Jackson Fletcher Wills 1870-1961, Generation 5
Jackson Fletcher Wills shown with sons Clarence and Cecil
Source: Warren Tooker
The following text was provided by Warren Tooker with the photo above and below:
Here is a photo of my grandfather, Jackson Fletcher Wills, taken while he
was a lighthouse keeper. The large engine was probably used to drive a generator for the
light, but may have driven a compressor for the fog horn.
He worked at three lighthouses; Table Bluff, Humboldt, and Punta Gorda between about 1912
and 1917. It is not know which one the photo was taken at. I have a letter assigning him
to the Humboldt station in 1916.
Source: Warren Tooker
Born 22 August 1870 in Summersville, WV, he was a soldier in the US Army for a number of years, serving as a bugler. He fought in the campaign against Geronimo in the Indian Wars. Later he fought in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines, spending some time in Japan after that war. I know little of what he did between the war and his marriage to my grandmother (he had two prior wives), but my mother (the first child born to my grandmother, Dora Bickmore) was born in 1907. Shortly after that he worked for several years with the US Lighthouse Service (now incorporated into the Coast Guard) and served at Punta Gorda, Table Bluff, and Humboldt light stations. After an unfortunate incident between him and another employee, he was fired and went to work as a prison guard at San Quentin Prison near San Francisco. After he retired he made violins, a talent he inherited from his cabinet maker father. He died 13 February 1961 at the veterans' home in Yountville, California.
Descendants of Jackson Fletcher Wills
1 Jackson Fletcher Wills Born: August 22, 1870 in Summersville, Nicholas County, West
Virginia Died: February 13, 1961 in Yountville, Napa, CA Age at death: 90
. +(Unknown)
2 Clarence Wills Born: Unknown
2 Cecil Wills Born: Unknown
*2nd Wife of Jackson Fletcher Wills:
. +(Unknown)
2 Ramona Wills
*3rd Wife of Jackson Fletcher Wills:
. +Dora Minerva Bickmore Born: May 17, 1885 in Riverside, Riverside County, CA Married:
1912 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California Died: April 29, 1972 in San Jose, Santa Clara
County, CA Age at death: 86
2 Marguerite May Wills Born: December 14, 1907 in Vallejo, Solano, CA Died: June 05, 1990
in Placerville, El Dorado, CA Age at death: 82
... +Floyd Llewellyn Tooker Born: December 11, 1893 in Westport, Brown, SD Married:
September 20, 1928 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA Died: September 05, 1948 in San
Francisco, San Francisco, CA Age at death: 54
*2nd Husband of Marguerite May Wills:
... +Charles L Powell Married: December 27, 1950 in Reno Township, NV
*3rd Husband of Marguerite May Wills:
... +[1] Clarence Charles "Hank" Nagelmaker Born: August 04, 1916 Married:
February 21, 1959 in Carson City, Ormsby County, Navada
*4th Husband of Marguerite May Wills:
... +James Choate Born: Unknown Married: Abt. 1980 in Unknown
2 Ethel Viola Wills Born: June 09, 1909 in Vallejo, Solano County, California Died: March
13, 1998 in Vallejo, Solano County, California Age at death: 88
... +John Taylor Dye Born: February 20, 1903 in Christian, Missouri Married: March 06,
1926 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California Died: November 11, 1993 in Napa, Napa
County, California Age at death: 90
2 Elliott Calvin Wills Born: May 02, 1911 in West Covina, San Bernardino, CA Died: May 19,
1943 in Vallejo, Solano County, California Age at death: 32
2 Norman Edward Wills Born: February 05, 1913 in Petrolia, Humboldt, CA Died: December 20,
1993 in Placerville, El Dorado, CA Age at death: 80
2 John Edward Wills Born: April 15, 1915 in Table Bluff, Light St., CA Died: 1983 in San
Jose, Santa Clara, CA Age at death: 68 est.
2 Virginia Orleans Wills Born: November 10, 1917 in Table Bluff, Light Street, California
Died: May 18, 1992 in Chula Vista, San Diego,
California Age at death: 74
... +George Keith Winklepleck Married: August 06, 1935 Died: 1950 Age at death: ?
*2nd Husband of Virginia Orleans Wills:
... +Willie O. Walker Born: March 06, 1910 Married: September 01, 1950 Died: 1952 Age at
death: 42 est.
*3rd Husband of Virginia Orleans Wills:
... +Lawrence James McDaniel Born: November 05, 1909 Married: 1954 *4th Husband of
Virginia Orleans Wills:
... +[1] Clarence Charles "Hank" Nagelmaker Born: August 04, 1916 Married: 1965
2 Ardis Jean Wills Born: November 17, 1919 in Fortuna, Humboldt County, California
... +Benjamin Van Dusen Born: Unknown Married: 1936
*2nd Husband of Ardis Jean Wills:
... +John Crouch Born: 1915 Married: 1938