Willis, Thomas Middlebrook

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you want to understand how a place gets its bones, you look for the people who showed up before the bones were set. Thomas Middlebrook Willis was one of those people.

He came into this world on June 27, 1859, in Bainbridge, Georgia. Seven years later, his parents, Dr. Thomas L. and Mrs.

Letitia Willis, packed up and moved the family to Waco, Texas. Young Thomas grew up a Texan, and Texas, it seems, had plans for him. In 1878, he came out to this stretch of country, this wide open Taylor County territory, to investigate range possibilities.

Just looking, sizing things up, taking the measure of the land. Whatever he saw out here, it stuck with him. Because in 1883, after he graduated from the law school of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, he came back, and this time he stayed.

He established a law practice and set down roots. Three years later, 1886 turned out to be quite a year for T.M. Willis.

He married an Abilene resident named Sallie Parker, born in 1865, and together they built a family of eight children. That same year, he was elected City Attorney. He later served as City Judge as well.

The man was woven into the civic fabric of Abilene from nearly the very beginning. Sallie Parker Willis, for her part, lived until 1954. Thomas Middlebrook Willis passed on November 27, 1937.

And before that year was out, the Abilene Reporter-News honored him, among others, as one of the city's founders. Not a rumor, not a footnote. An honor, in print, from the town he had helped build.

Some men arrive early and leave early. Willis arrived early and stayed for all of it.

What the marker says

(June 27, 1859 - November 27, 1937) Born in Bainbridge, Georgia, Thomas Middlebrook Willis was an important early leader in Abilene. Willis moved to Waco, Texas with his parents, Dr. Thomas L. and Mrs. Letitia Willis, in 1866. T.M. Willis first came to this area in 1878 to investigate range possibilities. In 1883, after graduating from the law school of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, he moved here and established a practice. In 1886, Willis married Abilene resident Sallie Parker (1865-1954); the couple had eight children. Also in 1886, he was elected City Attorney. Willis later also served as City Judge. In 1937, the Abilene Reporter-News honored him, among others, as one of the city's founders. (2008)