John R. Willis, postmaster of Buffalo Lick, Ark., has held the position he now occupies for the past six years, and has ably discharged the duties incumbent upon the office. He was born in Oldham County, Ky., in 1837, but received his education in Saline County, Mo., and up to the age of eighteen years was an attendant at the district schools, and was engaged in farm labor on the old homestead. After attaining the above mentioned age he entered the employ of Majs. Russell & Wardell, being master of a wagon train leaving Leavenworth for any given point in the far West. After remaining in the Government employ for about seven years he, in 1862, joined the Eighteenth Mississippi Cavalry, commanded by Col. Jenkins, and was in the battles of Franklin, Nashville and Fort Pillow, and in other minor engagements, serving until hostilities ceased, when he was paroled at Memphis, Tenn. He was captured three times, one time being taken prisoner at Holly Springs, Miss., by the Seventh Kansas Regiment, of which W. F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, was a member, the latter having been in his employ while he was a teamster in the West. Mr. Willis was engaged in farming in Cross County, Ark., until 1879, when he crossed to Poinsett County, Ark., and here has since made his home, his farm of 200 acres being finely improved, with good buildings, fences, etc., and 100 acres are under cultivation. He also operates a steam cotton-gin, and raises some stock. He is independent in his political views, but usually votes the Democratic ticket. He has held the office of magistrate, and for many years has been an active worker for the cause of temperance. He is a patron of education, is a member of the school board, and also belongs to the board of equalization. He is a Mason, being a member of Arcadian Lodge, at Vanndale, Cross County, and also belongs to the Agricultural Wheel.
He was married, in Cross County, Ark., in 1872, to Miss Mary Harvey, a native of Shelby County, Tenn., and to their union six children have been born: Lillian, Lewis, Henry X., Mary, Ethel and Edna. Mr. Willis is the youngest of eleven children born to Lewis and Polly (Ryle) Willis, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of North Carolina. They settled on a farm in Boone County, Ky., at an early day, and in 1835 moved to Oldham County, where the mother died in 1845. In 1848 Mr. Willis settled in Saline County, Mo., where he farmed and made his home until his death, in 1850.