Austin Willis is my 1st cousin, 3 times removed. He is the grandson of Joseph Thompson Cheney & Louise Maria Austin, my 3rd great-grandparents. He was born 2 October 1893 in Evanston, Wyoming to Louise Delina Cheney & George Bloomfield Willis.
One of the things I have loved about scanning and sharing this photo album is the opportunity it has given me to get to know family members I otherwise might never have known anything about. Austin was already in my Ancestry tree, but I hadn’t spent any time on him. After adding this photo I reviewed all of his record hints, updated his information, added his wife and children, and learned a little bit about his life. The thing that stood out to me the most, was the fact that he served overseas in the armed forces during WWI.
Thank you, for your service, Cousin!
This photo comes from the twenty-eighth page of the album. Here are pages twenty-eight and twenty-nine to give context for this photo:
This post is part of a series sharing this wonderful old family photo album. You can learn more about the album here.
He looks serene. Is that a brother in uniform in the adjacent portrait?
Yes it is his brother in uniform. That photo will be in tomorrow’s post. 🙂
🙂
I wonder why he wasn’t looking at the camera….what was he thinking about?
Good questions, Amy! 😉
How blessed you are to have these lovely albums!
Yes! I feel very blessed. And what joy it is to share them. <3
Yes, the Willis’s had lots of land in Laketown, and some even on the shore of Bear Lake, They had a large ranch where my brother worked for the summer, helping with the sheep and the sprinklers. I have enjoyed your post, My father states that his mother Louise and BLanche besides being cousins where kindred spirits,
thank you for sharing this album Nancy Jenks Owen.
Thank you for your comment, Nancy! Was your grandmother Louise Cheney Willis?