Willis Riddick [7392]

  Noted events in his life were:

• He served in the military The Burning of Suffolk on 13 May 1779 in Nansemond County, Virginia. "As soon as it was learned that the British had arrived in Hampton Roads the militia of Nansemond were called out, and Suffolk was the place of rendezvous. Only about 200 men were marshaled for the occasion, armed with such weapons as they could procure from their own homes. This little army, headed by Colonel Willis Riddick, proceeded about eight miles on the Norfolk road, and camped in front of Captain James Murdaugh's house. During this expedition three well-mounted young Virginians -- Josiah Riddick, Thos. Granbury, and Thos. Brittle -- had been dispatched to reconnoitre the enemy. They were surprised and made prisoners just below Hall's mill, in Norfolk county, and conveyed to New York, where they remained as prisoners of war for eighteen months. On this account the forces under Colonel Riddick were kept in ignorance of the numbers and movements of the enemy. Being surprised by the approach of the British, they retreated in haste to Suffolk, and every man was admonished to take care of himself. History says: The most of the inhabitants had secured their valuables and fled from their homes, while ruthless devastation attended the match of the British. They set fire to the town, and nearly the whole of it was consumed. Several hundred barrels of tar, pitch, turpentine, and rum had been left on lots contiguous to the wharf. The heads being knocked out, and their contents catching the blaze, ran down to the river like torrents of burning lava. As the wind blew with great violence from the wharf, these inflammable substances rapidly floated to the other shore in a splendid state of conflagration, which they communicated to the thick and decaying herbage of an extensive marsh, the growth of the preceding year.
This immense sheet of fire added to the undulating flames which ascended from the burning houses in the town, the explosion at intervals of the gunpowder in the magazines and the projection through the air of large pieces of ignited timber, flying like meteors in every direction, conspired to form a collective scene of horror and sublimity, such as could not be viewed without indescribable emotions."
The British soldiers tramped out the White Marsh Road to the residence of the colonel-commandant of the militia and set fire "to his dwelling, barn, and outhouses, in which said public property was stored, and destroyed not only the public property and the buildings but his furniture, corn, bacon, etc,"

• He served in the military Lieutenant in the militia 1776 to 1780 in Nansemond County, Virginia.

• He signed a will on 10 Apr 1781 in Nansemond County, Virginia.

• His will probated on 8 Apr 1782 at in Nansemond County, Virginia.

• He was elected as State Convention 1775 to 1776 in Nansemond County, Virginia.

Willis married Mary Faulk [7393] [MRIN: 3051] in 1744. (Mary Faulk [7393] was born circa 1723.)

  Marriage Notes:

Children:
Capt James Riddick (14 Sept 1745 - 1786 "Salem" Gates Co NC)
married 1766 Martha Sarah Sumner (1741 - 1778 NC)
daughter of Dempsey Sumner and Martha Baker
Elizabeth Riddick (22 Nov 1747 - 1793)
married 1st 1768 Capt Samuel Carr (1746 - 1777)
married 1787 2nd Robert Moore Riddick (1744 - 4 Dec 1804)
Priscilla Riddick (15 Feb 1749/50 - )
Anne Riddick +(28 Aug 1752 - 1792)
married ca 1771 Col Josiah Henry Riddick (5 Sept 1748 Nanse. - 1795 Nanse.)
Theresa Riddick (25 Mar 1754 - 1784/87)
married 1st Rev. Robert Moore Riddick (1744 - 4 Dec 1804)
married 2nd Thomas Swepson
Capt. Willis Riddick (21 April 1757 - 10 Oct 1800)
married Anna Maria Syme (1761 - 1804)
Christian Riddick (10 Nov 1759 - 22 Mar 1821)
married 1780 Archibald Richardson (1756 - 1804)
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