Description
Granville / Grand / Grant Willis is listed on line 19 as having been a Private in the 83rd U. S. Colored Troops Infantry, Company C. He enlisted on July 26, 1863 and was discharged September 7, 1865, serving 2 years, 1 month, and 3 days. Living in Weston, Missouri, and no disability noted.
(Researcher's note: Grand "Grant" Willis' service file indicates that when he enlisted he was 20 years old, 5 foot 8 inches tall, a black complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. He had been born in Platte County, Missouri. He enlisted in Leavenworth, Kansas, on July 19, 1863, for 3 years.
He was mustered into the 2nd Regiment Kansas Colored Infantry, Company I (which later became the 83rd U.S.C.T. Infantry) on August 28, 1863, at Fort Scott, Kansas. On July 24, 1865, he was admitted to the Regimental Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas, with "orchitis" (inflammation of one or both testicles, frequently accompanied by swelling, pain, and tenderness). He was returned to duty on October 3 1865, and then mustered out in Camden, Arkansas, on October 9, 1865 and in Leavenworth, Kansas, on November 15, 1865.
On December 1, 1866, Robert P. S. Elley of Platte County, Missouri, signed claim for compensation #289 for enlisted slave Granville Willis and swore an oath of allegiance before Platte County notary public John Wilson. Elley claimed he had acquired title by “…being the owner of the mother of said slave Granville Willis at the time of his birth.”
Austin Lewis and Granville Willis (former slaves of Robert P. S. Elley) of Platte County swore under oath that Elley had owned Granville Willis for “more than 15 years" and also swore oath that Elley was loyal to the U.S. Government and had defended it against the Confederate States of America. See Slave Compensation Claim Entry #SCC.0191.)Date(s) of Creation
6/1/1890
