Willis, Thomas Middlebrook
Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Thomas Middlebrook Willis came west in the late 1870s to size up the open range and, after finishing law school in Tennessee, settled in the raw new town of Abilene in 1883. He built a family and a practice there, served as city attorney and city judge, and helped steer the young community through its formative years. Decades later, the local paper counted him among the founders of the city.
Why it matters
Willis embodies the professional class that turned West Texas railroad stops into permanent towns, supplying the law and civic order that frontier boomtowns needed to endure.
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Related people
- · Thomas Middlebrook Willis
- · Sallie Parker Willis
Themes & tags
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