The Hermit of Willis Island

A mile and a half south of the Crossing site sits an island of 6 or 7 acres, located just north of Scudder Falls on the Delaware River on the Pennsylvania side. This strip of land was called Harvey’s Island and White’s Island before being named Willis Island, after its most famous inhabitant, James Willis

North of Yardley, the gently sloping hill between the canal and the river became a summer retreat for adventurous Trentonians who set up summer camps for weeks at a time to escape the city. More permanent structures started to pop up in the area around 1905, and the area became known as “Bungalow Row”. Some of these original bungalows are extant, though most have been demolished and replaced. These bungalows were generally located on River Rd between Mt. Eyre and Woodside roads. Willis Island swam tranquilly in the river nearby.

James S. Wills, the Hermit of Willis Island, was born in Haddonfield, NJ around 1845. His family moved to Trenton when he was a young man. James’ father was a partner at a Philadelphia publisher and hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps. James reluctantly complied and worked for the same firm before starting his own, Willis & Schaefer. 

James was educated, a mechanic, good with tools and electricity, a clever craftsman, artisan and inventor. He just wasn’t a good businessman. His firm failed in 1876.

James Willis first appeared on Willis Island around 1884 for a two week camping trip and ended up making the island his home for the next 38 years. James spent his summers on the island, winters at Taylorsville and, later in life, Trenton. He was employed by the New Jersey Steel and Iron Company as the paid caretaker. Later the Trenton Water Power Company owned the island and let him live there.

James loved nature and was a friend to all animals, many were his pets including his hound dogs Dick, Jerry and Sue. James allegedly taught Dick to bark his name. He also had a trained rooster and hen, and an aquarium with a young alligator. Maybe not all animals, as he made an electrical rat trap which zapped the pests.

James Willis and his cabin and dog

James’ bungalow was a neat one-story frame house with stained glass windows, hardwood doors and wainscotting. Running water achieved by a force pump with a suspended tank, very futuristic. It consisted of three rooms that included a kitchen with gas stove and a porcelain bathtub. He did the plumbing and electrical work himself. The place was eccentrically decorated with diamondback rattlesnake, paintings, firearms, and a stuffed raccoon with eyes wired to “become balls of fire”.

The rat trap and balls of fire were just two of his many gadgets. James loved electricity and was somewhat of an early electrical wizard. The house was equipped with over 125 electrical connections and there were various gizmos throughout which he liked to demonstrate to his visitors. James constructed a tin can clock that fascinated people when it triggered an alarm and the opening of curtains at a certain time. 

The Trenton Times describes some of the electrical pioneer’s ingenuity…

When he goes to bed he does not take the trouble to turn out the lights, for as soon as he touches his couch out go the lights and down come the window shades. 6/14/1908

There is electricity everywhere within the place. Every movable object of furniture and constriction is attached to an electric cell. Sit in a chair and a bell rings, take down a hat or gun or fishing rod and an alarm is sounded, wash hands in a handsome sanitary basin and you get a shock, turn a door knob, open a door, pull down a window shade, move an alarm clock – do anything – and “Jim” Willis knows it. 6/20/1905

This is all the more impressive when you realize that it wasn’t until 1925 that half of all American homes had electric power. He even had a telephone.

Access to the island can only be made by boat, which Jim rowed across to meet his visitors once they rang a bell to summon him. He shot down the idea of a bridge being built.

It’s hard to fathom that at one time the island Hermit was so popular that he kept a registry with the signatures of over two thousand visitors, from all parts of the country. It seems crazy that a hermit on a small island had so many frequent visitors in a time when automobiles weren’t common. The explanation is that there was easy access to the location via the Trolley that connected Trenton and Lambertville, which ran on the Pennsylvania side. There was a trolley stop at Mt. Eyre Rd, which gave quick, easy access to the river shore. 

As much as James loved ingenuity and progress, the trolley brought more visitors than he wanted, as evidenced by a letter to the Trenton Times published on August 6th, 1905. The trolley had only been operational for two months at that point, so it must’ve been a rush of people that led him to pen the following. 

I have had much company since the trolley has been in operation connecting my place at Scudder’s Falls with the rest of the world, and it seems likely that I may soon lose the name of the hermit. I have had daily applications this season for camping and picnic privileges on the island. I have been compelled to refuse all but two parties because the outing fad is giving the place much advertising that I do not want. In regard to my visiting friends, it is and has always been a source of great pleasure to entertain them. I sought this place of retirement about twenty-one years ago, after a business career that was unsuccessful. Last spring I had a visitor’s register presented to me and thus far there are nearly nine hundred names recorded in it. While do not object to this, I will not make a public outing place of the island while I occupy it. Although I have placed notices on the trees setting forth that no picnics or camping parties are desired, the applications are frequent.

As you can see, James wasn’t the lone user of the island during this time. Local canoe clubs had regattas and picnics with baseball games on the island. Boy Scout troops camped, fished and trapped there. It was a well-known destination in its time. 

James had to leave the island on a few occasions due to floods, including the October 1903 flood what washed away the Washington Crossing bridge. Four and a half feet of water was in his house, which washed many of his treasures away. He built various incarnations of his home whenever nature necessitated. 

Most of his visitors were Trenton businessmen. His closest friend was Trenton Mayor Frederick W. Donnelly, who also served as executor of Willis’ estate. I’ve found articles mentioning the pair a decade before he became mayor. He entertained many visitors, including members of a theatre company who put on a production of “Babes in the Woods” on the island. I found a mention of noted Yardley resident, Algernon Cadwallader camping with Jim on the island. 

James lived peacefully and happily on the island from 1884 to 1922. He managed to find both solitude and companionship on the same small island.

The Hermit of Willis Island shot and killed himself in a cornfield in the rear of the Municipal Hospital in Trenton on September 29th, 1922. It is said that his health was in decline, but other than that nobody seemed to have seen it coming. The Trenton Times says…

He was a kindly soul who thought no ill of anyone, nor wished in any way to do anyone harm. His only departure from the narrow path of intense thoughtfulness for others was an occasional effort to play a bit of an innocent prank on a caller at his island home, and this he readily accomplished with the electrical appliances that made his bungalow a place of unusual interest.

James was buried in Haddonfield, NJ and the list of his honorary bearers was an impressive collection of prominent Trentonians. On October 20th, 1928, six years after his death, Mayor Donnelly had a memorial tablet placed on the island, which commemorates James’ time on the island. The obelisk still stands.

Memorial for Willis on the island

Today, the island is unoccupied and little trace remains of the hermit’s occupation. There are concrete foundations in various spots, pieces of abandoned shelters, but nothing that shows anyone ever lived there for an extended period of time. The flood of 1955 likely changed the landscape beyond recognition from Willis’ time. At some point a pipeline was run across the river that cut through the island and obliterated whatever evidence was left. The main activity on the island now is local dirt bikers tearing it up. There is no public access to the island, I do not suggest trying to explore it yourself, as you’ll be trespassing to get to it. Landing a kayak or canoe on the island, however, is not prohibited.

I’d love to know if anyone else has ever heard of him. I was first told about him by an old timer in the neighborhood who knew the story. 

The source for all of this was the Trenton Times, I found over 50 articles mentioning James Willis spanning decades. He was also written about in a publication about electricity. There’s lots more info in the articles, should you want to seek them out.