When Willis Richard Whatley Jr was born on 8 May 1802, in Edgefield, South Carolina, United States, his father, Reverend Willis Whatley Senior, was 32 and his mother, Rebecca Corley, was 32. He married Elizabeth Fletcher Simmons on 28 June 1820, in Alabama, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Clarke, Alabama, United States in 1830 and Florida, United States in 1870. He died in 1875, in Taylor, Florida, United States, at the age of 73.