Willis James Raynor, born on January 14, 1856, in Wisconsin, was the son of James and Harriet Raynor. Educated in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Ohio, he graduated from the Medical College of Ohio in 1880. Dr. Raynor practiced medicine in Hardy, Nebraska, for twelve years before moving to Denver, Colorado, in 1896. He enlisted as an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army in 1898, serving in the Philippines during the Lawton campaign. Dr. Raynor married Mary A. Shore on June 5, 1883, and they had five children. He was mustered out of service in December 1902. In 1903 they resided in Auburn.
Willis James Raynor, son of James and Harriet Raynor, was born in Wisconsin, January 14, 1856. He attended the district and high schools in his native state, spent two years in the Kansas State Normal School, and then took a course in the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1880. He has also taken two post-graduate courses in New York. After finishing his studies in Cincinnati, Dr. Raynor located in Hardy, Nebraska, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession twelve years. In 1896 he removed to Denver, Colorado, where he had a nice home and where he spent one year practicing medicine. In 1898 he enlisted in the United States service, as assistant surgeon, and was on duty at Fort Logan, Colorado, until June, 1899, in full charge of the hospital. With the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry, he was ordered to the Philippines, where they landed in due time and where he was in the field during the Lawton campaign. Afterward, he was transferred to the general hospital of the regular army, and remained on duty until August, 1900. At this time he secured a leave of absence and came home, being away seven months and returning, accompanied by his family, and with the rank of captain. He was mustered out in December, 1902, and at once embarked for home. He landed in San Francisco, California, the day his mother died in Kansas, but it was not until a week afterward that he reached the old home place and his bereaved father.
Dr. Raynor was married June 5, 1883, at Hardy, Nebraska, to Miss Mary A. Shore, a native of Pennsylvania. She was born May 9, 1858, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Whitehead) Shore, both now deceased, her mother having died at the age of sixty-five years and her father at seventy-three. Mrs. Raynor is one of a family of five children, four of whom reached maturity. To the Doctor and his wife have been given five children: Ivy, May, Iris, Ruth and Willis James, Jr. The son and youngest child was born in the Philippines, April 13, 1902. Like his father before him, Dr. Raynor is a Republican and a member of the Masonic order. They reside in Auburn.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.