For many years, his father was agent for the William Penn family in connection with their proprietary interests in provincial Pennsylvania, and served as the first cashier of the Bank of North America.

His maternal grandparents were Charles Willing, a British born Mayor of Philadelphia in the 1740s and 1750s, and his wife, Ann (née Shippen) Willing.

[4] Willing & Francis employed many prominent men, including John Hare Powel and William Read, also a Philadelphia merchant, to represent his firm and Willing & Cuwen, and deliver correspondence regarding invoices of goods shipped, and other financial records.

[6] She was one of thirteen children of his maternal uncle, and namesake, Thomas Willing, and his wife, Anne (née McCall) Willing, who were among the wealthiest Americans.

[15] Through his daughter Mary, he was a grandfather of Maria Byrd Page (1822–1854), who married Lt. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II (a son of Bishop Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright I),[12] and Dorothy Willing Page (1823–1893), who married Nathaniel Burwell (a grandson of plantation owner Nathaniel Burwell).