Mary J BURTIS was born cal 6 Apr 1833 in Cypress Hills, Kings, NY or Hempstead, Queens, NY, & died 2 Nov 1897 (State of NY d cert 44046) in Hempstead & was bur Nov 6, in Greenfield Cem, Hempstead.
RE: Cypress Hills – Mary’s birthplace
Per article in Brooklyn Eagle (newspaper), 24 July 1886, p two: "New Lots: An Historical Sketch of the Town…” (reworded): [to be precise, where the word village appears in the following paragraph, it should be replaced by hamlet (unincorporated areas). Villages were municipal corporations.]
New Lots was made a town on the 12 Feb 1852, having previously been a part of the town of Flatbush,& was known as 'The New Lots' to distinguish it from 'The Old Lots' near the present village of Flatbush. The town thus organized in 1852 comprised the villages of Brownsville, East New York, & Cypress Hills. East New York was in July 1886 the largest village of the three. Before the year 1835 the residents of the territory embraced within the limits of New Lots were farmers, & most of the dwellings were situated on the New Lots road. The village of Cypress Hills was situated in the northeastern portion of New Lots.

Buried in the same cem plot with Mary J are her husband John WILLETS (Consistently spelled “ets.”) & two of their sons. John WILLETS was born in Hempstead cal 11 Oct 1823 (Oct 1823 per 1900 census), d 15 March 1911 (NY state d cert #13588) in Hempstead, & was bur 19 March 1911 Greenfield Cem, Hempstead. (Hempstead Sentinel, vol 53 # 42; Thurs, March 16, 1911; p eight, column four; four names up from bottom of p: "Willets- Hempstead, March 15th [Weds], John Willets in his 88th year. Funeral service Sunday [19th] from his late residence Fulton Ave and Cross street… Interment, Greenfield [Cemetery].") John WILLETS - carpenter & builder; was a Hempstead resident for 87 years. John’s father was Eliphalet WILLETS (b cal 23 Dec 1789 Suffolk County, NY; d 18 May 1869; buried Christs Presbyterian Church, Hempstead.) Eliphalet m John’s mother- Eliphalet’s first wife, Hannah Thurston ( b Hempstead), 4 Apr 1819. Hanah d sometime previous to Eliphalet’s second m on 21 Apr 1828 to Mary GILDERSLEEVE (d 31 Dec 1851). Both marriages occurred at Christs Presbyterian Church. Have not learned if there were any other children by Eliphalet’s first marriage. There were prob at least six children by the 2nd marriage.

Greenfield Cemetery burials- The initial owners of section four, lots 9 & 26 were Hannah WILLETS (ASSUME this is Mary J (Johanna?; wife of John WILLETS) & John WILLETS, owner of lots 10 & 25. These 4 lots were purchased, Oct 3rd, 1871. ASSUME the lots were bought then because a family member had died or was dying. The plot was not bought for one of Mary & John's five following children- Edward, John Wesley, Minnie M, Herbert, or Frank, as the earliest death among them was 1904. The graves were prob bought because of the d of a child named William, who was listed as being b in Apr on the 1870 census, but who is not listed on the Greenfield burial record.
A perpetual care fund of $600 was received from the Estate of John WILLETS, care of John R(andall) WILLETS, Elizabeth Building, Church & Pine Sts., Freeport, NY, Oct 15th, 1948 [sic].). ASSUME this was the estate of John Wesley WILLETS born abt 1858 who d in 1925- sic. He is the last person indicated to have been bur in this plot.
Buried lot 25- grave six: burial 14369, John Wesley WILLETS, died [sic] April 18, 1925
Buried lot 26- grave five: burial 6260, Herbert WILLETS, buried Dec 17, 1904
Buried lot 10- graves - sic - 2 & 3 - large brick vault & marker & monument: burial 7866, John WILLETS, March 18, 1911. Buried (burial 5032) adjacent to John in lot 9 grave one, is his wife, Mary J born BURTIS. (Comment on Queens & Nassau counties & Hempstead: Before annexation to New York City, Queens had six towns- one of which was Hempstead, plus the city of Long Island City. Within the towns were various villages. All units within the annexation were abolished on Dec 21,1897 & Queens County (Borough) was formed January 1, 1898. But only abt one quarter of Queens County was inside New York City. So Nassau County was formed January 1, 1899 from the parts of Queens County outside NYC. Also all of Rockaway Peninsula was taken from the Town of Hempstead & annexed to Queens County (Borough) in 1898. Before 1898, Hempstead went down to Breezy Point.) (Previously in 1886, the Lloyd's Neck peninsula in the Town of Oyster Bay had been transferred to the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County.

Mary J WILLETS born BURTIS & John WILLETS in censuses & directories
-1860 census (film 844, p 248) listed in the same house as Johanna MOORE (b BURTIS) & Alfred H MOORE in Hempstead, Queens. Johanna MOORE (b BURTIS) was the sister of Mary J WILLETS (b BURTIS) & the wife of Alfred H MOORE.

FHL film 1930448 (all vols include Hempstead): 1864/65-Boyd's Directory of Astoria, East New York .... (subsequent editions are published by Curtin) thru 1871/1872. 1864/65, 1865/66, 1867/68, 1868/1869= all list only one WILLETS: -John WILLETS, carpenter, home Fulton near Attorney.
1871/72 was published, but had no WILLETS listed. Not published: 1866/67, 1869/70, 1870/71, 1872/1873 thru 1880/1881. Curtin's Long Island directory of 1868-1869- Hempstead: John WILLETS, carpenter, Fulton near Attorney

-1870 census enumerated June 16 in Hempstead, Queens, film 1079, p 406 (stamped) p 50 B [B as in Boy], lines 19-25, dwelling 389, family visited 410: all born in NY
-WILLETS, John, 47, carpenter, personal property $6,000, real property $4,000, United States citizen.
-Mary J, 37, housekeeping; Edward, 13; John W, 12; Minnie, 10; Herbert, 8; William, 2/12, male, born in April ["April" is on the census p.] A dau of Johanna BURTIS & Alfred H S MOORE had the first name Minnie. Minnie presumably is a name in earlier Burtis ancestry.
Benjamin Reeves family & a Dickens living in the same house as John & Mary J WILLETS. The Reeves & the Dickens are no known relation to John or Mary.
The son- Wesley- in 1860 census is John W(esley) in the 1870 census. Based on age, William born APRIL in the 1870 census is Frank in the 1880 census. BUT there is confusion because the 1900 census indicates the Frank then living was born SEPTEMBER 1875.
-1880 census, enumerated June 16-17 in Hempstead, Queens; film 917: John WILLETS and Mary J WILLETS (born BURTIS) have only their children living with them; vol 81, ed 270, sheet 46, line 3, dwelling 322, family 339, no street address mentioned
-WILLETS, John, 55, b NY, carpenter, married; parents b in NY; Mary J, wife, 45, b NY, married, keeping house; parents b in NY; all children b in NY: John, son, 21, clerk in store; Minnie M, daughter, 18, at home; Herbert, son, 17, clerk in clothing house; Frank, son, 10, attending school.
-1892 state census for Queens. Did not find John WILLETS & his wife, Mary J listed.
-1900 census enumerated June 14 Hempstead, Nassau; film 1079, supervisor's district 2, ed 696, p 68 B [B as in boy]-, line 71, __, 80-95; Clinton [sic] Street:
John WILLITS [sic], head, 76, b Oct 1823, widow, carpenter, b Hempstead; father b Suffolk [County]; mother b Hempstead; Hirbert [sic], son, b Nov 1862, 38 [sic], b Hempstead, writer; father b Hempstead; mother b Kings [County]; Frank, son, b Sep 1875, 25 [sic], b Hempstead, father b Hempstead; mother b Kings [County].
Comment: New York is written over the Hempstead, Kings, & Suffolk birth places. The census confirms the county of Mary’s birth – given on her d cert- as Kings County. Added to the 1840 Flatbush (Kings County) census listing for Joseph BURTIS- Mary’s father- this makes it very likely Mary’s parents lived in Kings County when Mary J was b. At present, Brooklyn & Kings County share identical boundaries. However, when Mary was b this was not the case, & Cypress Hills was a distinct area within Kings County.

KNOWN CHILDREN OF Mary J (born BURTIS) & JOHN WILLETS
Edward B WILLETS
B from Aug 1856 to 1857 in Hempstead; died btwn 5 Jun 1920 & 1930 “of” Freeport, Nassau, NY.
-1892 state census for Hempstead, Queens; FHL film 1976731- item two; p 5, 4th ed of the town of Hempstead, column two; 16 Feb 1892: [US= United States; C= citizen; WILLETS= last name of all listed in this family]: Edward B, 30, born US, c; occupation= express; Elizabeth, 30, US, C; William A, 13, US, C; Charles, 12, US, C; Archer, male, 10; Bertie, male [sic], 7; Leroy, 5; Minnie, 3
-1910 census
Hempstead District 4, Nassau; enumerated Apr 28- all WILLITTS-sic- in Ancestry index
Edw B, 53, born NY; father & mother b NY; wife & children & all parents born NY; Elizabeth,49; had eight children & eight were living; number of years of present marriage = 31; Charles, 29, single, express wagon; Bert, 24, single, no occupation; Roy, 23, single, driver hack; Marine [ = in Ancestry index; actually Minnie] , 20, single, no occupation; Jeanette, 10, single, no occupation

- 1920 census, Freeport, town of Hempstead, Nassau; film 1127, p 5A, ed 13 (image 285); enumerated 12 January 1920; lines 32-37, Church St; all listed below are WILLETS:
Edward B [Willet in Ancestry index], 64, b Hempstead [sic]; parents b Hempstead [sic[] rent, able to read & write; general trucking; Elizabeth A, wife, 55, b Freeport [sic], NY; father b Pennsylvania; mother b Freeport [sic], NY, no occupation; Charles, 37, single, son, b Freeport [sic] NY [as all other children listed]. father b Hempstead, NY & mother b Freeport, NY [parents' birthplace = same for all children listed] general trucking;
Bert, 36, son, single, truck driver; Minnie, 28, dau, single, no occupation; Janette, 19, dau, single, no occupation; --[next family listed:] Leroy WILLETS, 33, married, head, trucking - crate yard; Addie, wife, 24, b Hempstead [sic], NY, parents born Ireland; no occupation; Dorothy, dau, age 8/12; born Freeport, NY
-1930 census
Freeport, Nassau, film 1458, p 11 B [B as in Boy] ed 32 (image 265), enumerated Apr 15th, house # = 25 Smith Street, lines 76-82
Found: (all b NY and all parents b NY)
Charles WILLETS, 47, rent, $30, single; proprietor- trucks, did not serve in military
Burtis Willets, brother, 45, single, proprietor- trucks, did not serve in military
Minnie WILLETS, sister, 30, single; no occupation
Jeanette WALKER, sister, 30, married, 21 when married, no occupation
Gladys M WALKER, niece, 7; Kenneth A WALKER, nephew, 4 & 3/12
Comment: Found no Edward WILLETS in Queens.