*At the request of MANY researchers">
*At the request of MANY researchers, we are posting this story of the
Benjamin Williams family. I know of no other information on this WILLIAMS line. We hope it
answers many questions for Williams researchers. THE BENJAMIN WILLIAMS FAMILY OF GREENE COUNTY,
TENNESSEE A History, Compiled From Public Records, Private Papers, and Family Tradition by James F. King, Gray Tennessee, 1982 Dedicated to May Park McCullough, in memory of Claire Brotherton BENJAMIN WILLIAMS FOREWARD This is an informal history of the Benjamin Williams family written by one who is an
amateur, both at writing and at genealogy. My interest in family lore was sparked by my
Grandmother, Mollie Weems King, who was considered an authority on the subject, but like
so many left few written records of her considerable knowledge about her ancestral
heritage. It was through her that I was privileged to hear some of the oral tradition of
the Williams family, for my grandmother had known personally some of the principals who
appear in this family history - Sally Williams Bailey, Farmer Williams, Lewis Williams,
and his daughter, Mrs. C. V. Cunningham. Grandmother called them "Grandma
Bailey", "Uncle Farm", "Uncle Lew", and "Cousin
Minnie", and even though I never saw any of them, I call then by those names too,
because of my knowledge of them through her. She liked to maintain touch with many
relatives scattered over the United States, and kept up correspondence with Uncle Lew
until his death, and with Cousin Minnie up to the time of her own death. Grandmother first told me of the grave of Benjamin Williams when I was about 20 years
old. I drove with her the few miles to Carter’s Station Church to see this grave and
was impressed by its unique nature, just a rectangular pile of limestone blocks with no
markings whatsoever; only the personal knowledge carried in the minds of my grandmother
and a very few older relatives to keep its identity from slipping into oblivion in another
generation or two. She told me that once someone had pointed out to her the grave of an
"Indian" buried there near the church, and that she had responded rather
heatedly, "That’s no Indian. That’s my great-grandfather Williams."
Grandmother had nothing against Indians, but this incident may have been one of the
reasons that she and some of her cousins took steps to preserve and identify the grave.
Unfortunately, the granite marker placed there by them, incorrectly shows 1840 as the year
of the death of Benjamin Williams, and has not yet been corrected. I first met May Park McCullough about 1948 when I took my grandmother to Pilot Knob for
a visit with her cousin, Mattie Park, May’s mother. From Cousin Mattie’s, we
drove the short distance to the old Farmer William’s place where May was living, for
Grandmother wanted to see again this old home she had visited many times as a girl, and it
was then that May showed us some of the old Williams family papers. About two years ago, I
became reacquainted with May and she willingly loaned me these papers after I had
experienced a renewed interest in the William’s history following some work I had
seen, which included some of this material, done by my Cousin Ozelle Reed Scruggs, a
member of the Greene County Heritage Trust. These papers included documents from as early
as 1799 (The Henry Land Will), Benjamin Williams Land Grants, tax receipts, promissory
notes, the preaching license, home remedies, and many other documents of various types,
but none so personally revealing of individuals in the Williams family and its relatives
as the approximately 35 letters written to Benjamin and Farmer Williams, and still
preserved in the Farmer Williams home, Anyone interested in the Williams family history
owes a debt of gratitude to the family of Farmer Williams for its stewardship of these
papers which form the central material for his history. I have attempted to combine information abstracted from these papers with that from
public records and family traditions to present a portrait of a family which long ago
dispersed to may parts of the country; a family which was neither famous nor wealthy, but
was respected and prominent in its day, and which, with its contemporaries, was important
in the settlement of new areas of the United States. The study of this family helps us to
better understand who we are, and hopefully will aid in satisfying the natural curiosity
most of us have about our origins. For those unfamiliar with the area, a word about Carter’s Station may be in order.
The community took its name in early days from a fortification, or station, built there
about 1783 by the family of John Carter, an immigrant believed to have come from New
Jersey by way of Surry County, North Carolina. This family, which included the five sons
Abraham, Daniel, Jacob, Joseph, and John, Jr., constructed a stockade 100 feet by 50 feet,
the remains of which can still be seen in a pasture field not far from the church. The
Carter’s Station area was a very desirable location for settlement in the early days
of Greene County because of its situation at the edge of the rich Lick Creek bottom lands
and its plentiful supply of water and timber. It was located at the crossroads of two
important routes – the north-south road from Greeneville to Rogersville (called The
Trail of the Lonesome Pine later in the nineteenth century when it was a part of the road
from the Carolinas to southwest Virginia), and an east-west road known locally as the
Babb’s Mill Road, which was an alternate route for traffic between Knoxville and
Virginia. A little to the north was a parallel road called the Snapp’s Ferry Road
named for a crossing of the Holston River near Fordtown in Sullivan County. In the 19th century, the Carter’s Station Post Office served the postal
needs of the community. Following completion of the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia
Railroad through East Tennessee in 1858, confusion arose in the delivery of mail when a
depot on the line in nearby Carter County began using the name "Carter Station".
This caused the selection of a new name for the post office, and "Albany" was
the name chosen – the name used to this day for the community, although the post
office was closed years ago. The Carter’s Station United Methodist Church alone
retains the name of the pioneer settlement. Sources of material for this history include: National Archives film in Sherrod Library
at East Tennessee State University, Greene County Public Records, Goodspeed Histories for
Tennessee and Missouri, and Archives of the United Methodist Church. Material for the following private sources is gratefully acknowledged:
The following pages represent all the knowledge that I have been able to assemble on
the family of Benjamin Williams after more than two years of work. Every effort has been
made to keep it as accurate as possible, but realizing the pitfalls one can get into in
doing something like this, I do solicit any corrections to errors which may be noted. I urge anyone having additional material or old photographs relevant to this history to
share copies with me, since interest in the family will not end with the final printing of
this work. Especially appreciated would be information about living descendants, if any,
of Henry, Ira, John, Adonijah, Enoch George and Francis A. Williams. Due to the limited
number being printed, please share this copy with anyone interested in the Benjamin
Williams Family history.
This history by James F. King Rt 15, Box 428 Gray, TN 37615 Tel. (615) 477-7372 October 15, 1982 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, Jr. Benjamin Williams was born in Pennsylvania. The exact year of his birth is uncertain.
One source, the 1923 Stephen L. Williams document, gives the year 1781, and it is claimed
that this information was derived from documents then still in existence at the
Carter’s Station Methodist Church, but now lost. Another source, a list of birth and
death dates from the Marion L. Bailey family Bible, states the, "Rev. Benjamin
Williams died Nov. 24, 1848 in his 64th year," which would fix his birth
about 1784. It is probable that the Bible record is the more reliable of the two. It is thought that when he was about four years old, the family of Benjamin Williams
moved to Virginia and settled at a location in the Potomac River Valley where they lived
for several year. About 1795, the family moved on to present day East Tennessee settling
in Greene County’s Lick Creek Valley near Carter’s Station on Puncheon Camp
Creek. There is a family tradition which states that Benjamin Williams grew up on the John
Maloney farm, and this may mean that the location of his boyhood home was later owned by
the Maloneys. The Maloneys were early residents of the area, but were not listed as
immediate neighbors of Benjamin Williams in the years when he was growing up. Benjamin Williams was primarily a farmer, and a successful one, spending the majority
of his life at this occupation. His farm was acquired over a number of years, the first of
which, 215 acres of rich Lick Creek land, was inherited in 1805 from the estate of William
Jones, the father of his first wife. Through grants and purchases his acreage eventually
increased to 520 acres. This farm, bisected by Lick Creek, extended in a
northwest-southeast direction and was about one half-mile wide and one and a half miles
long. The southeast part of the farm was on high ground about one mile from Carter’s
Station Methodist Church, bordering at one point on the road running from Babb’s Mill
to Mosheim. From here, the land slopes downward toward Lick Creek into flat bottom lands.
Continuing across the creek, the farm occupied more of the Lick Creek flood plain, sloping
upward to somewhat higher ground at the northwest end at the present-day site of Mt.
Carmel. He grew a variety of crops and livestock common to the day such as corn, wheat, flax,
apples, peaches, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, geese, chickens, and honeybees. He owned a
stud horse and paid a special tax which was levied on such animals. In addition, he was a salt dealer, supplying this important commodity to his neighbors.
The salt was bought at the mines in Saltville, Virginia, some 100 miles away, and hauled
to Carter’s Station in wagons where it was sold by the bushel and was used mainly for
preservation of meat. Benjamin Williams served for a number of years as treasurer of schools in the seventh
district of Greene County and was responsible for paying out funds for teaching n the
district. On other occasions, he was appointed by the County Court to oversee road wok in
the vicinity. He was a fancier of home remedies, and some of his recipes are still in
existence. Another of his skills was that of shoemaker. He was a meticulous record keeper. These pursuits notwithstanding, the one thing for which Benjamin Williams is remembered
best is the fact that he was a Methodist preacher for the last thirteen years of his life,
performing the duties of a local preacher, and later a deacon, at the Carter’s
Station Methodist Church. He had three wives during his lifetime: Sally Jones, Nancy Pogue, and Priscilla Vestal,
and he outlived the first two. By them, he had sixteen children, thirteen sons and three
daughters, born over a period of thirty years. Of these, only four lived out their lives
in Tennessee, the rest emigrating to western frontier areas, principally Southwest
Missouri. Unfortunately, knowledge of the location of the home of Benjamin Williams has been
lost, evidently disappearing years ago. It was likely situated on some of the higher
ground on that part of his farm on the south side of Lick Creek. Several pieces of
furniture which once belonged to him are still in existence, as are many of the records he
kept. The "cupboard", bequeathed in his will to Priscilla, is now in the
possession of Betty King Proffitt of Cleveland, Tennessee and was handed down through the
Bailey family. This is a corner cupboard made of black walnut and bears the date 1804 on
its back. The grave of Benjamin Williams at Carter’s Station Methodist Church is well
marked, as is Priscilla’s at Baileyton. The graves of his first two wives are lost. One of Benjamin William’s home one half gallon remedies. The cure is not French brandy specified one -----yallow- poplar bark (do stands for ditto) do black haw do wild cherry do wild cucumber do dogwood do prickley ash do black aldon (? Alder?) THE FAMILY OF BENJAMIN WILLIAMS Upon arrival in Greene County about 1795, the family of Benjamin Williams settled on
Puncheon Camp Creek, a small tributary of Lick Creek near Carter’s Station. The
father of Benjamin Williams, Benjamin Williams, Sr. as his name appears on early tax
records, owned a farm of 111 acres and his name appears on extant tax lists until 1817.
After this, there is a gap in surviving tax lists until 1828, and his name does not appear
after the gap, probably indicating that he either died or moved out of Greene County
during this time. Tax lists from 1809 to 1817 list both Benjamin Williams, Jr. and
Benjamin Williams, Sr. in the same tax group. Benjamin Williams, Sr. had 4 known children: Jane, Benjamin (the subject of this
history), Thomas, and Mary. 1. JANE WILLIAMS married Henry Lane, a son of CORNELIUS LAND who lived in New Jersey.
She was evidently the older of the four children of Benjamin Williams, Sr., since she had
young children at the time Henry Lane wrote his will in 1799 leaving his estate to his
wife. The will of Henry Lane was probated in 1813, suggesting that he was yet a young man
when he died, and this seems borne out by the fact that his father, Cornelius Land, did
not die until shortly before the death of Benjamin Williams in 1848. If fact, Benjamin
Williams was in the process of helping settle the Cornelius Lane estate when his own death
occurred. The children of Henry and Jane Williams Lane were:
Name: Age: Born: Catherine Hill 52 Tenn Pleasant Hill 21 Tenn Benjamin Hill 20 Tenn Thomas Hill 18 Tenn Samuel Hill 16 Tenn 2. THOMAS WILLIAMS was born in Pennsylvania about 1784, this birth data given in the
1850 census. On October 22, 1804, he married JEMIMA CARTER, a daughter of DANIEL CARTER,
who was one of the original settlers at Carter’s Station in 1783. Thomas Williams
owned a farm of 84 acres on Lick Creek, and lived there until he moved to St, Louis
County, Missouri, probably in the 1820’s, where he farmed and lived for the remainder
of his life. Jemina Carter Williams died before 1828. After her death, Thomas Williams
married a second time. The children of Thomas and Jemima Williams were:
a. Jemima (1835-?) b. Anna (1837-?) c. Samuel (1838-?) d. Thomas J. (1840-?) e. Margaret A. (1845-?) (The first three children named above were apparently by an earlier marriage of William
Hill) The second wife of Thomas Williams was dead by 1850 since she does not appear in the St. Louis County census of that year with the Thomas Williams family. The children of Thomas Williams and his second wife were:
In 1851, Thomas Williams, suffering from rheumatism and in ill health, was still living
in St. Louis County near Fenton. On January 12th that year, Sam Rudder, his
brother-in-law, wrote to Farmer Williams, "Bro. Thomas Williams’ family are all
well except the old man. He is quite feeble." 3. MARY WILLIAMS (May 27 1795-March 30, 1868) was born in Virginia and was probably the
youngest child of Benjamin Williams, Sr. The date of her birth indicates that she was very
young when her family moved to Tennessee. On December 10, 1816, she was married in Greene
County to Samuel Rudder. The Rudder family was in Lunenburg County, Virginia by 1765 when Alexander Rudder
purchases land there. Robert Rudder (b. 1764) married Catherine Ferguson (b 1771) and they
had 12 children, one of whom, Samuel, was born about 1795 in Lunenburg County. When Sam Rudder was about 12 years old, his family moved to Greene County, Tennessee
where he grew up and married Mary Williams. Several years later, the Robert Rudder family
removed to Knox County, Tennessee and settled there. One of the older sons, Alexander
Rudder, remaining in Greene County. At about the same time, which was 1819, Samuel and Mary Williams Rudder, with their
son, Thomas Rudder, moved to St. Louis County, Missouri, settling near Fenton. In 1821,
Sam Rudder purchased 112 acres of Government land on the Meramec River at $1.25 per acre.
In St. Louis County, Sam and Mary Rudder lived near the Thomas Williams family in Bonhomme
Township, although it is not known which of the two families moved there first. The children of Samuel and Mary Williams Rudder were: (Thomas Rudder was born in Tennessee, the remainder in Missouri.)
Missouri (1) Virginia (2) Fenton 4. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, JR. THE MARRIAGES OF BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, JR.
The first marriage of Benjamin Williams was on August 20, 1804 to Sally Jones, a
daughter of William and Lydia Jones. William Jones owned 560 acres of land on both sides
of Lick Creek near Carter’s Station and had the following children:
Court records of the settlement of the Jones estate show that three children, and
possibly four, were born of the marriage of Benjamin Williams and Sally Jones. These are
their sons, Henry, Ira, and John. There is also evidence of a daughter, Sarah, who
evidently died at an early age. No record has been found of the death of Sally Jones
Williams, which probably occurred about 1810.
The marriage of Benjamin Williams and Nancy Pogue took place on December 29, 1812.
Nancy Pogue was a daughter of John and Nancy Pogue, neighbors of Benjamin Williams, who
also owned a sizeable farm on Lick Creek. This family is believed to have come to Greene
County around 1795 from Caswell County, North Caroline where John Pogue’s father,
Joseph Pogue had died in 1788. The 1830 census of Greene County indicates that Nancy Pogue
Williams was born between 1790 and 1800, the probable year being about 1792. With data
compiled from the census, cemetery information, and "Flashback", a publication
of the Washington County (Arkansas) Historical Society, August 1966, the children of John
Pogue (d. 1814) and Nancy Pogue (1763-1840) were (birth order uncertain): 1. Sarah Pogue m 29 Dec 1804, Henry Randolph
(2) 24 Jun 1824 Sophia Carter 4. Nancy Pogue ( -1835) m. 29 Dec 1812 m. Benjamin Williams
After their marriages in Greene County, Farmer, Bethany, William and Howel moved to
Newton County, Missouri in the 1830’s and 40’s, and with the exception of Howel,
lived there the rest of their lives, Howel dying in Arkansas in 1875. Sarah Pogue Randolph
moved with her family to McMinnville, Tennessee before 1830. William Pogue may have
married a second time. Thomas Pogue died in Washington County, Arkansas. There were no Pogues listed in the Greene County census of 1850. When Benjamin and Nancy Pogue Williams began their married life, their household
already included three small boys from Benjamin’s first marriage. Soon this family
began to increase, the birth of their first son, William McKendree Williams, occurring on
Oct. 14 1813. After that, more children were born with remarkable regularity until
Nancy’s death. Thirteen children from this marriage grew to adulthood.
Goodspeed’s History of Missouri, Newton County Section states that the father of
Lewis M. Williams, Benjamin Williams, had 21 children. If correct, this suggests that five
children may have died young. By the 1830’s, Benjamin and Nancy Williams had prospered. Hew owned more than 500
acres of prime farm land on Lick Creek and had several sons old enough to help assume some
of the responsibilities connected with the farm and the large family. Also, he was by then
a prominent figure in local public affairs, and was increasingly involved in activities at
Carter’s Station Methodist Church. During this period, religious events were at the
center of both spiritual and social life for many people. The era of camp meetings had
begun not long before, and Carter’s Station was one of the major camp meeting sites
of the area. In the latter part of 1835, with their youngest child, Lewis, who was only a few weeks
old and carried in his mother’s arms, Benjamin and Nancy Williams set out on
horseback to attend a song service at Otis, near the Beech Grove community in Hawkins
County, a few miles to the northwest of their home. The trail is still in existence,
though not now a public road. It runs northwestward from the present community of Mt.
Carmel, through a gap in the first mountain range about two miles from Mt. Carmel, crosses
Gap Creek Valley, and passes into Hawkins County through Stamps Gap, a gap in Piney
Mountain. It was at this second mountain gap that disaster overtook the family. Passing along
this section of trail, Nancy’s horse encountered unstable footing and fell, throwing
off her and the baby, then rolled over her, crushing her chest. Tradition says that she
lived only long enough to gasp a few words to her husband; words to the effect that she
knew her injury was mortal. In this accident, the baby was thrown clear and escaped
injury. The death of Nancy Pogue Williams left her husband with a number of minor children. In
this situation the older children seem to have assumed a relationship to the younger ones
like that of foster parents. This is especially evident in the roles of guardianship with
the older sons, notably William M., Farmer, and Adonijah assumed over the younger sons
following the death of their father. C. PRISCILLA VESTAL. Census records show that Priscilla Vestal was born in North Carolina about 1791. She
was the widow of Silas Vestal, who had died in Greene County about 1833. Her marriage to
Benjamin Williams on November 28, 1837, brought to the family a much- needed mother. Priscilla was about 46 years old at this time, and in her role as
step-mother began what was to become a very successful and close relationship to the
family, especially to the younger children. Family tradition is replete with accounts of
the love and esteem she enjoyed from her step-children. Some of that is evident from the
frequent appearance of Priscilla as the name of female descendants of Benjamin Williams. Following the death of Benjamin Williams, she lived the last few years of her life with
Marian L. and Sally Bailey, her step-daughter, at Laurel Gap, where her final days were
spent during the turmoil of the Civil War. On one occasion, when the Bailey homestead was
about to be hit by a foraging raid, Priscilla was posted sitting in a chair at an upstairs
window to watch for the approach of the men and to give warning to the family. During the
raid and search of the house, she remained in her bedroom where food had been hidden in
anticipation of the raid and pretended with good effect to be crazy with a repulsive but
successful performance, for her room was left undisturbed. The rigors of wartime and the
abuses suffered by the Bailey family may have hastened her death on February 13, 1865.
Priscilla Vestal Williams is buried in Zion Churchyard near Baileyton, near Marion and
Sally Bailey. THE CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, Jr. Of the 16 children of Benjamin Williams, only four, Henry, William M., Farmer and Sally
remained to live out their lives in Tennessee. Polly, Benjamin, Jr., Francis, Mariah,
Lewis, Joseph, and Stephen initially moved from Tennessee to McDonald County, Missouri, Joseph and Stephen soon joining the first rush of settlers into Kansas. A
number of the children moved west in a group, and family tradition among Southwest
Missouri descendants tells that they and their belongings arrived in 13 wagons. Family
letters, tax records and other documents point to the year 1853 as the time when much of
this migration took place. The family’s move west came at a time when the estate of Benjamin Williams had
just been distributed, providing a financial base for those who wished to become a part of
the surge of Americans pouring into lands newly opened to settlement where eighty acres of
farm land could be purchased from the Government for one hundred dollars. These were
exciting times in the development of the country. One can only imagine events in the life
of John Williams as he arrived in Texas at the beginning of the war with Mexico, and
Adonijah may have been close enough to smell the gunsmoke from the Pottawatomie Creek
Massacre. The lure of the West and its cheap land beyond the Mississippi undoubtedly drew many.
Nevertheless, it took a great deal of courage to pull up stakes in Greene County among
family, friends, familiar surroundings and a measure of civilized comforts, and embark
upon a six or eight weeks wagon trip to an uncertain future on the raw edge of America.
This was mitigated to a degree by the fact that relatives like the Pogue andWeems families
were already in Southwest Missouri, as were other families who had been friends and
neighbors in Tennessee. Greene County people were in great numbers among the settlers of
Southwest Missouri. Letters written to Farmer Williams from some of those who moved west hint at hardship
and even poverty. It was hard enough just to build a cabin and establish subsistence
farming on the new land, but it was additionally complicated by the lack of cash, low
prices for farm products, disease and that great upheaval which spared none, the American
Civil War. In a material sense, some became successful, others barely got along and the
unfortunate Joseph and Stephen eventually became almost destitute, relying on other family
members for their survival. Even though some family members never saw each other again after leaving Tennessee,
communication seems to have been maintained and it is thought that Joseph, Stephen and
Lewis revisited Tennessee in their latter years. As events in the life of the Benjamin Williams family fade into the haze of the past,
the biographies of the 16 children are understandably incomplete and brief. The lives of
these children spanned a period of 110 years from, 1805 to 1915, a time for which records
are not as plentiful as we would wish. The following sketches in this section have been
assembled through the kind cooperation of a number of descendants of the family and
assistance from other sources in the hope that the identity of the family of Benjamin
Williams will not soon be lost.
The following is a list of the family of Henry and Mary Williams compiled from 1850 and
1860 census records. Years of birth are approximate. Henry William Born 1805 Farmer Mary 1808
Susan 1834 Benjamin P. 1836 School Teacher John L. 1839 School Teacher Sarah 1842 Priscilla 1844 Margaret 1846 Laura 1849 Henry 1851 2. IRA WILLIAMS (Myggggrandfather) (28 Nov 1807 to 22 Apr 1890) Married Winney (Winna)
Pogue ( b. 31 Aug 1809- d. 13 Apr 1870) in Greene County on November 5, 1829, and like his
father, he became a preacher in the Methodist Church. Sometime between 1831 and 1836 he
moved his family to Washington County, Arkansas and established a home in Vineyard
Township. The 1850 census shows them living there, with Thomas Pogue, age 67 and probably
Winney’s father (my note: It was her father) living in the household. Ira and Winney
Williams were both still living in Vineyard Township in 1870, and their household then
included Howel Pogue, Winney’s uncle, a laborer. Ira was listed as
"deceased" in the 1894 settlement of the Stephen B. Williams estate. ( See NOTE
below - Ira died in 1890 and is buried in the Bethlehem Cemetery in Washington County,
along with Winney (Winna) and their son Elbert Severe Williams. A copy of Ira’s will
is recorded in Washington County Courthouse, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in Will Records
Volume A-B, page 265. Many records in this depository carry the name of Ira, including
many couples he married, the fact that he helped establish the Methodist Church in
Vineyard Twp., etc. (NOTE: some of the above I have inserted from records I have
researched on Ira. His son, Elbert (they show him as Albert but on his grave stone it is
shown as Elbert.), is my gggrandfather (From records I have found, it is believed Ira came
to NW Arkansas in 1831 or 32) The family of Ira and Winney Pogue Williams compiled from census records: Ira Williams 1807 Tenn Methodist Clergyman Winney 1810 Tenn Albert 1830 Tenn Farmer Nancy 1836 Ark Sarah 1838 Ark Martha 1840 Ark Mary 1842 Ark George 1847 Ark Tabitha 1850 Ark Marion 1852 Ark Thomas 1854 Ark James 1858 Ark
In a letter to Farmer Williams written from Newton County in December 1846, E. G.
Williams said, "John Williams has gone to Texies (sic). He started two or three
weeks(sic) before I got here..." His name appears on the list of 16 children who gave
one dollar each for the marking of Benjamin Williams’ Tomb. When the Stephen B.
Williams’ estate was being settled in 1894, the list of Stephen’s heirs included
John Williams, deceased, of Johnson County, Texas. 4. WILLIAM MCKENDREE WILLIAMS (Oct 14, 1813-Jul 14, 1858) Named for the early Methodist
bishop, he was the first child of Benjamin and Nancy Pogue Williams. He lived near the
present-day community of Mt. Carmel in Greene Count and was a farmer and Justice of the
Peace. He married Louisa Lindsey on July 28, 1836. It is said that he donated the land for
the site of Antioch Methodist Church on Babb’s Mill Road west of Mt. Carmel, and he
is buried there. The name of his wife buried beside him, is shown as "Eliza" on her tombstone.
It is not known if this was a second wife or merely another name used by Louisa. When
William M. Williams died in 1858, his estate was administered by his son-in-law, John G.
Weems. The known children of Williams, and the approximate years of their birth:
Ray O. Weems (1886-1955) served several terms as Corporation Commissioner for the State
of Oklahoma John G. Weems was a Colonel in the Tennessee Militia. He was a partner in the firm
"Bailey and Weems", merchants Fred J. Weems received the Distinguished Service Cross and was decorated by Gen.
Pershing for bravery in WWI action. Elizabeth Williams Funkhouser lived in a house situated in 3 counties: Hanblen, Cooke
and Jefferson, TN. Near White Pine, overlooking the French Broad River near the railroad.
She is buried at Leadvale Cemetery. 5. FARMER WILLIAMS (September 25, 1814-February 14, 1896) was named after his uncle
Farmer Pogue. A notebook which he kept from 1832 until about 1842 shows him as a young man
with a passion for learning. The book is filled with entries ranging from complex
mathematical problems and solutions to exercises in penmanship, accounting, legal forms
and poetry. His education, which was remarkable for the period, undoubtedly was largely
self-acquired and was the reason that he was the one called on so often by relatives and
friends to supervise their business and legal affairs. Therefore, it is not surprising
that it was he who was chosen to administer the estate of Benjamin Williams. Farmer Williams married Mary Ann Rutherford on November 12, 1847. A glass plate
photograph of the couple, probably made in the early 1850’s, depicts him as a
strongly-featured man with a thick shock of dark hair dressed in a fine suit and holding a
Bible, sitting beside his pretty young wife who was also holding a Bible and wearing a
delicate lace collar over her blouse. Three sons and six daughters were born to Farmer and Mary Ann Williams. Their home was
located in the Gap Creek Valley of Greene County near Pilot Knob on a large farm which
Farmer purchased. The farm occupied the floor of the valley and up to the top of Bluff
Mountain on the south side of the valley, the house being situated nearly a half-mile back
from the Snapp’s Ferry Road. During the Civil War, this part of Tennessee was predominantly Union in sentiment, but
was controlled by the Confederacy for much of the time. Accordingly, it was dangerous for
a resident or East Tennessee to exhibit sympathy for either side. During the latter says
of the war, as the area became contested by Union and Confederate forces, minor military
actions occurred frequently. During one of these engagements, a young Confederate soldier
was mortally wounded and died a short time afterwards near Farmer William’s home. To
avoid arousing resentment from Union neighbors, Farmer sent one of his sons to Romeo by a
back route along Bluff Mountain to obtain a coffin for the young man’s burial in the
nearby Rutherford Cemetery. During this same period, foraging details from various
military units requisitioned corn and other commodities from his farm to the point of
deprivation. The Civil War touched the family of Farmer Williams in another way. A brother-in-law,
J. B. Rutherford enlisted in Co. F of the newly-organized 29the Tennessee Infantry
Regiment, CSA, on Sept. 26, 1861, a unit known as the "Greeneville Guards". This
regiment was put into service in eastern Kentucky that fall under Gen. Zollicoffer as part
of a long Confederate defense line against Union forces in central Kentucky. In its first
engagement, fought at Wild Cat Mountain near Corbin, the regiment was defeated and had to
fall back to Cumberland Crossing (Pineville). From there, J. B. Rutherford wrote to his
mother and to Farmer, excitedly describing the battle. A few days later, the 29th
attacked and routed the same Union force in an action the soldiers came to call "The
Wild Cat Stampede". In this fight, J. B. Rutherford was fatally wounded, dying in a
Knoxvill hospital on November 15, 1861, at the age of 24. The home and farm of Farmer Williams are still much as they were during his lifetime,
and have escaped most of the changes which have come to much of the area. A caring family
has preserved his home, furniture, papers, farm buildings and items of his craftsmanship. Mary Ann Rutherford Williams died from complications of childbirth following the birth
of her sixth daughter, Martha Ann Belle Williams. Farmer Williams made a poignant entry in
his Bible, stating, "Mary Ann Williams died October 22, 1870 at 6:20 P.M." Farmer Williams lived out the remainder of his life at his home and was cared for in
his old age by several of his unmarried children, who lived with him. He, his wife and
several of his children are buried in a small family cemetery on his farm, located a few
hundred yards from his home on a little knoll at the edge of a quiet woodland. THE FAMILY OF FARMER AND MARY ANN RUTHERFORD WILLIAMS Farmer Williams 1814-1896) m. Mary Ann Rutherford (1826-1870)
k. Ruth Park (1914-) m. York A. Quillen
He was probably the most extensively educated of the children of Benjamin Williams.
Five of his letters which survive indicate that he was a man skilled in expressing his
thoughts in writing, and use of syntax, good spelling, humor and pointed comments. The
location of the school where he received his education is unknown, as is the identity of
the college where he later taught. In 1843 he entered on trial into the ministry of the Methodist Church in Holston
Conference and it is interesting to note that this was a crucial period of time in the
history of the church with the great division into northern and southern branches
occurring in 1844. From 1843 until about 1853, Adonijah Williams served as a travelling
preacher in many parts of Holston Conference. Some of his known appointments were at Giles
C. H., Virginia, Lapland in Buncome County, North Carolina, and at numerous camp meetings.
Having chosen to serve in the M. E. Church, South following the division, he requested a
transfer to the Pacific Conference about 1853. In his "Holston Methodism", Vol.
IC, p 158, R. N. Price wrote of the conferences of 1852 and 1853, "At this session
Adonijah Williams was transferred to the Pacific Conference. I remember him as a
good-natured sociable man of average parts. What and how he did in the far West I have not
learned." Adonijah Williams did not remain long in the Pacific Conference, for in 1855 he was
appointed to the Big Blue charge, Kickapoo District of the Kansas Mission Conference. At
this time, Kansas had few white settlers, but there were many Indians of various tribes
who had been moved from other areas onto reservations in the territory. Meanwhile, several
of Adonijah’s brothers and two sisters had moved from Tennessee to Missouri and
Kansas. Indeed, this may have been a compelling reason for his move to this area. While
the family had been in Tennessee, the supervision of the three younger boys and the
provisions made for them in their father’s will was overseen by William M, Farmer and
Adonijah. Now, with a large part of the family moved west, and with the two elder brothers
remaining in Tennessee, this duty was assumed by Adonijah. In 1855, using money from the estate of Benjamin Williams, which had been held in trust
for the three sons, Adonijah supervised the purchase of farm land at the falls of the Blue
River, near Manhattan, Kansas and established Joseph and Stephen in farming there. At
about the same time he transferred to Lewis $125.00 of his inheritance, and this was
probably used by Lewis in setting himself up in the grocery business in McDonald County,
Missouri. During the time that he served in the Big Blue charge, Adonijah made periodic trips to
Tahlequah, I. T. where he preached and taught among the Cherokees, the Indian Missions
having voted to adhere to the Southern Methodist Church following the division of 1844. In
May of 1855, on one of his trips to Tahlequah, he stopped enroute in McDonald County at
the home of his brother-in-law and sister, Wyatt and Nancy Mariah Edmonds, and wrote to
Farmer telling him of progress in establishing Joseph and Stephen in farming. In 1856, he was transferred to Leavenworth City, still in the Kansas Mission
Conference, and served there until 1858. It was during this time, on May 26, 1857, that he
married Martha Ann Dyer, whom he had probably met during his service in the Big Blue
charge. This young woman was a daughter of Samuel Doughet Dyer, a native of Wales and the
first settler in Riley County, who operated a ferry at the Juniata crossing of the Blue
River on the army road between Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth. Writing to Farmer of his
marriage, Adonijah said, "I married Miss Martha A. Dyer, a woman some younger than
myself, and she is said to be, by good judges, very handsome, and she is now sitting right
in front of me singing merrily." She was indeed "some younger", having
married Adonijah, who was then 41, on her 17th birthday. Photographs made in
Manhattan soon after their marriage confirm Adonijah’s appraisal of his wife’s
appearance. She was, in fact, a beautiful woman. By 1858, conditions in Kansas were bordering on Anarchy. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of
1854, by its provision of Popular Sovereignty, had created conditions in the territory
which set the stage for an ever-escalating conflict between abolitionists and proslavery
adherents among the settlers, whose numbers were growing rapidly, each side struggling to
prevail by fair means or foul. Settlers’ homes were burned, families were run off
their land, highway robberies were common and in May of 1856 this frenzy of violence
reached a climax with the burning of the town of Lawrence by Border Ruffians and the
ensuing revenge a few days later when John Brown led a massacre of five proslavery
settlers on Pottawatomie Creek. In this setting of terrorism, which was in part put down
by federal troops, but persisted in many area, the people were divided into two warring
groups and the voice of moderation could no longer be heard. Because of his identity as a southerner and a preacher of a southern-based church,
Adonijah Williams was undoubtedly the target of abolitionist wrath. In 1858, he requested
his bishop to transfer him to southern Missouri where he had many relatives and where the
M. E. Church, South was strong. Instead, he was sent to a station charge at West Post,
Missouri, a town with a population of about 4000, which later became a part of Kansas
City. He wrote to Farmer saying, "I left the Kansas Conference owing to the unsettled
state of matters in that territory and the great prejudice that exists there against the
south." The three years at West Port must have been the most pleasant of Adonijah’s life.
He described to Farmer the comfortable quarters, the agreeable state of his ministry and
his busy schedule. In addition, he certainly appreciated the chance to live a more relaxed
life with his wife than had been possible in Kansas and it was probably here that his
first child, Mary Belle Williams was born. Unfortunately, this happy situation did not last long. Church records show that
Adonijah Williams located, or became inactive in 1861. The exact cause of this is not
known, but is likely related to the outbreak of the Civil War. Following this, Adonijah and his family moved back to Manhattan , Kansas, where his
second daughter, Martha Ann Williams, was born on May 10, 1864, bringing about a great
tragedy in his life for 20 days later on May 30, Martha Dyer Williams died – probably
from complications of childbirth. Compounding the tragedy, the infant died the following
winter. Moving in to live with his brother, Joseph, Adonijah and Mary Belle were
enumerated in an 1865 census of Manhattan Township with Adonijah’s occupation listed
as "farmer". With the war over, he reentered the ministry of the M. E. Church, South in the Nebraska
Conference. He served in this area for about two years, filling appointments at Nemaha and
Rulo in the southeastern part of the state, and again locating in 1868, due likely to
failing health. A photograph made in Lincoln about 1870 shows Adonijah greatly aged in
comparison with his appearance in the Manhattan photograph of a few years earlier. During
the last few years of his life, he probably lived near Manhattan, filling occasional
pulpit appointments and he performed a marriage ceremony in Pottawatomie County as late as
March 26, 1873. Dyer family records indicate the Mary Belle Williams was reared by her grandparents,
Samuel and Permelia Dyer. The 1870 census of Pottawatomie County, Shannon Township lists: Dyer, Samuel D. 68, farmer Dyer, Permelia 60 Williams, Mary B. 9 At school born Missouri Mary Belle Williams married Austin Daharsh on February 25, 1880. An 1885 census of
Riley County, Grant Township, lists them as follows: Daharsh, Austin 28, farmer, born Wisconsin, came from MO. Mary B. 25 Raymond 4 Ellen 3 On October 8m 1876, the Rev. Adonijah Williams died. His death notice, appearing in the
October 20 issue of the Manhattan Nationalist, and incorrectly stating his age, read,
"On the 8th inst. at the residence of Mr. J. V. Inskeep, Pottawatomie Co.,
Rev. Adonijah Williams, aged 55 years. Mr. Williams was an able minister of the Methodist
Church, South and was much liked by those who knew him. He was a native of Tennessee, in
one of the colleges of which he was for some tine professor." He is buried in Manhattan, Sunset Cemetery, beside his wife and infant daughter in lot
no. 1-231. In 1981, the First United Methodist Church of Manhattan initiated steps to
purchase and install a marker at his grave identifying it as the resting place of a
faithful minister of the Methodist Church. COPY OF A LETTER REGARDING A MARKER FOR ADONIJAH’S GRAVE First United Methodist Church 913-776-8821 612 Poyntz Manhattan, Kansas 66502 Charles B. Bennett, Minister September 24, 1981 Mr. James F. King Rt. #15, Box 428 Gray, Tennessee 37615 Dear Mr. King, I have a copy of the letter which you wrote to Mrs. Elaine Olney of the Riley County
Genealogical Society in July, and should like to give you some information which you might
find interesting. After we discovered that Adonihah Williams was buried in the Sunset
Cemetery at Manhattan, we located the gravesite. We have now ordered a permanent marker
from the United Methodist Historical Society which we will place at the grave. This marker
states that Brother Williams was a minister of the church. I take some personal satisfaction in being involved in the procedure for marking his
resting place. I, too, am a descendant of Methodist Episcopal South ancestors. And so, I
feel that I am participating in the honoring of one of my own, When the marker arrives, we will encase it in concrete and say a prayer in memory of a
faithful minister. Sincerely yours, /s/ Charles Bennett 7. MARY WILLIAMS (Polly) (1817-1860) was the oldest of the three daughters of Benjamin
and Nancy Pogue Williams. When her mother met accidental death in 1835, Polly Williams was
18 years old and without doubt she suddenly found herself cast into the role of mother to
the infant Lewis and the other young children of the family, as well as manager of the
Williams household for a time. In the young adult period of her life shortly before her marriage, she spent some time
teaching school in her neighborhood. On September 1, 1842, she and Claudius B. Walker were
married by the Rev. C. F. Page, the Methodist circuit rider at Carter’s Station. C.
B. Walker, who had also been involved in teaching school, became a successful farmer and
landowner of 362 acres near Carter’s Station. ************************************ (Receipts from Mary Williams and C. B. Walker) March the 4 – 1841 then received of Benjamin Williams trustee and treasurer of the
School District thirty Six Dollars being a three month School at or near E. Padgets _____
recd by me. /s/ Mary Williams Recd of Benjamin Williams Treasure for the common school in debt Nov 7th for
teaching a school at or near Elias Padgets the amount due to Section or place _____ Forty
three dollars and fifty seven cents this the 12th Day of March 1842. /s/ C. B. Walker For ten years after their marriage, C.B. and Polly Walker lived in the seventh district
of Greene County where they farmed, and there Polly gave birth to their two daughters,
Nancy J. Walker and Priscilla N. Walker who were undoubtedly named in honor of
Polly’s mother and stepmother. In 1852, disposing of their Greene County property, C. B. Walker and his family moved
to McDonald County, Missouri and settled at Pineville. Within about 2 years he had
established as a merchant and it is believed that he conducted a grocery business in which
his brother-in-law, Lewis M. Williams, was a partner. In keeping with her family’s
mandate to oversee and assist the younger children and probably having a special affection
for her youngest brother, Polly took Lewis into her home and he lived there until the
outbreak of the Civil War when he left to join the Confederate Army. C. B. Walker soon became a successful businessman at Pineville and took an active part
in public affairs, running as a Democrat for McDonald County’s newly-created seat in
the Missouri Legislature in the 1858 election in which he was defeated by Dr. W. C. Duval.
He joined the Masonic fraternity in Yancy Lodge 148 A.F & A.M, in January 1857, his
brothers-in-law, Lewis and Benjamin Williams, joining the same lodge two months later. In
1858 he purchased five lots in Pineville, probably as sites for his house and for a two
story frame hotel which he built a short time later. In the 1860 census of Pineville Township, he gave his occupation as
"merchant" and was by then quite prosperous by standards of that time. Very soon
after this, on the eve of the Civil War, Polly Williams Walker died at age 43 and the era
of good times for the Walker family came to an end. As the war began, Lewis M. Williams
departed to serve in a Confederate Cavalry unit and in a typical example of the divisions
within families caused by the conflict, C. B. Walker remained a loyal Unionist throughout
the war. As in many border areas, conditions in McDonald County soon degenerated into a state of
lawlessness in which the citizens were divided into factions loyal either to the Union or
Confederacy. There was no middle ground. Most adult males joined military units or else
left the area. Gangs of bushwhackers formed, some representing themselves as loyal to the
Confederacy, some loyal to the Union, and some professing no loyalty at all. Regardless of
their allegiance, the bushwhackers’ activities were often pure and simple acts of
terrorism, using issues of the war as a rationale for carrying out deeds of personal
vengeance and for appropriating property. It has been said that this was a time when men
hunted men. Coupled with considerable fighting between opposing army units, bushwhacker
depredations brought on a period of hellish existence. During this time, probably in late
1863, members of the Hinson gang burned C. B. Walker’s house and near the same time
his hotel was burned, also. In 1864, in an election overseen by the Federal Army in which only voters who had taken
an oath of allegiance to the United States were permitted to vote, C. B. Walker was
elected to the Missouri Legislature. In 1865 he was listed as a member of the county Grand
Jury, and in 1866 he was appointed Justice of the Peace in Pineville Township, apparently
the last public office he held until his death in 1868. Nancy J. (Jennie) Walker, the elder daughter of C. B. and Polly Williams Walker,
married Daniel Harmon in McDonald County on December 2, 1866. Dan Harmon, born in Greene
County, Tennessee, had an interesting background as a soldier of fortune, which included
mining in California, extensive travels through wild areas of the far west, and a venture
in 1857 into Central America in which he led a group of 63 men in support of Dr. Williams
Walker’s "fillibustering" expedition which seized and kept control of
Nicaragua for some time. After his marriage, Daniel Harmon became a merchant and farmer,
building the first house at Erie. Priscilla H. Walker married John M. Boyd on August 27, 1865. He was a farmer and a
Justice in Erie Township and a son of William M. and Isabella McKnight Boyd of Rutherford
County, Tennessee. The family of C. B. Walker and Polly Williams Walker: Claudius B. Walker (1817-1868) and Mary (Polly) Williams (1817-1860)
Daniel and Jennie Walker Harmon and their children, Charles, Daniel and Ernest are
buried in the Harmon Cemetery near Goodman, MO. (1) Mona Masters (1908-?) m. _____Wingo John M. and Priscilla Walker Boyd are buried in Indian Springs Cemetery near McNatt,
Missouri. 8. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, Jr. (c. 1819 – December 3, 1866) is the only child known to
have been given property by Benjamin Williams, Sr. prior to his death. On May 16, 1848, a
gift deed for 50 acres of land was made by Benjamin Williams, Sr. to Benjamin Williams,
Jr. This land was situated on the north side of Lick Creek, and was a strip nearly a mine
in length by about 500 feet in width, running from the present site of Mr. Carmel south to
Lick Creek. It was a part of the original 215 acres inherited by Benjamin Williams from
the Jones estate in 1805. The 1850 census lists Benjamin Williams, Jr. living in the same household with Wyatt
and Nancy M. Edmonds. At about this time, Benjamin married Nancy Minerva Holtsinger,
probably at a location outside of Greene County because their marriage is not recorded
there. Family tradition tells the family gave the newly-married couple a set of dishes, or
at least a large platter, as a wedding gift. They lived and farmed in the 7th
district of Greene County until 1853, when, along with much of the rest of the family,
they sold their land, packed their belongings into wagons and with their young son, Isaac
Barton Williams, moved to McDonald County, Missouri, arriving there after a 44 day
journey. In a letter written from McDonald County to Farmer Williams in April 1854, Nancy
Minerva told of the difficult trip, exorbitant expenses for provisions and general
hardships incident to the settler’s life. She also related an accident in which she
fell and broke one of her forefingers, an injury which is apparent in a photograph taken
of her much later in her lifetime. In contrast with the sober account of their experiences
in moving to their new home, she wrote proudly, at a time when she was expecting her
second child, of her small son who she described as "the finest son the Co. can
afford." Settling at Elkhorn in McDonald County, Benjamin Williams, Jr. farmed and the remainder
of his children were born there: William G., James, and twin daughters Nancy P. and Lucy. As the Civil War began, Goodspeed’s History of Missouri records that Benjamin
Williams was among the group of 85 loyal Union men who were first to organize in McDonald
County on May 1, 1861 under Capt. John V. Hargrove. However, the company was never
mustered in and it is not known if Benjamin Williams served as a combatant during the war. The war caused havoc in this family like so many others. In one of the bushwhacker
raids, the family’s house was set on fire and they were fortunate to escape with
their lives. As they fled their burning home, one of the family members managed to rescue
the platter which had been a wedding present in Tennessee and this was one of the few
possessions saved from the flames. This platter is now owned by Ethmar E. Williams of
Goodman, Missouri. On December 3, 1866, Benjamin Williams, Jr., died of typhoid, leaving his wife to rear
the family of five children, the oldest of whom, Isaac Barton Williams, was only 15 years
of age. The father’s early death undoubtedly caused great hardship for the family and
placed a heavy responsibility on his widow and older children in caring for and rearing
the younger ones. The 1870 census shows the Isaac Barton Williams was living at that time
with Daniel Harmon and working as a farm laborer, and through such dedication the family
held together and grew to maturity. The second son, William G. Williams, eventually came
to own a very successful farm of more than 800 acres, said to be one of the largest in
McDonald County. Benjamin and Nancy Minerva Williams are buried in Edmonds Cemetery near Bethpage, his
monument indicating that he was a member of the Masonic Order and that he died on December
3, 1866, age 47. The family of Benjamin and Nancy M. Williams: Benjamin Williams, Jr. (c. 1819-1866) m. Nancy M. Holtsinger (1816-1902)
(2)Kathleen R. McAnelly (3) Erma Blanch Wasson (1905-) m. Roy T. Thorman (1907-)
mountains of Oregon. Josie Williams Harmon and her three children, Ray, Stella and Loyd were among 43
persons killed in one of the major accidents of American Railroad history at Tipton Ford,
Mo. on August 5, 1914. (2) Helen _____ e Joseph C. Williams (1886-1937) m. Nancy Pearl _____ (1894-1937)
Clara Williams married (2) George W. Collings (1885-1975) 3. James Williams (c. 1857-?) m. Ruth Tennison
a. Orvilla Woolard m. _____Housman Lucy Williams and Nancy P. Williams were twins. 9. THOMAS N. WILLIAMS (Sept 12, 1819 – December 11, 1903) was probably a twin of
Benjamin Williams, Jr. On March 2, 1843, he married Narcissa Weems (April 26, 1826 – April 19, 1883) in a
wedding performed by Narcissa’s uncle, the Rev. John Weems, a Methodist circuit rider
of Holston Conference. John Weems died later that year at Burksville, Kentucky, as he was
moving his family to Newton County, MO. Narcissa Weems was a daughter of George Weems, a
farmer and deputy sheriff of Greene County, and Matilda Keele Weems, a daughter of William
and Livia Ann Bewley Keele. Henrietta, a sister of Matilda Keele Weems, was the mother of
Marion L. Bailey, who married Thomas N. Williams’ younger sister, Sally Williams. The marriage of Thomas N. Williams and Narcissa Weems was one of several which produced
close ties betwen the Williams and Weems families. Benjamin Williams and Jones Weems, a
brother of George and the Rev. John Weems, married sisters, Nancy and Bethany Pogue; and
their brother, William Pogue, married Rachel Weems, a sister of Jones, John and George
Weems. After Narcissa’s marriage, her brother, John G. Weems, married Mary J.
Williams, whose father, William M. Williams, was an older brother of Thomas N. Williams.
In 1870, the youngest Williams brother, Lewis, married Nancy Catherine Weems, a daughter
of the Rev. John Weems. In 1886, Mildred M. Williams, a daughter of Thomas N. and Narcissa
Williams, married Dr. David L. Weems, a grandson of the Rev. John Weems. Following their marriage, Thomas N. and Narcissa Williams lived for about 12 years near
Carter’s Station and five of their children were born during that time. After the
death of his father, Thomas N. Williams purchased 470 acres of the family farm from the
estate for a price of $2400. He operated the farm for about 5 years from 1849 to late
1854, providing a home for his step-mother, Priscilla Williams. As he prepared to move
with his family to Johnson County, Mo., he sold the farm to John Milligan in October 1854. In addition to the inheritance from the Benjamin Williams estate and the proceeds from
the sale of their farm, it is apparent that Thomas and Narcissa received assistance from
Narcissa’s widowed mother as they undertook their westward move. In her will written
in 1863, Matilda Keele Weems stated, "I direct that Thomas N. Williams and his wife
Narcissa Williams have no more of my estate in consequence of them having received as much
of my estate in days gone by as is due them." The Thomas N. Williams family moved to Johnson County, MO. where they settled on a farm
in Warrensburg Township, the move probably taking place in late 1854. In Johnson County, the 6 younger children were born, Narcissa, the mother, dying in
1883 at the age of 57. On December 11, 1903, Thomas N. Williams died in Johnson County at
the home of his daughter, Nannie Williams Graham, an event still recalled in 1982 by his
granddaughter, Julia Graham Downing. Thomas N. and Narcissa Weems Williams are buried outside the wall of the Hours Family
Cemetery, Centerview Township, Johnson County, in Section 20, T. 45 N., Range 26. The family of Thomas N. and Narcissa Weems Williams: Thomas N. Williams (1819-1903) m. Narcissa Weems (1826-1883)
Thomas D. (Doss) Houts amd Matilda lived near Warrensburg and had no children of their
own but reared a foster daughter, Alta Houts (m. _____Harness). Sometime after the death
of Doss Houts, Matilda went to live with Alta in Oklahoma, dying there in the great
influenza epidemic on January 5, 1919. She and Doss Houts are buried in Sunset Hill
Cemetery, Warrensburg, MO. She was listed living with the family in the 1860 census but not in 1870. Livia Ann was
a favorite name in the Weems and related families. They had no children. He died of a heart attack on Feb. 9, 1927 while visiting in the
home of Robert F. Graham at Chilhowee, MO. and is buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery, at
Warrensburg. (a) Marjorie Turner (1932-) (b) James Turner (1934-) Elizabeth W. Edmondson was a teacher at Stella Academy in Newton County, and Dr. J. L.
Edmondson was a much revered physician of the Stella Community. second Brooks Wiles second Betty Jean Howard second Virginia Bliss From the obituary of George Bascom Williams: "George Bascomb Williams was born in
Greene County, Tennessee, December 11, 1850, died April 6, 1907. He came to Johnson
County, MO. when a small boy where he grew to manhood, afterward moving to Newton County,
MO. where he spent the last years of his life. He was educated in the State University at
Columbia, MO. He was married October 19, 1884, to Miss Cora E. Bridges and of this union
were born eight children...He was one of eleven children, only three of whom remain. Mrs.
Dave Weems of Neosho, and a brother and sister who live in other parts of the
state....." He and Cora Bridges Williams are buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in
Newtonia, MO. Nannie Williams was certified to teach school at age 16 and taught until after her
marriage. She and Robert F. Graham are buried in Pisgah Cemetery in Johnson County. second Kathy Ann Hall
(a) Jack Eugene Russell (1945-) m. first Connie Mae Hjelmeng second Karyll Ann Davis (a) Michael Roy Graham (1952-) Beginning at age 13 following her mother’s death, Julia Graham kept house for her
father and brother Roy. After her marriage to Harry K. Downing, she served 16 years as
Clerk of the Probate Court at Warrensburg, and later as Deputy Clerk of Circuit Court. Harry L. Downing, Col., USAF, retired to Tacoma, Washington, after distinguished
thirty-year service career. second Michael W. Robinson
Carter was a City Judge of Durant, Oklahoma, and was a half-brother of Nancy Catherine Weems Williams, wife of Lewis M. Williams. Mildred Williams Carter is buried at Durant. After her death, Noah W. Carter married Laura Kirby. 9. Joseph L. Williams (1863-1884) buried outside the wall of Houts Family Cemetery.
Dr. D. L. Weems was a widely known and respected physician in Newton County. He and
Julia are buried in Weems Cemetery, Wanda, MO. Jimmie and Emma Williams with their three sons left Missouri about 1902 by covered wagon for a destination believed to have been Canon City, Colorado. He died a few years later, and Emma and the boys moved to Spokane, Washington. Julia Graham Downing maintained a correspondence with them until the boys were grown, but contact was eventually lost.
In 1846 when he was a young man of about 23, he went on what was probably his first
trip west. This journey, made in the company of several other emigrants from Greene
County, among whom were John Weems and his wife Anna Lane Weems, James Smith, and Thomas
Smith, took him through St. Louis Count, Missouri, where he stopped by at his uncles,
Thomas Williams and Samuel Rudder. He then passed through Crawford County and attended to
some business for Farmer with the Hardy family, some old acquaintances from Greene County,
and arrived in Newton County on November 18, 1846. On this trip, George seems to have been
appraising the advantages of settlement in Missouri and appears to have been one of the
first of his immediate family to travel there. After living for 2 years in Newton County on the farm of his uncle and aunt, Jones and
Bethany Pogue Weems, he moved to Arkansas and lived there for about a year with Martin
Thornberry, a son-in-law of Jones Weems. While in Arkansas, he was caught up in the
excitement of the California gold rush and made plans to travel to the gold fields in the
spring of 1849 with a large company of people who were to depart Fort Smith in April. It
was likely the news of his father’s death changed his plans and he returned to
Tennessee shortly afterward. In the summer of 1850, George Williams was in South Carolina on a business venture, the
purpose of which seems to have been to raise capital for his impending permanent move to
Missouri. Writing from Darlington to his brother, Thomas N. Williams, George sought to
assure the family that rumors about his excessive drinking were untrue, and that he was
having success in his speculative trading in the pork market. Back in Greene County that fall, events in George’s life began moving at a fast
pace. On October 6, he married Mary E. Walker, and five days later he received his share
of his father’s estate, signing a court bond for $280. Departing immediately
thereafter, and accompanied by his brother Francis A. Williams and his wife Kissiah Shelly
Williams, George and his bride were in Fenton, Missouri at the home of his uncle Thomas
Williams by November 10, 1850. From there George wrote back to Farmer saying that in his
haste in departing he had forgotten to collect a debt which Farmer owed him. Arriving in Newton County in late November, George and Mary Williams moved onto a farm
owned by his Uncle Farmer Pogue, who had come from Greene County, Tennessee to Newton
County in the summer of 1847 and had died the in the fall of 1849. Later, settling in McDonald County, George and Mary Williams lived in the community
that came to be known as Erie, and owned a farm there. Due to the lack of surviving correspondence, loss of McDonald County records, and
failure of the writer to locate any descendants, the story of the life of Enoch George
Williams after he began living in McDonald County is sketchy. It is known that for several years he was a Justice of the Peace in the county,
performing a number of marriages, and served as one of the County Judges presiding over
the County Court, possibly as early as 1858. He was appointed Coroner for McDonald County
in November 1866. When the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at Erie in 1868, E. G. and Mary
Williams were among the charter members, with George serving as Church Secretary. Two
years later at this church, the names of E. G. and Mary Williams were recorded as
witnesses at the wedding of George’s younger brother, Lewis. The activities of George Williams during the Civil War are not well documented other
than the appearance of his name on the roster of Co. "K", 15th
Missouri Cavalry, Missouri State Militia. The record shows that George served as a
private, evidently beginning his duty early in the war and reenlisting on December 26,
1862, for the remainder of the conflict, his service ending on July 10, 1865. The State
Militia was a Union military force. The 1870 census lists E.G. and Mary Williams living in Erie Township with one son,
Walker W. Williams, age 17. 10 years later, the 1880 census enumerates them with a foster
daughter, Minerva, living in the household. Nothing further has been learned of these
children, and as of this writing, it is not known if Enoch George Williams has any living
descendants. Enoch George and Mary Walker Williams are buried in Harmon Cemetery about four miles
east of Goodman in McDonald County. In 1846 when he was a young man of about 23, he went on what was probably his first
trip west. this journey, made in the company of several other emigrants from Greene
County, among whom were John Weems and his wife Anna Lane Weems, James Smith, and Thomas
Smity, took him through St. Louis Count, Missouri, where he stopped by at his uncles,
Thomas Williams and Samuel Rudder. He then passed through Crawford County and attended to
some business for Farmer with the Hardy family, some old acquaintances from Greene County,
and arrived in Newton County on November 18, 1846. On this trip, George seems to have been
appraising the advantages of settlement in Missouri and appears to have been one of the
firts of his immediate family to travel there. After living for 2 years in Newton County on the farm of his uncle and aunt, Jones and
Bethany Pogue Weems, he moved to Arkansas and lived there for about a year with Martin
Thornberry, a son-in-law of Jones Weems. While in Arkansas, he was caught up in the
excitement of the California gold ruch and made plans to travel to the gold fields in the
spring of 1849 with a large company of people who were to depart Fort Smith in April. It
was likely the news of his father’s death which changed his plans and he returned to
Tennessee shortly afterward. In the summer of 1850, George Williams was in South Carolina on a business venture, the
purpose of which seems to have been to raise capital for his impending permanent move to
Missouri. Writing from Darlington to his brother, Thomas N.Williams, George sought to
assure the family that rumors about his excessive drinking were untur, and that he was
having success in his speculative trading in the pork market. Back in Greene County that fall, events in George’s life began moving at a fast
pace. On October 6, he married Mary E. Walker, and five days later he received his share
of his father’s estate, signing a court bond for $280. Departing immediatley
thereafter, and accompanied by his brother Francis A. Williams and his wife Kissiah Shelly
Williams, George and his bride were in Fenton, Missouri at the home of his uncle Thomas
Williams by November 10, 1850. From there George wrote back to Farmer saying that in his
haste in departing he had forgotten to collect a debt which Farmer owed him. Arriving in Newton County in late November, George and Mary Williams moved onto a farm
owned by his Uncle Farmer Pogue, who had come from Greene County, Tennessee to Newton
County in the summer of 1847 and had died the in the fall of 1849. Later, settling in McDonal County, George and Mary Williams lived in the community that
came to be known as Erie, and owned a farm there. Due to the lack of surviving correspondence, loss of McDonald County records, and
failure of the writer to locate any descendants, the story of the life of Enoch George
Williams after he began living in McDonald County is sketchy. It is known that for several years he was a Just of the Peace in the county, performing
a number of marriages, and served as one of the County Judges presiding over the County
Court, possibly as early as 1858. He was appointed Coroner for McDonald County in November
1866. When the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at Erie in 1868, E. G. and Mary
Williams were among the charter members, with George serving as Church Secretary. Two
years later at this church, the names of E. G. and Mary Williams were recorded as
witnesses at the wedding of George’s younger brother, Lewis. The activities of George Williams during the Civil War are not well documented other
than the appearance of his name on the roster of Co. "K", 15th
Missouri Cavalry, Missouri State Militia. The record shows that George served as a
private, evidently beginning his duty early in the war and reenlisting on December 26,
1862, for the remainder of the conflict, his service ending on July 10, 1865. The State
Militia was a Union military force. The 1870 census lists E.G. and Mary Williams living in Erie Township with one son,
Walker W. Williams, age 17. 10 years later, the 1880 census enumerates them with a foster
daughter, Minerve, living in the household. Nothing further has been learned of these
childre, and as of this writing, it is not known if Enoch George Williams has any living
descendants. Enoch George and Mary Walker Williams are buried in Harmon Cemetery about four miles
east of Goodman in McDonald County. When his brother, Enoch George Williams, went on his first trip to Southwest Missouri
in the fall of 1846, he wrote back to Farmer Williams, "Tell Frank that I want him to
come with uncle Farmer (Pogue) for I think he (could do) a great deal better here than he
can there." Encouragement such as this was probably all that was necessary to convince many young
men to move west. Although he did not accompany Farmer Pogue to Southwest Missouri in his
move to Newton County in 1847, Frank Williams did sell the land he owned in the 7th
district of Greene County in 1850 and on October 11 that year, he and Enoch George both
signed court papers acknowledging their receipt of $280 each from the estate of Benjamin
Williams. With this business concluded, they left with their families and headed for Southwest
Missouri, stopping enroute at Fenton in St. Louis County, where they arrived on November
10 at the home of their Uncle Thomas Williams. On this trip, Kissiah Shelly Williams must
have heard tales of the hazards of frontier life in Southwest Missouri and yearned for the
protection of one of her family’s dogs. It was from Fenton that George Williams,
writing back to Farmer Williams in Greene County said, "If Shellys has not started
yet, Frank wants them to bring Turk for Kiz wants a companion or friend that will keep the
woolves (sic) off." Frank and George Williams arrived in Newton County in late November 1850. Frank and his
family took up land in McDonald County and were enumerated in the 1860 census of Elkhorn
Township: F. A. Williams Age 36 Farmer Born Tennessee Kissiah Williams 32 Tennessee Thomas N. Williams 10 Tennessee Stephen L, Williams 6 Missouri During Civil War years, many families in this part of Missouri were forced away from
their homes owing to great unrest and partisan fighting. This apparently happened to the
family of Francis A. Williams, for the 1865 Riley Kansas census shows the Frank and
Kissiah Williams were living there with brothers Adonijah and Joseph Williams. After this,
Frank and his family may have moved to Johnson County, Missouri. When the estate of
Stephen B. Williams was settled in January 1894, appearing on the list of heirs was Frank
Williams, deceased, Johnson County, Missouri. As of this writing, nothing further has been learned of this family. In a ceremony performed by the Rev. Gabriel F. Page, she was married to Marion L.
Bailey, a son of Thomas P. and Henrietta Keele Bailey of Laurel Gap in Greene County on
November 9, 1847. Living on a 200 acre farm fronting Snapp’s Ferry Road just east of
Laurel Gap, they reared a family of nine children. The town of Laurel Gap was renamed
Baileyton after the Civil War in recognition of the Bailey family who had been among the
earliest settlers there. With her home situated near a school at Laurel Gap, Sally Bailey provided a home for
her younger brothers, Stephen and Lewis, while they attended school there. In the
mid-1850’s she took her step-mother into her home when her brother, Thomas N.
Williams, with whom Priscilla had been living after the death of Benjamin Williams, moved
with his family to Johnson County, Missouri. Family tradition tells of difficult times for the Bailey family during the Civil War.
With the onset of the war, the farm was soon stripped of its livestock, and even the
fences were burned by the soldiers for campfires. In these trying years the entire family,
including even the smaller children, was hard pressed to eke out an existence. Many years
later a son, John M. Bailey who was a teacher, poet and farmer, wrote of those times with
his mother in mind, "In those cruel days, women worked so hard, so long hours, they
often went to sleep at sedentary work and even at prayers." In one bushwhacker raid, Sally Bailey saved a nearly finished wool blanket from the
raiders by winding it tightly around her arms as she was forced to remove it from her
loom, refusing to give it up even though threatened at knife point. Searching for hidden
food in the house, the men removed upstairs flooring and kicked through the ceiling into
the rooms below. That evening after the men had left and were camped just west of Laurel
Gap, Sally Bailey and her eldest daughter, Betsy Ann, then about 14, walked into the midst
of the bivouac. Saying nothing, and without any opposition from the dumbfounded men, they
retrieved a favorite horse and some of their stolen cooking utensils and took them home.
It is said of those days that salt, potatoes, cornbread and molasses were staples, and
cornpone and wheat coffee were luxuries. Marion Bailey was a local preacher in the Baileyton M.E. Church and it is said that he
prayed so loudly that he could be heard all over the small town. Following their deaths,
Marion and Sally Bailey were honored by their church when a window was installed in
sanctuary with their names set into the colored glass panes. Many of their children moved
west in the latter part of the 19th century, settling in various parts of
Missouri. Marion and Sally Bailey are buried in Zion United Methodist Church Cemetery near
Baileyton. Priscilla Williams lies beside them. The family of Marion L. and Sally Williams Bailey: Marion L. Bailey (1827-1895) m. Sarah H. Williams (1826-1897)
second Mary A. Bartholomew
(1) Kermit Marion Bailey (1920-) m. Thelma Lenore Coffman second Juliet Martin
second Mae Whitehead second Ella P. Strain second K. C. Christian second Mildred Groves second Mary Orrell s. J. Bailey Williams (1890-1906) Caroline Williams (1894-c. 1936) Marian Miltina Williams (1897-1920) The children of Marion L. and Sally Williams Bailey lived their adult lives in the
following locations: Elizabeth A. and Nancy P. lived in Greene County, Tennessee;
Alexander Harrison at Oregon, Mo.; Thomas M. at Rockport, Mo.; John M. at Langdon and
Rockport, Mo.; Henrietta at Lockwood, Mo.; Caroline at Lockwood, Mo.; Joseph B. in
Nebraska and Washington; and Lyvia Sabina in Morristown, Tn., Patterson, NJ and Greene
County, Tn. In 1895, Sally Williams Bailey wrote in an autograph book belonging to her 16-year-old
granddaughter, Pearle Weems, "When this you see remember me. Sep 30, ‘95. Be a
good girl, your gran mother Bailey." 14. NANCY MARIAH WILLIAMS (June 13, 1828 – June 12, 1876) was the third daughter
of Benjamin and Nancy Pogue Williams. Her marriage to Wyatt Edmonds in Green County on November 23, 1847, was one of several
marriages of the children of Benjamin Williams which took place about this time, Sally
Williams having married on November 9, Farmer on November 12, and Francis a few weeks
later on January 4, 1848. Sally and Mariah were both married by the same Methodist circuit
rider, the Rev. Gabriel Page. Following their marriage, Wyatt and Nancy Mariah Edmonds lived in the 7th
district of Greene County for about 5 years where Wyatt farmed and their first three
children were born. Wyatt’s name last appears on Greene County tax lists in 1851.
Some time in the early 1850’s , the family moved to McDonald County, Missouri where
they settled on a farm about 2 miles west of Bethpage at a place known as Elkhorn. Five
more sons and at least two more daughters were born there. With the advent of the Civil War, McDonald County became the scene of much fighting
between partisans of opposing sides. An 1861 tax list of McDonald County shows that Wyatt
Edmonds of Township 23, Range 31, was enlisted in the Confederate Army, a situation which
caused great rifts between neighbors and even close relatives, and placed the family in
serious danger. As a consequence of the situation in McDonald County during these times, Wyatt Edmonds
found it necessary to move his family to the relative safety of Newtonia in Newton County,
where it is said that a fort afforded some protection from the violence and where they
lived for much of the wartime period. While living at Newtonia, at least one of the
daughters of the family died and was buried there. Tradition tells that after the war
ended, Wyatt Edmonds attempted to locate the grave, wishing to move the body of his
daughter to McDonald County, but was unable to find it. Shortly after the war, the family returned to their farm in McDonald County. Later,
five of the sons of Wyatt and Nancy M. Edmonds owned adjoining farms at Elkhorn on lands
that had been part of the father’s farm. The Edmonds Cemetery there is on two acres
of land given by Wyatt Edmonds. It is said that many old settlers are buried there, but no
a single person named Edmonds. Benjamin Williams, Jr. and Stephen B. Williams, two of
Nancy Mariah’s brothers, are buried there. Wyatt and Nancy Mariah Edmonds are buried in Union (Owsley) Cemetery, about one mile
east of Bethpage. The family of Wyatt and Nancy Mariah Williams Edmonds: Wyatt E. Edmonds (1823-1887) m. Nancy Mariah Williams (1828-1876)
6. George Jackson Edmonds (1862-1940) m. Ella Martin
7. Charles Edward Edmonds (1864-1949) m. Rosa Martin
9. Thomas Marion Edmonds (1869-1942) m. Nancy Barringer a. Jessie Edmonds m. _____Keller 15. JOSEPH S. WILLIAMS was born about 1830. He was the oldest of the three sons who
were minors when Benjamin Williams died in 1848 and accordingly was the first of the three
to be considered for schooling under terms of the will. In early 1849, Adonijah wrote to
William M. Williams, "I expect to come home in the spring and go down to the
Strawberry Plains with Joseph if he goes there to school," Strawberry Plains is a
small town 15 miles east of Knoxville. Joseph probably accompanied some of this brothers and sisters to Southwest Missouri
about 1853. On April 30, 1855, under the guidance of Adonijah and using money from his
share of his father’s estate, he purchased 120 acres of land, and this was probably a
part of the land that he and Stephen later owned and farmed jointly on the Blue Rived near
Manhattan, Kansas. Their farm was situated at the falls of the river just above Manhattan
and appears to have been a rather attractive piece of real estate owing both to its
fertility and the potential for development of the falls. Owning land in both Riley and
Pottawatomie Counties, Joseph and Stephen were farming together there in 1859 and in an
1872 letter Joseph implied that he had lived there for 16 years or since 1856. Pre-Civil
War violence, drought and famine may have combined to force Joseph away from his Riley
County home for awhile, for the 1860 census enumerated him living in the household of his
brother, Thomas N. Williams, in Johnson County, Missouri. After the war in an 1865 census
of Manhattan Township, Joseph was again living in Riley County and had taken into his home
Adonijah and his daughter, Mary Belle, as well as his brother, Francis A. Williams and his
wife, Kissiah. In the census of 1870, he was listed living in Manhattan Township, single. On September 15, 1874, Joseph S. Williams married Hannah Johnson, a Swedish immigrant
then 22 years old. For reasons not yet discovered, this marriage was short-lived and it is
likely that Hannah died within a few years of their marriage, leaving no known children.
On April 11, 1880, Joseph, age 50, married Emzey Y. Craft, a widow with two children. In 1865, Joseph sold to C. R. Barnes 32 acres of his Pottawatomie County land located
at the falls, this property being the probable site of a mill later constructed there. On
May 20, 1875, Joseph and Hannah Williams, with Joseph acing as attorney for Stephen who
was then living back in Tennessee, mortgaged the Blue River farm for $3500 with the New
England Mortgage Security Co. The terms were for 10% interest, payable each January 1
until 5 years later on May 20, 1880, when the principal was to fall due. Unable to meet
these obligations, Joseph defaulted in 1878 and the mortgage was foreclosed, with the farm
being sold to E. B. Purcell for $26,100 and Joseph evidently recovering nothing. By then,
Hannah had apparently died and for a time Joseph became a caretaker on the estate of Cyrus
Crisswell, superintendent of the mill at the falls of the Blue River, who had died that
summer. Writing to Farmer on December 23, Joseph said that he was very lonely, but did not
dwell on his misfortunes, preferring to describe in detail the impressive property left in
his care. However, in this letter it is not difficult to sense Joseph’s despair as
his fortunes hit bottom; He was not listed in the 1885 Riley County Census, and on an unknown date he died at
the home of his brother, Lewis M. Willia