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4)Mack Wills stood with his brothers in line and courageously signed up to fight in the United States Colored Troops. When Mack was asked his occupation, he stated, “slave”. And note at the bottom remarks section it says “Owned by Edmund Wills, Haywood County, Tennessee”. After the Civil War ended, he was one of the few Wills brothers who learned how to read and write.

5)Andy Wills joined the United States Colored Troops and was the only Wills brother who did not know where he was born. The enlistment officer coldly wrote “unknown, Tennessee”. It’s a blatant and disturbing example of how horrific the institution of slavery was for Africans who were forced to endure it for generations. But after the war’s end he changed his name to Andrew and was married to a woman named Susan for more than fifty years and had eleven children. He and his wife made sure all of his children knew when and where they were born.

6)James Wills fought until the war’s end in 1865, but unlike his brothers, he never filed for a war pension. Who could blame him? Andy, Dick, Mack were treated like lying criminals who were trying to steal the government’s money every step of the way. The veterans and their widows, including my Great-great-great grandmother Emma, had to hire lawyers to deal with the bureaucratic red tape just to get the money they were perfectly entitled to. Read the book to see what I have to say about that!

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To contact Cheryl, please visit www.cherylwills.tv

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