Josephus A Willis , known as "Capt Seef " was born about 1830 and spent most of his life at DIAMOND CITY, N.C., a long deserted whaling village on the outer banks of NORTH CAROLINA. His wife's name was Rebecca Mason and they had ten children. Five of the sons and their father formed a whaling crew known as the "RED OAR CREW", for all their oars were painted a bright color of red. They hunted and killed whales in the spring when the whales were migrating. The MAYFLOWER WHALE, which was killed in May of 1874 can be seen in the Raleigh, N.C. museum of natural history. Josephus served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War at Fort Macon, a fort located at the tip of Bogue Banks, N.C. He helped man the garrison until it's fall on April 26, 1862. After his capure, he was inprisoned at a Union prisoner camp in New Bern, N.C., until he was granted a pardon and he returned to his home on Shackleford Banks, N.C. It was Capt Seef and his whaling crew who acted as a rescue team for the bodies and the one survivor, the cook, from the Crissie Wright, a schooner which wrecked in a bad storm on Jan. 11, 1886 on Cape Lookout Shoals. The storms finally forced the "Bankers" to seek safer places to live, so many dismantled their homes and transported them to the mainland. Capt Seef's family settled in MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. in an area known as the "PROMISED LAND" . It is said that this area got it's name when the people of MOREHEAD saw the " BANKERS" crossing BOGUE SOUND with their dismantled houses and remarked " THERE GO THE ISRAELITES ON THEIR WAY TO THE PROMISED LAND " Capt Seef died in 1920 in MOREHEAD CITY, N.C.. In 1996 the grave markers of Josephus and Rebecca, which were made of wood and weathered by time, were replaced. They were replaced by simple wooden markers in memory of a people who lead a simple life, and who went to sea in wooden boats.
Children of Josephus A Willis and Rebecca W. Mason are:
Abigail Willis, b. 1849, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. date unknown.
+Garrison Willis, b. 1851, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. date unknown.
+David Willis, b. 1852, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. date unknown.
William Willis, b. 1855, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. 1935, Morehead City ,N.C..
John Willis, b. 1856, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. date unknown.
Walter Preston Willis, b. April 16, 1858, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. April 26, 1898, Morehead City ,N.C..
+Josephus Willis,Jr., b. 1860, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. 1935, Morehead City ,N.C..
Polly Ann Willis, b. 1862, Shackleford Banks, N.C., d. date unknown.
Josephus A Willis (b. 1830, d. 1920)
Notes for Josephus A Willis: