The elder Willis's emphasis on religious themes earned him the nickname "Deacon" Willis.
Willis was becoming an expert in American literature and so, in 1845, Willis and Morris issued an anthology, The Prose and Poetry of America.
Willis's wife Mary Stace died in childbirth on March 25, 1845.
For a time, it was said that Willis was the "most-talked-about author" in the United States.
As a critic, Willis did not believe in including discussions of personalities of writers when reviewing their works.
After Willis's death, obituaries reported that he had outlived his fame.
Willis and Poe were close friends, and Willis helped Poe financially during his wife Virginia's illness and while Poe was suing Thomas Dunn English for libel.
Even the popular poet Longfellow admitted his jealousy of Willis's salary.
Throughout his literary career, Willis was well liked and known for his good nature amongst friends.
By this time, Willis was a popular writer (a joke was that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was Germany's version of N. P. Willis) and one of the first commercially successful magazine writers in America.
Willis had complained that his magazine writing prevented him from writing a longer work.
She was two decades younger than Willis at the time and vocally disliked slavery, unlike her new husband.
Its success was due to the shrewd management of Willis and Morris and the two demonstrated that the American public could support literary endeavors.
Future senator Charles Sumner reported: "I find Willis is much laughed at for his sketches".
In August 1853, future President James A. Garfield discussed Willis's declining popularity in his diary: "Willis is said to be a licentious man, although an unrivaled poet.
On June 20, 1839, Willis's play Tortesa, the Usurer premiered in Philadelphia at the Walnut Street Theatre.
