Welcome

I am pleased to welcome you to my personal blog, which I started in March 2009. I first became interested in blogging about five years ago, using old "blogger.com", which was cumbersome to use and I never mastered. About a year ago I discovered that Google had bought "blogger.com" and had revised it considerably, making it fun to use, so much so that I have devised at least 15 blogs on various subjects and frequently add posts and Gadgets to them.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

William T. Johnson and the Mary Willis Library






These are pictures from the Mary Willis Library here in Washington. The Mary Willis Library was founded in 1888 by Dr. Francis T. Willis in memory of his daughter and as a gift to the people of his hometown and county. An 1894 catalog of the library states that the cost of the building was $15,000, the furniture and the first collection of books, $2,000, and that a fund of $10,000 was provided by Dr. Willis as endowment. Dr. Willis, who moved from Washington in 1867 to Richmond, Va., also donated his personal library, as did his half-brother, Samuel Barnett, first president of the library trustees.
Architect Edmund Lind of Atlanta designed the sophisticated building in warm brick tones and picturesque profile of the fashionable high-Victorian style. Tall stained-glass windows light the high beamed interior where original furnishings still in use. The central window, commemorating Mary Willis, was made at the Tiffany factory in New Haven.The library was originally a donation to the community by Dr. Francis T. Willis in memory of his daughter, Mary, and has been added to on two occasions in the last twenty years. I served on the Library Board and was treasurer for several years.

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