WILLS, Arthur John (1866-1951), active in St. John's, Newfoundland, was the son of James W.U. Wills [Senior]. Born in Langport, Co. Somerset, England on 14 August 1866, he was trained under his father and likely accompanied him on a trip to the British colony of Newfoundland in 1883 when Wills Sr. was overseeing the design of major additions and alterations to the Anglican Cathedral there. A perspective drawing, signed 'Arthur J. Wills, delt., January 1889' and showing the completed Cathedral as originally intended, is now held at the Church Museum located within the Cathedral in St. John's. A.J. Wills returned to the United States in 1888 or 1889 and lived and worked in Knoxville, Tenn. and in Asheville, North Carolina until 1892. A description of some of the buildings designed by Wills Brothers in Asheville, N.C. can be found in the Asheville City Directory, 1890, 77-8, and they include the Town Hall & Market House, the First Baptist Church, College Street, and the mansion for A.H. Cobb, Academy Street.
After the Great Fire in St. John's in July 1892, Arthur J. returned to the Colony where it was noted in a newspaper article that "...Mr. Arthur J. Wills, senior member and manager of the firm of Wills Brothers of Asheville, North Carolina, is visiting St. John's. He was for a number of years a resident of this city and received his education at the Church of England Academy' (Evening Telegram [St. John's], 27 Dec. 1892, 4). Both he and his brother James William Urbane Wills Jr. were partners with their father in the Newfoundland firm of James Wills & Sons from 1892 until late 1894 (see list of works under James W.U. Wills Sr.) but no references to their work in the Colony after this date have been located. Arthur J. appears to have returned to North Carolina where he is listed as partner in the firm of Wagner & Wills, Architects & Contractors (Asheville Directory, 1896-97, 346-7). He is almost certainly the same 'Arthur J. Wills, Architect' who was active in Winnipeg, Man. from 1916 until 1918 (City of Winnipeg Directory, 1918, p. 1363) and his name may be linked to several works in Winnipeg, and in nearby Kenora, Ontario. By 1920 he had moved south to Minneapolis, Minn., and by 1930 he had moved again, this time to Riverside, a suburb of Chicago which was designed and laid out by Frederick Law Olmstead, the leading American landscape architect. A.J. Wills died in Riverside, Chicago, Ill. on 26 July 1951 (inf. from Shane O'Dea, St. John's; Charlotte V. Brown, Raleigh, N.C.; James Kuhlman, Asheville, N.C.; Gordon Fulton, Ottawa)
WILLS BROTHERS (works in North Carolina)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., residence for Alphonso H. Cobb, Montford Avenue, c. 1890 (Asheville City Directory, 1890, 77-8, list of works)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., City Hall, Patton Avenue, located "behind the Court House", 1890-91; demol. (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 29 Aug. 1890, 1, illus. & descrip.; 21 May 1891, 4, illus. & descrip.)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, Blanton Street at Phifer Street, 1891; demol. 1976 (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 27 Feb. 1891, 4)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., Mission Hospital, Charlotte Street at Woodfin Street, 1891 (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 19 May 1891, 4, descrip.)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., First Baptist Church, College Street at Spruce Street, 1891; demol. 1927 (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 21 May 1891, 1)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., large residence for John Nichols, Liberty Street, 1891 (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 21 May 1891, 1)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., Montford Avenue School, 1892; demol. 1951 (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 10 May 1892, 1, illus. & descrip.)
ASHEVILLE, N.C., Free Kindergarten, 1892; altered (Daily Citizen [Asheville], 4 June 1892, 4, illus. & descrip.)
A.J. WILLS (works in Manitoba & Ontario)
WINNIPEG, MAN., Christ Church (Anglican), Princess Street at Higgins Avenue, 1916; burned 1952 (City of Winnipeg b.p. 555, 28 June 1916)
ST. BONIFACE, MAN., a large Abattior and Meat Packing complex for David Balcovski, President of the Union Stock Yards, including offices, slaughter house, coolers, boiler house, stables and garage, 1916 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 5 July 1916, 2, t.c.; and 21 July 1916, 5, descrip.; C.R., xxx, 19 July 1916, 47, t.c.)
KENORA, ONT., St. Alban's Anglican Cathedral, Water Street near the lakefront, 1917, still standing in 2023, a picturesque stone church designed "....in the style of advanced Early English Gothic" (Kenora Miner, 23 June 1917, 3, illus. & descrip.; and 8 Aug. 1917, 1)