Essie Virginia Walker & John Willis Tillett, Jr.

Essie Virginia Walker was born March 23, 1884 and died September 2, 1908.  Essie married J.W. Tillett. Jr. sometime after June 1900 when the census was taken.  Her tombstone marker says "Wife of J.W. Tillett". Essie & John Willis had no children. J.W. Tillett, Jr. is also listed as the husband of Bertha Bell Owens on her tombstone, which says "Wife of J.W. Tillett and "Mother of Paul & Theressa Tillett".  John Willis Tillett, Jr. married Bertha before 1910.  Bertha was born in 1890 and died on Jan. 20, 1919 death certificate.  She and John Willis Tillett, Jr. had a son named Paul Vernon Tillett who was born Sept. 30, 1910 and a daughter named Theressa Tillett who was born c1914.  John Willis Tillett, Jr. was married for the 3^rd time to Kathryn (Sonnenlitter) Kent (marriage probably occurred in 1919).  His double tombstone is in New Hollywood Cemetery in Elizabeth City, N.C. but there is no one else on the marker.  His obituary appeared in The Coastland Times - Friday, April 4, 1952; pg. 1. 

POPLAR BRANCH MERCHANT WAS NATIVE OF NAGS HEAD - John Willis Tillett, 65, died Wednesday morning at his home at Poplar Branch at 5:10 o'clock after a short illness. He was a beloved citizen and well-known throughout northeastern North Carolina. He was a native of Nags Head but had been living at Poplar Branch for the past 41 years. He was the son of the late Easter Holly and John W. Tillett, husband of Mrs. Kathryn Kent Tillett; a member of the Ebenezer Methodist Church at Aydlett; a member of the Coinjock Masonic Lodge #463 AF & AM and a well-known merchant. Besides his wife, he is survived by one daughter, Mrs. S.L. Dennis of Brigantine, N.J.; one son, Paul V. Tillett of Boston, Mass.; one sister, Mrs. R.S. Chapman of Smithfield, Va.; two half-brothers: Will Twiford of Norfolk, Va. and Lewis Twiford of Coinjock; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. [see his death certificate]

Essie Virginia Walker as a child and as a young lady
A sketch that Essie drew which hung in the Clarence Eugene Walker [her brother] home for years.