg W 40 perches, NNW 30 perches, SW 24 perches, SE 26 perches, SW 66 perches, SE 98 perches, NNE 11 perches, and then straight line to the beginning. Patent issued 5 Jul 1726
[22] Mitchell, Dora, A History of the Preston Area in Lower Caroline County, Maryland, (Denton, MD: Caroline County Historical Society, 2005), 122
[23] Maryland Land Office – Warrant granted John Willis 1 Jul 1736 for resurvey of "Willis's Right" of 50 acres and one moiety of "Sharp's Prosperity" of 100 acres. Resurvey of 14 Oct 1736 found: 1) "Willis's Right" was adjacent Sharps property but ran into an elder tract called the Plains; 2) "Sharps Prosperity" began on the south side of the head of Marshy Creek and two legs ran into an elder tract called "Bennett's Purchase." The consolidated survey for John Willis contained 111 acres including some vacant land and is called "Willis's Regulation." It adjoins "Bennett's Purchase." Patent examined and allowed 21 Nov 1737; fees collected and patent issued 21 Oct 1743.
[24] Mitchell at 122
[25] Perogative Court Inventories 86:347 – Eizabeth filed an inventory of John's personal estate 13 Jun 1765 appraised by Wm Edmondson and J. Harris, which Joshua Willis and Thomas (X) Willis signed as kindred. This Thomas Willis is unidentified. The estate account filed in 1768 named John Willis and John Nicolls as kindred. This John Nicolls may have been Elizabeth's brother or father. The personal estate amounted to £29.19.10 (29 pounds, 19 shillings, 10 pence); and, Perogative Court Inventory 99:357 – Elizabeth continued to run the farm until her death in 1769. John Willis was the administrator of her estate. On 17 Mar 1769, John filed an inventory of her estate prepared 18 Feb 1769 by Andrew Banning and John Valliant. Jarvis (X) Willis and David Nicolls signed as kindred. David was likely Elizabeth's brother. Her personal estate totaled £27.07.08 ½ (27 pounds, 7 shillings, 8 and ½ pence).
[27] Maryland Calendar of Wills – 23 Jan 1764 – Will of John Willis, Sr., Planter, Dorchester County – Wife Elizabeth; Children: elder son John Willis, Jr. (born of first wife, Mary) (5 shillings), Mary Clift, Judith, Elizabeth Killingsworth, Isaac, Richard, Joshua, Dorcas Nichols (each 2 sh, 6 p) Wife Elizabeth got all remaining personal property for her life, and then to be divided equally between John Willis 3rd, son of Elizabeth, and son Gervey [Jarvis]. Wife Elizabeth to have all land known as "Willis's Regulation" for life and then to go to John 3rd. Executrix: Wife Elizabeth Willis, Wit: Henry Turner, John Barton, 33. V.13, p.58; WB 33:27
[28] Cotton, Maryland Calendar of Wills, IV:167-9 – Will Book 14:631, Will of Thomas Ennals dated 7 May 1718 – To Thomas Hayward and heirs, 50 acres part of "Ennalls Purchase" (plantation where Andrew Willis lived), at head of Shoal Creek, and on branch lying between Wm Jones and Andrew Willis', proved 13 Aug 1718, and, McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 1 (Libers Old No. 1 – Old No. 2), (Cambridge, MD, 1960), I:71. 2 Old 161, 13 Mar 1722 – Land sale from Thomas Hayward to Henry Ennalls, land devised to grantor by Col. Thomas Ennalls, dec'd, at head of Shoal Creek where Andrew Willis lived adjacent land where William Jones lived, part of "Ennalls Purchase", 50 acres more or less.
[29] McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 1 (Libers Old No. 1 – Old 2), (Cambridge, MD, 1960), 2 Old 16, 2 Feb 1718 – Thomas Gray and Mary his wife to William Jones: Goodridges Choice on Cabin Creek containing 101 A more or less. Wit: Richard Hooper, Bartholomew Ennalls, and Henry Ennalls. Acknowledged 2 Feb 1718 before Henry Ennalls and Levin Hicks, Justices, by Thomas Gray, And, McAllister, Land Records of Dorchester County, Maryland, Volume 1 (Libers Old No. 1 – Old 2), (Cambridge, MD, 1960), 2 Old 27, 15 Nov 1719 – Jacob Gray, planter, and Isabell his wife to William Jones: Part of "Guttridg Choice" on Cabin Creek containing 150 A of land. Wit: Edward Verin, Goovert Loockerman. Assignment from Philadelphia Williams to William Jones of her "third part of ye within mentioned lands," dated June 15, 1720.
[30] Cotton, Maryland Calendar of Wills, VI:127 – Will Book 19: 765 – Will of William Jones, planter, Dorchester County, 10 May 1729. 1) To son William and heirs, 100 acres on north side of Cabbin Creek being part of a tract bought from Jacob Gray; he dying without issue, to daughters Sarah and Elizabeth; and personalty; 2) To daughters Sarah and Elizabeth, 50 acres of afsd tract; they dying without issue, to son William; and 100 acre dwelling plantation illeg., bought of Thomas Gray; and personalty; 3) To daughter Rebecca Vearing, personalty; 4) To four grandchildren, issue of daughter Jennet Willis, deceased, 1 shilling each; 5) To wife Jennet, executrix, use of dwelling plantation illeg., and residue of personalty during life; at her decease to pass to son William and daughters Sarah and Elizabeth. Probate 5 Sep 1729.
[31] Palmer, Katherine H., transcribed Baptism Record, Old Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Church Creek, MD, (Cambridge, Maryland), 7 and 19.
[32] Cotton, Maryland Calendar of Wills, VI:80 – Will Book 19: 501 – Will of Richard Goostree, planter, Dorchester County, 30 Apr 1728 – To wife Rebecca, executrix, dwelling plantation "Goostree's Delight" during life; at her decease to son George and heirs; he dying without issue to pass to grandson Robert, son of Robert Johnson; and 1/3 of personal estate – To son George, personalty; – To two daughters, viz, Elizabeth, wife of Robert Johnson, and Rebecca, wife of Andrew Willis, and their heirs, 100 acres "Newtown" near the great Beaver Dam – To children of son-in-law Phillip Phillips, 1 s each – To son George and daughters Elizabeth Johnson and Rebecca Willice, residue of personal estate – Overseers: Sons-in-law Robert Johnson and Andrew Willice. – Test: Redman Fallen, John Shenton (Shinton) Acknowledged: 12 Nov 1728 –
[33] Keddie, Rent Rolls 1688-1707 Volume #3, 7 – 2 Mar 1694, Goostree's Delight, 100 acres surveyed for Richard Goostree, lying in the woods between Cattail Marsh and Russell Swamp.
[34] FHL 13086, Maryland Land Office – Book EI 2:164 – Warrant for 45 acres called New Town granted Andrew Willis 8 Oct 1730, in Dorchester County on west side of Blackwater River and on the east side of Cattail Swamp and on the west side of Andrew Willis's dwelling plantation. Survey certified 21 Oct 1730, Henry Ennalls, Deputy Surveyor Dorchester Co. Patent issued 13 Jun 1734
[35] Cotton, Maryland Calendar of Wills, VII:259, Will Book 21: 918 – Will of Andrew Willis, Dorchester County, 24 May 1738. 1) To two sons Richard and George, "New Town" divided equally, should either die without issue to pass to son John; and personalty; 2) To sons John, William, Andrew and Thomas, and daughter Sarah, personalty. He left a pewter plate to each child plus a feather bed and iron pot to Richard; 3) To wife Rebecca, executrix, residue of personal estate, should she marry to be divided between sons Richard, George and John. Test: Robert Johnson, Mary Carway (Carriwy), John Pritchett Fisher. Probate 23 Aug 1738.
Author Gary WillisPosted on June 15, 2016 February 26, 2020 Categories Articles, Willis ArticlesTags Andrew Willis, Bridge North, Cabin Creek, Church Creek, Dorcas Willis, Dorchester County MD, Eliza Willis, Elizabeth Sharpe, Elizabeth Willis, Goostree's Delight, Grace Willis, Hudson's Creek, Hunting Creek, Isaac Willis, Jennet Jones, John Seward, John Sharpe, John Soward, John Willis, Joshua Willis, Judith Seward, Judith Soward, Judith Willis, Marshy Creek, Mary Seward, Mary Soward, Mary Willis, New Town, Newtown, Old Trinity Church, Richard Seward, Richard Willis, Sarah Willis, Thomas Willis, Wantage, Wiliam Willis, William Jones, William Seward, Willis, Willis's Regulation, Willis's RightLeave a comment on The John Willis Family … The Second Generation

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