Willis - Nathaniel Parker
Note: Although not an obit, this pertains to his death
Source: Crawfordsville Review, April 20, 1911 p 3
Crawfordsville people are interested in the announcement that Governor Donaghey of Arkansas Tuesday granted to WY Ellis, a wealthy lumberman of Pine Bluff, Ark a pardon. Ellis pleaded guilty in July 1909 to shooting Nathaniel Parker Willis in the court room at Little Rock, Ark and was senteenced to 3 years- imprisonment.
At the time of the shooting in the courtroom, July 27, 1909, US Senator Jeff Davis narrowly escaped with his life. The senator was appearing for Willis. Ellis had planned the shooting carefully and fired while the courtroom was crowded. Willis tried to escape by running through a door, but a bullet from Ellis' revolver struck him near the heart and he died 10 minutes later in the presence of his mother. The trouble between the two men arose over a contest for the custody of a child by Willis and his divorced wife, who had married Ellis. When the court granted Willis permission to take the child for 10 days on bond, providing he would not remove the little one from the jurisdiction of the court, lLlis thought the court's order practically meant permission to take the child to Indiana.