Jacob Craven WILLIS / Malinda SELF

   Husband: Jacob Craven WILLIS    (Ancestor Chart, Descendant Chart)
      Born: 17 DEC 1821            in: Rutherford County, NC
   Married:                        in: 
      Died: 28 SEP 1883            in: Cleveland County, NC
    Buried: Kadesh Methodist Church, Cleveland County, NC
    Father: Jacob WILLIS
    Mother: Lydia BLACK
      Wife: Malinda SELF           (Ancestor Chart, Descendant Chart)
      Born: 19 AUG 1829            in: 
      Died: 22 FEB 1914            in: 
    Buried: Kadesh Methodist Church, Cleveland County, NC
    Father: Lemuel Saunders SELF
    Mother: Rebecca ROOKER
  Children:
1     Name: Lydia Ann WILLIS
F     Born: 11 OCT 1852            in: Cleveland County, NC
      Died: 2 NOV 1932             in: Cleveland County, NC
   Married: 28 SEP 1873            in: Cleveland County, NC
    Spouse: Andrew Stephen WHITE

Jacob C. Willis & Malinda Self

Civil War Records

North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster: Jacob C. Willis is listed as a Private in Co. F, 37th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Enlisted at Camp Holmes, near Raleigh, October 5, 1864, for the war. Surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865.⁵ 

Notes

• The 1850 Census of Lincoln County, NC lists J. C. Willis (age 28, Blacksmith) as head of household 744 with Melinda Willis (age 20) and Rebecca Willis (age 1).
• The 1860 Census of Cleveland County, NC lists Jacob C. Willis (age 39, Blacksmith) as head of household 626 with Malinda Willis (age 30), Rebecca Willis (age 11), Lemuel B Willis (age 9), Lydia A Willis (age 7), Jacob C Willis (age 5), Teresee Willis (age 4), and Sarah C Willis (age 2).
• The 1870 Census of Cleveland County, NC lists J. C. Willis (age 50, Farmer) as head of household 111 of Township No. 10 with Malinda (age 41), Rebecca (age 21), Lemuel (age 19), Craven (age 17), Lydia A. (age 15), Terresa (age 13), Sarah (age 10), Alice (age 8), Agness (age 6), Elizabeth (age 4), and J. A. (age 2).
• The 1880 Census of Cleveland County, NC lists J. C. Willis (age 59, Farmer) as head of household 94 of Township No. 10 with Malinda (wife, age 48), Trissa (daughter, age 24), Sarah C. (daughter, age 20), Alice J. (daughter, age 19), Agness M. (daughter, age 17), Elizabeth (daughter, age 14), and Jesse A. (son, age 12).
• The 1900 Census of Cleveland County, NC lists Melinda Willis (age 69, widowed) as head of household 46 in Township No. 10 with Terresse (daughter, age 44), Sarah C. (daughter, age 40), and Agness M. (daughter, age 37). Melinda is listed as the mother of 12 children of which 9 are surviving.
• The 1910 Census of Cleveland County, NC lists Malinda Willis (age 80, widowed) as head of household 241 in Township No. 10 with Sarah C. (daughter, age 50). Malinda is listed as the mother of 12 children of which 7 are surviving.
• The 1896 estate papers of Jesse R. Willis³ named nine surviving children of his brother Jacob C. Willis. They were listed as follows: Jesse A. Willis, Craven Willis, Lem Willis, Tris Willis, Sarah Willis, Agnes Willis, Malinda Wellman, Becky Kennedy, and Ann White. Malinda Wellman is identified as the wife of M. R. Wellman. Becky Kennedy is identified as the wife of T. D. Kennedy. And Ann White is identified as the wife of A. S. White.
• A death certificate for Malinda Willis exists in the Cleveland County, NC records. It lists her parents as Lemuel Self and Rebecha Rooker.
• The book Deliver Us from This Cruel War, The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Joseph J. Hoyle, 55th North Carolina Infantry edited by Jeffrey M. Girvan (2010) includes references to J. C. Willis and the family of Malinda Self. The book presents the letters that Joseph J. Hoyle of Cleveland County, NC wrote to his wife while he was serving as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. His wife was Sarah Self who was apparently the younger sister of Malinda Self. The book doesn't mention Malinda Self, but provides information on Sarah and her six brothers who served in the Civil War. Sarah and these six brothers are among those listed in the household of Lemuel and Rebecca Self in the Cleveland County, NC census of 1850. Malinda was not listed in her parent's household in the 1850 census as she was already married and living with J. C. Willis by that time. The book indicates that Sarah (Self) Hoyle remarried to Able Hallman after Joseph J. Hoyle died in the Civil War. The 1929 death certificate of Sarah Hallman from Lincoln County, NC indicates that Sarah's parents were Lemuel S. Self and Rebecca Rooker. Also, in Joseph J. Hoyle's letter to his wife of July 11, 1864 he asks his wife to "please write me ... say also if J. C. Willis is exempt again or not". J. C. Willis did not enlist until late in the Civil War on October 5, 1864 at the age of 42. He may have been initially exempt from service due to his age and didn't enlist until the Confederate government raised the age limits late in the war.
• It is interesting to note that both J. C. Willis and his father-in-law Lemuel Self were listed as Blacksmiths in the 1850 census. Perhaps J. C. Willis learned his trade from Lemuel Self.
• Jacob C. Willis's middle name was "Craven" based on his name as listed in the 1828 will of his father, Jacob Willis. An interesting point is that there is a county in North Carolina named Craven. It is located on the North Carolina coast approximately 300 miles east of Cleveland County where Jacob C. Willis lived. A search of the 1850 census for Craven County on Ancestry.com shows 86 individuals named Willis. Craven County includes the town of New Bern which was the colonial capitol of North Carolina. I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that Jacob C. Willis was related to the Willis families from Craven County, but it is a possibility that may be worth considering. Also, a search of the 1850 census shows over 200 individuals in North Carolina with the surname "Craven". Almost all of them, including six Jacob Cravens, were located in Randolph County which is roughly 100 miles east of Cleveland County. It may also be worth considering if there was a family or other connection to the Cravens of the Randolph County area.

Sources:

1. "Abstracts from a 1906 Defense of the Heritage of Patterson Lorenzo Newton", Bulletin of The Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County, Forest City, NC. Fall 2016, p.136-141. [ p.140: Statement by Malinda Willis refers to her husband Jacob Willis, her daughter Ann Willis, and Ann's husband A. S. White. ]
2. [Civil War Compiled Service Record of Jacob C. Willis]. National Archives, Washington D.C., 8 p. (PDF Copy (2.1 Mbytes)).
3. [Estate Papers of Jesse R. Willis (1896)]. Cleveland County loose estate papers, file C.R.026.508.57, North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh. 5 p. (Scanned copy of originals made 16 Aug 2006 (only first 5 pages of larger file copied) (2.4 Mbytes)). [ Names nine children of J. C. Willis surviving in 1896. ]
4. Hoyle, Joseph J., Edited by Jeffrey M. Girvan. Deliver Us from This Cruel War, The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Joseph J. Hoyle, 55th North Carolina Infantry. McFarland and Company, Inc., Jefferson, N.C., 2010. ISBN: 978-0-7864-4757-2. [ p.7-8: Information on the brothers of Malinda Self who served in the Civil War. p.183: Joseph J. Hoyle's letter to his wife dated 11 July 1864 references J. C. Willis. ]
5. Manarin, Louis H., and Weymouth T Jordan. North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster. North Carolina State Dept. of Archives and History, Raleigh, 1963, 15 vols. ISBN 0865260052. [ Vol. 9, p. 550: Lists Jacob C Willis, Private, Co. F, 37th North Carolina Regiment. ]