TWICE A SLAVE

The son of a white man and Cherokee slave, Joseph Willis, gains his freedom and swims the mighty Mississippi on a mule. <br><br>Joseph Willis's life is a story of triumph over tragedy and victory over adversity! <br><br>✯ He was born into slavery. His mother was Cherokee and his father a wealthy English plantation owner. <br>✯ His family took him to court to deprive him of his inheritance (which would have made him the wealthiest plantation owner in all of Bladen County, North Carolina in 1776) . <br>✯ He fought as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War under the most colorful of all the American generals, Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox. <br>✯ His first wife died in childbirth, and his second wife died only six years later, leaving him with five small children. <br>✯ He crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez at the peril of his own life, riding a mule! <br>✯ He entered hostile Spanish-controlled Louisiana Territory, when the dreaded Code Noir (Black Code) was in effect. It forbade any Protestant ministers who came into the territory from preaching. <br>✯ His life was threatened because of the message he brought to Spanish-controlled Louisiana! <br>✯ His own denomination refused to ordain him because of his race. <br>✯ Joseph Willis preached the first Gospel sermon by an Evangelical west of the Mississippi River. <br>✯ After overcoming insurmountable obstacles, he blazed a trail for others for another half-century that changed American history. <br>✯ His accomplishments are still felt today. <br>✯ ✯ ✯ <br>threewindsblowing.com