Ancestor	Willis Vess	Spouse	Talitha Whitlock
DNA	Y- Haplogroup: R1⎜Subclade: R-M173 *Big-Y not completed	DNA	Not Available
Birth	Abt. 1810 North Carolina	Birth	Abt. 1819 Georgia
Death	Aft. 1896 Franklin County, Alabama	Death	Aft. 1896 Franklin County, Alabama
Burial	Bethlehem Cemetery, Mt. Star, Franklin County, Alabama	Burial	Bethlehem Cemetery, Mt. Star, Franklin County, Alabama
Parents	Not Confirmed	Parents	William Whitlock and Elizabeth Green
Marriage	Unknown	Marriage	Unknown
Occupation	Farmer	Occupation	Housewife
Military	Unknown	Military	n/a
Church	Unknown	Church	Unknown
Land	Franklin County, Alabama (Issued from Huntsville office) “Willis Vess” ● 5 Aug 1837 Franklin County, Alabama⎜Cert. No. 8737 ⎜ 40 acres ⎜Plat Location: 6S 11W 2 ● 2 Apr 1857 Franklin County, Alabama ⎜Cert. No. 20451, 20452 ⎜ 157 acres ⎜Plat Location: 6S 10W 6 ● 1 Mar 1858 Franklin County, Alabama ⎜Cert. No. 25798 ⎜ 119 acres ⎜Plat Location: 6S 10W 6 Note: “Willis Vess” and “William Vess” are named on Certificate. Who is William Vess?	Land	n/a
Comments	Note to Researcher: Unconfirmed Tennessee Records There are land records for a Willis and William Vess in White County, TN who are connected to a Peter and Pryor Vess/Vest. More info available here.	Comments

Census

Year	Name	Location
1830	Willis Viss	Franklin County, Alabama
1840	Willis Vest	Franklin County, Alabama
1850	Willis Vest	Franklin County, Alabama
1860	Willis Vest	Franklin County, Alabama
1870	Willis Vess	Colbert County, Alabama (formerly Franklin Co.)
1880	Willis Vess	Saints, Colbert County, Alabama (formerly Franklin Co.)
1890		Census records destroyed

Note: Marriage records for Franklin County, AL began after 1890. 

Children

Children	Birth	Death	Spouse: Marriage
Mary Elizabeth Vess	12 Sept 1832  Franklin County, AL	14 August 1935  Jefferson County, AL	John Lewis Willis
Sarah Vess	1840  Franklin Co., AL	1849 Franklin Co., AL	Never Married
John Jackson Vess	1842  Franklin Co. AL	4 May 1918 Colbert Co., AL	Sarah Jane Willis
Simon Peter Vess	13 Apr 1844  Franklin Co., AL	10 Jan 1928  Colbert Co., AL	Mary Helen Nichols
Francis Marion Vess	1846  Franklin Co., AL	1 Apr 1933 Wichita Falls, TX	Julia Ann Nichols
Benjamin Franklin Vess	1851  Franklin Co., AL	Unknown	Unknown
Martha E. Vess	1853  Franklin Co., AL	1901  Lawerence Co., Alabama	Stephen F. Bradford  4 Aug 1870
James Jefferson Vess	1855  Franklin Co., AL	Unknown	Lucindia Bradford 5 Nov 1870
George Prentise Vess	1 Dec 1856 Franklin Co., AL	16 Oct 1952  Georgia	Rachel Ann Bradford  14 Nov 1875 Franklin Co., AL
Henry Russell Vess	20 Mar 1863  Franklin Co., AL	24 Sept 1926  Mississippi	Sarah Frances Gardner

Oral Traditions

According to research by Anna Popejoy, the parents of Willis Vess is John Vess and Margaret Vaughn. John Vess built a cabin in Franklin County, Alabama on Foxtrap in 1818. Genealogical records to support the names of his parents have yet to be discovered.

Original Surname Discovered: TRAVERS

Y-DNA research has confirmed that our VESS family are related to the early TRAVERS family of Lancashire, England. The TRAVERS name evolved into TRAVIS and it is strongly believed that the VESS name was shortened from the surname TRAVIS (TRAVESS).

History 

Note: Early records for Franklin and Colbert county, Alabama are scarce due to a court-house fire. Early census records have been documented as being largely inaccurate. And, marriage records began after 1890.

Willis Vess was born in 1810 in North Carolina. He married Talitha Whitlock, daughter of Nathaniel Whitlock and Elizabeth Green. They settled along Foxtrap Creek near Mt. Star in 1837. They had 10 children: Mary, Sarah, John, Simon, Francis, Benjamin, Martha, James, George, and Henry.

Talitha Whitlock was born in Georgia. According to Anna Popejoy, her family migrated to Franklin County, Alabama during the 1820’s with the Thompson and Pennington families. They settled near Saint’s Cross Roads, named after the Saints family who settled in the area earlier.

Willis Vess was a farmer. According to a newspaper article dated 1881, he was once appointed as an Inspector for the State Elections.

Willis Vess appears to have a brother named John P. Vess who married Sarah Whitlock (later to Louisa Simmon). His relation to Willis Vess and Peter Vess (North Carolina) is confirmed by Autosomal DNA testing. Census records for John P. Vess, regarding his birthplace, alternate between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Willis and Talitha Vess are buried at the Bethlehem Cemetery, in Mountain Star, Franklin County, Alabama. The exact dates of their deaths are unknown; however, their shared gravestone reads ‘Before 1810 and After 1896.’

Research regarding possible earlier connections with a Vess/Vest family in White County, TN & Wilkes County, North Carolina is still on-going.

Sources

Willis Vess and the Whitlock family has been researched extensively by genealogist, Anna Popejoy. Her research is shared in numerous publications, such as FindAGrave.com, Whitlock Family Newsletters (online PDF), and Whitlock Gleanings: A genealogical work book, by Thomas Edward Roach. 

Ancestry.com

Genweb Archives

Familysearch.org