Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/445

 AVILLIAMS

WILLIAMS

by one George Popham. He was married, Nov. 9, 1827, to Sarah Lowell, daughter of Judge Daniel Cony of Augusta, Me., and their son, Joseph Hartwell Williams (1814-1896) was acting governor of Maine, 1857-58, and the author of " A Brief Study in Genealogy " (1885). Senator Williams received the honorary degree of A.M. from Harvard, 1815, and A.M. and LL.D. from Bowdoin in 1820 and 1865, respectively, also serving as a trustee of the latter university, 1822- 60. He died in Augusta, Maine, July 25, 1862.

WILLIAMS, Robert, governor of Mississippi Territory, was born in Prince Edward county, Va., in 1768; son of Nathaniel (q.v.) and Mary Ann (Williamson) Williams. Removing with his parents to North Carolina, he read law and entered upon the practice in Rockingham county. He was a member of the state senate, 1792, 1793, 1794, and 1795, and a representative in the 5th, 6th and 7th congresses, 1797-1802. On July 12, 1803, he was, with Thomas Rodney of Delaware, commissioned to ascertain the rights of persons claiming lands in the Mississippi Territory lying west of the Pearl river, and he performed his part of the labors of the commission with fidelity and skill. When a successor to William C. C. Clai- borne, governor of the Mississippi TeiTitory, be- came necessary. President Jefferson, who was the strong personal friend of Mr. Williains, ap- pointed the latter to the position. Mr. Williams was an ardent Republican of those times, and stoutly supported the politics of Mr. Jefferson. His commissions bear date, March 1, 1805, and March 14, 1808. His successor, David Holmes, was commissioned, Mai'ch 7, 1809. After the res- ignation of Governor Williams he resided in Mississippi and North Carolina, but finally in Ouachita, La. He is buried on his j'lantation near Monroe, La., and a tombstone marks his resting place. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Gen. Joseph Winston, of North Carolina, by whom he had one child, Eliza Winston Williams. He died in Ouachita. La., Jan. 25, 1836.

WILLIAMS, Robert, jurist, was born near Shallow Ford, Surry county, N.C., July 12, 1773 ; brother of Senator John Williams (q.v.). He was a student at the University of North Carolina, adjutant general of the state ; a representative from North Carolina in the 5th, 6th, and 7th con- gresses, 1797-1803, and he made the only perfect collection extant of the acts of the general assem- bly from 1776. He was a trustee and treasurer of the University of North Carolina until 1803 ; land commissioner for territory of Mississippi, 1863-05 ; territorial governor of Mississippi, 1805- 09 ; removed to Tennessee and subsequently to Louisiana, where he died about 1820. His wife was Rebecca Smith, of Granville county, N.C.

WILLIAMS, Roger, founder of Rhode Island, was born in Wales in 1599. No allusion to his parents has been found in any historical writings. He removed to London, where he obtained em- ployment as a reporter and attracted the atten- tion of the eminent lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, who sent him in 1621 to Sutton's Hospital (now Charter House), and later to Pembroke college, Cambridge (according to some authorities to the University of Oxford), where he was graduated, B.A., 1627. He studied law, and later theology, and was admitted to orders in the Church of Eng- land, assuming charge of a parish. To escape the tyranny of Bishop AVilliam Laud of London, he embarked for America with his wife, Mar}-, in the ship Lyon, arriving at Boston, Mass., Feb. 5, 1631. He succeeded the Rev. Francis Higginson (q.v.), as teacher in the church at Salem, Mass., April 12, 1631, but owing to his having been called by the church contrary to the advice of the magistrates, severed his connection " for the sake of peace " in the following August, and was es- tablished in Plymouth, Mass., as assistant to the Rev. Ralph Smith, working also among the Indians, whose language he acquired. He re- turned to Salem in 1633 as assistant to the Rev. Mr. Skelton, whom he succeeded as minister of the church. His publicly stated opinion that " a magistrate ought not to tender an oath to an unregenerated man " led to a trial before tlie court of Massachusetts in April, 1635, bj^ which he was convicted. This action led to four further accusations, viz. : that tlie colonists did not hold their land " by patent from the king," but that it was rightly the property of the natives ; that it was " not lawful to call a wicked person to swear or to pray, as being actions of God's wor- ship ; " nor " to hear any of the ministers of the parish assemblies in England," and finallj^ that the civil magistrates' power extended only " to the bodies, and goods, and outward state of man." A second trial followed in July, by which, to- gether with his church, he was given time to re- consider his opinions until the next session of the court. Meanwhile a violent controversy had been going on, and at his final trial Williams was sentenced on Oct. 8, 1635, to leave the colony within six weeks, but failed to complj% and in January, 1636, a vessel was sent to Salem under Captain Underbill, who was ordered to seize him and take him back to England. Williams, how- ever, escaped, and after a tedious journey settled fii'st at Seekonk (now Rehoboth) Mass., where he built a cabin on ground obtained from the Indian Massasoit. In the following June, with five companions, he commenced a settlement on the banks of the Mooshausick river, R.I., naming the place Providence, out of gratitude for his de- liverance. Here, having purchased land from