RUFUS WILLIAMS
1843 - 1926
&
OTMAR WILLIAMS
1884 - 1963
LAWRENCE COUNTY
And
BEYOND
A History of The Family of
Otmar And Celia Williams
Otmar And Celia Williams
3rd REVISION Compiled by
Roger Glenn Williams
September 2007
Roger Glenn Williams
September 2007
Childhood
Recollections of the girls:
Memories of four grand daughters of Rufus Williams about
life in rural Oklahoma in the 20's and 30's
Email the author
Memories of four grand daughters of Rufus Williams about
life in rural Oklahoma in the 20's and 30's
Email the author
FORWARD
This document is a written record the genealogy and some anecdotal history of the descendants of Rufus Otmar Williams the great grandfather of the author. It is a continuation of the genealogy recorded in the book “Captain Issac Williams and his Grand Children” published in 1963 by Ben and Alice Dixon who are distant cousins. The Dixon book traces the family of “Richard the First” (Williams) of Gwynedd, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania from the time of his marriage in 1717 through the generations that were born at Williams, Indiana in the mid-1880’s including the birth of James Dixon Williams, the father of Rufus Otmar Williams.
The information regarding James Dixon Williams is taken directly from that Dixon publication.
This author is deeply indebted to his first cousin Linda Sue (Williams) Ault who did an initial compilation of the lineage and descendants of Rufus’ son Otmar, our grandfather. Linda used materials given to her by cousin Danny Williams including a copy of the Dixon book and some handwritten notes grandmother Celia (Bowman) Williams made of her immediate family and those of her husband Otmar which she later entrusted to her daughter-in-law, Danny’s mother Kleadeth. Linda has also supplied many updates and corrections over the past several months. Linda’s work was the inspiration and starting point for the research that is recorded in the following pages.
The writer has been honored and privileged to correspond with a multitude of near and distant relatives in the quest for information regarding great grandfather Rufus Williams, his siblings and descendents. Telephone conversations with some, email communications with others, and personal visits with Annabel Williams, Ruth Compton, Virginia Williams, and Ruth Dye have added so much to the information contained in this document. Ruth (Williams) Dye has memories of meeting great grandfather Rufus in St. Petersburg, Florida when she was a teenager visiting there with her family. (Her father owned property there.) Ruth lives on the Hurricane Farm, an original Isaac Williams family holding, near Shoals in Martin County. Virginia, the mother of John Williams, the current mayor of the Town of Bedford, still lives on one of the original Williams family homesteads a couple of miles south of the covered bridge at Williams. Annabel, the widow of Leland, also lives on an original Williams family farm just inside the county line southwest of Williams.
As is noted later, we are all deeply indebted to Uncle Ermel and Aunt Virginia Williams who saved a wealth of valuable correspondence they had with a distant cousin in 1978-80 regarding Rufus. Aunt Eula (Williams) Riggins shared some recollections of her Uncle Ned’s visit to Indiana as well as her own life; and Aunt Estelle (Williams) Jolliff has been an invaluable resource and “proof” reader of this document.
The Lawrence County Historical Museum and the Bedford Public Library were also excellent resources. The museum was the source for the copies of the plat book maps of Lawrence County.
In compiling this document the author has sought not only to record the basic information of names, lineage, dates and places, but also to include some of the anecdotal information regarding the families. Expanded materials regarding the writer and his father Stanley are contained in the Appendix.
This document should always be a “work in progress.” To that end it will take advantage of current technology and will be maintained and shared as a computer word processing text file as well as in printed form. Future users should feel free to make use of the present information as they deem appropriate. Given that there is a geometric progression of entries with each passing generation; this writer’s primary effort along these lines has been to include the record of births of all of Otmar and Celia’s great great grandchildren.
Transcriptions of letters and obituaries have been typed as written with footnotes indicating that grammar and spelling as per the originals.
The numbering system used in the body of this document is a continuation of that found in the Dixon book. The first person in the lineage is Number 1. (In our case that is Richard the First of Gwynedd.) His children are numbered serially from the oldest to the youngest. If he had nine children, his oldest would be number 1-9 and the youngest would be number 1-1.
Each child of each succeeding generation will be numbered the same way and his or her family number will make an additional unit. Thus the genealogical number fixes the order of birth and the number of generations from the original source person. This is how it works:
1 Richard the First of Gwynedd, PA
1-1 William Williams of Cane Creek, born 1719
11-2 Isaac Williams Sr., of NC and Tenn., born 1742
112-7 Captain Isaac Williams, 7th son of Isaac born 1779
1127-8 James Dixon Williams, the 8th son of Isaac II
11278-3 Rufus Williams the 3rd child of James Dixon
11278-3-9 Otmar Williams the 9th child of Rufus
11278-39-1 Stanley Williams the 1st child of Otmar
11278-391-2 Roger Williams the 2nd child or Stanley
11278-3912-3 Kendall Williams the 3rd child or Roger
1-1 William Williams of Cane Creek, born 1719
11-2 Isaac Williams Sr., of NC and Tenn., born 1742
112-7 Captain Isaac Williams, 7th son of Isaac born 1779
1127-8 James Dixon Williams, the 8th son of Isaac II
11278-3 Rufus Williams the 3rd child of James Dixon
11278-3-9 Otmar Williams the 9th child of Rufus
11278-39-1 Stanley Williams the 1st child of Otmar
11278-391-2 Roger Williams the 2nd child or Stanley
11278-3912-3 Kendall Williams the 3rd child or Roger
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INDIVIDUALS
PICTURES AND OTHER ITEMS
JAMES_DIXON_WILLIAMS 1870_Plat of Williams, Indiana area
11278-3._RUFUS_WILLIAMS_ 1900_Plat of Williams, Indiana area
CHILDREN:
MATTIE_WILLIAMS Civil War Letters
RALPH_WILLIAMS Oklahoma Families , picture
MAGGIE_WILLIAMS Oklahoma Farm Families , picture
NED_WILLIAMS Hurricane_Story , Ned's family
ALBERT_WILLIAMS Otmar_Four_Sons , picture
ENOS_WILLIAMS Ned's_Visit_Indiana_1938 , picture
MOZART_MOSE_WILLIAMS Otmar Williams Children, 1922-23 , picture
OTMAR_WILLIAMS Williams Bowman Family Reunion , picture
JAMES_DIXON_WILLIAMS 1870_Plat of Williams, Indiana area
11278-3._RUFUS_WILLIAMS_ 1900_Plat of Williams, Indiana area
CHILDREN:
MATTIE_WILLIAMS Civil War Letters
RALPH_WILLIAMS Oklahoma Families , picture
MAGGIE_WILLIAMS Oklahoma Farm Families , picture
NED_WILLIAMS Hurricane_Story , Ned's family
ALBERT_WILLIAMS Otmar_Four_Sons , picture
ENOS_WILLIAMS Ned's_Visit_Indiana_1938 , picture
MOZART_MOSE_WILLIAMS Otmar Williams Children, 1922-23 , picture
OTMAR_WILLIAMS Williams Bowman Family Reunion , picture
Son of Captain Isaac
Williams and Amelia Gibson
Born March 3, 1816, in Sevier County, Tenn. Captain Isaac’s last child born in Tennessee.
Died, April 28, 1856, Lawrence Co., Ind.; buried at Old Union
Married _________, Cytha, daughter of William Cox and Jane Rubottom. She was born Feb. 12, 1820, and died April 19, 1906 interment in Williams Church of Christ Cemetery.
Born March 3, 1816, in Sevier County, Tenn. Captain Isaac’s last child born in Tennessee.
Died, April 28, 1856, Lawrence Co., Ind.; buried at Old Union
Married _________, Cytha, daughter of William Cox and Jane Rubottom. She was born Feb. 12, 1820, and died April 19, 1906 interment in Williams Church of Christ Cemetery.
ISSUE
1.
Eldridge
Williams born June 2, 1839,
Lawrence Co. Died Nov. 13, 1862, in Seminary Hospital, Frederick,
Md.
He was a Pvt., Co. D, 27th Indiana Volunteers. Participated in the sanguinary Battle of Antietam, and was fatally wounded.
See Cabinet of Correspondence, Part IV: Letter from Eldridge to Aunt Sally, and letters from Elkanah and Aunt Sally to Abram.
He was a Pvt., Co. D, 27th Indiana Volunteers. Participated in the sanguinary Battle of Antietam, and was fatally wounded.
See Cabinet of Correspondence, Part IV: Letter from Eldridge to Aunt Sally, and letters from Elkanah and Aunt Sally to Abram.
2. +Louisa
Williams
born July 20, 1841; died May 28, 1916
Married, Dec. 15, 1858, Wesley Rout, son of Lewis Rout and Sarah Bryant. He was born Nov. 27, 1828, and died March lO, 1903.
3. +Rufus Williams born March 9, 1843; died Oct. 11, 1926
Married Susan Jane Kern (b. 1846), daughter of Albert Kern and Elizabeth Hutton. Buried at St. Petersburg, Fla.
4. +Minerva Williams born April l0, 1845; died Feb. 16, 1903
Married George W. Kern the son of John Sr. Kern and Mahala Adamson. He was born Aug. 17, l845; died Oct. 21, 1927
5. +Emily Williams born April 20, 1847; died Sept. 22, 1926
Married David L. Kern, son of Albert Kern and Elizabeth Hutton. He was born March 20, 1842; and died Feb. 8, 1928.
They lived and farmed just west of the Jackson Bowman farm until retired to live in Williams, IN. Otmar’s family visited with them regularly.
6. +Jacob Giles Williams born Feb. 9, 1849; d. June 4, l928
Married Alice Roark-Hendrickson, l-4-1887, (1860-1909). She is buried at
Mt. Olive; Jacob is buried at Williams Church of Christ Cemetery.
7. + Cyrena Williams born April 20 1851; died ________
Married David L. Sears (b. l849) son of Adam Sears and Rebecca, Wright.
8. Michael Elijah Williams born 1853; died 1882
Married Mary A. Boyd, no issue. She was the daughter of Jesse Boyd and Martha Hollowell. They were married Dec. 21, 1880.
9. +Daniel Webster Williams born Feb. 26, 1856; died Sept. 17, 1888; burial at Mount Olive. Married Talitha Craig
Married, Dec. 15, 1858, Wesley Rout, son of Lewis Rout and Sarah Bryant. He was born Nov. 27, 1828, and died March lO, 1903.
3. +Rufus Williams born March 9, 1843; died Oct. 11, 1926
Married Susan Jane Kern (b. 1846), daughter of Albert Kern and Elizabeth Hutton. Buried at St. Petersburg, Fla.
4. +Minerva Williams born April l0, 1845; died Feb. 16, 1903
Married George W. Kern the son of John Sr. Kern and Mahala Adamson. He was born Aug. 17, l845; died Oct. 21, 1927
5. +Emily Williams born April 20, 1847; died Sept. 22, 1926
Married David L. Kern, son of Albert Kern and Elizabeth Hutton. He was born March 20, 1842; and died Feb. 8, 1928.
They lived and farmed just west of the Jackson Bowman farm until retired to live in Williams, IN. Otmar’s family visited with them regularly.
6. +Jacob Giles Williams born Feb. 9, 1849; d. June 4, l928
Married Alice Roark-Hendrickson, l-4-1887, (1860-1909). She is buried at
Mt. Olive; Jacob is buried at Williams Church of Christ Cemetery.
7. + Cyrena Williams born April 20 1851; died ________
Married David L. Sears (b. l849) son of Adam Sears and Rebecca, Wright.
8. Michael Elijah Williams born 1853; died 1882
Married Mary A. Boyd, no issue. She was the daughter of Jesse Boyd and Martha Hollowell. They were married Dec. 21, 1880.
9. +Daniel Webster Williams born Feb. 26, 1856; died Sept. 17, 1888; burial at Mount Olive. Married Talitha Craig
Isaac and Amelia
named him “James Dixon”, but
he was always known as Dick, or Uncle Dick. The source of this
name has not been identified. It may be that Amelia’s mother was
a Dixon; or possibly they wanted to honor some other relative, friend
or neighbor with a namesake.
He died April 28, 1856, making three deaths in the family in four months. Eli Kern’s was January 13th, and Captain Isaac’s February 13th. “I feel sad this morning, beyond all Express,” wrote young Doctor Elkanah. Uncle Dick was a prosperous farmer. He and Uncle Jack pooled resources and labor. When he died, Uncle Jack became the mainstay of his widow and orphans. Dixon’s wife was Cytha Cox, a noble pioneer Quaker girl of the North Carolina stock.
The Census Marshal of 1850 gives a glorious picture of the James Dixon Williams household. On the day he took the schedule there were sixteen people present. Besides Uncles Dick and Jack and Cytha, there were six children: Jacob 1, Emily 3, Minerva 5, Rufus 8, Louisa 9, and Eldridge 10. Cytha’s niece, Telitha Cox, 13, also lived with them. Three farm hands were present, George W. Richard’s, 23, Wi1liam Richard 20, and Samuel Ventis, 19. There must have been a big house or barn building program in progress, for there were three builders present also: George Bacon, 21, carpenter, with helpers Jacob Henry 21, and John Butler, 20. Wasn’t that a good family for Cytha, 29, and Te1itha, 13, to cook and wash for? And there were still three children to come before the Grim Reaper had his day.
Two of Uncle Dick’s siblings left no issue: Eldridge, born 1839, went away to war, a happy patriotic recruit of 1861. He was badly wounded at Antietam, and died a few days later in a military hospital, under the watchful care of Dr. Elkanah and Aunt Sallie. Michael Elijah born 1853, married Mary A. Boyd, but left no issue.
We know little more about James Dixon Williams. He apparently was a prosperous farmer. He died within two months of the birth of his and Cytha’s ninth child. Cytha, being a woman of strong character rose to the occasion, and raised the children while keeping the farm operating. There are several references to the fact that her brother-in-law “Uncle Jack” (Andrew Jackson Williams) provided a great deal of help and support in that effort
He (Uncle Jack) never married. He thought more of raising corn and hogs and blooded stock than a family squealing kids. “Skin and save” was the advice he gave young “Kanie” in 1857, when Dr. Elkanah, fresh back from medical schools in Europe, opened his eye practice in Cincinnati.
Uncle Jack practiced what he preached, too, for three years later when he reported his ho1dings to the Census Marshall, he valued his property at $22,735 and his personality at $15,000. Which was a “right peart” farm for a dirt farmer to be paying taxes on in those pioneering days in Hoosier land.
Although Uncle Jack had no family of his own to look after, he generously helped his widowed sister (in-law) Cytha (Cox) Williams in the rearing of her family after the death of her husband, James “Dick” Williams. Beulah Thompson got this story from Roxie Hatfield of Bedford, who in turn had it from her father Isaac, the son of Uncle Bart.
He died April 28, 1856, making three deaths in the family in four months. Eli Kern’s was January 13th, and Captain Isaac’s February 13th. “I feel sad this morning, beyond all Express,” wrote young Doctor Elkanah. Uncle Dick was a prosperous farmer. He and Uncle Jack pooled resources and labor. When he died, Uncle Jack became the mainstay of his widow and orphans. Dixon’s wife was Cytha Cox, a noble pioneer Quaker girl of the North Carolina stock.
The Census Marshal of 1850 gives a glorious picture of the James Dixon Williams household. On the day he took the schedule there were sixteen people present. Besides Uncles Dick and Jack and Cytha, there were six children: Jacob 1, Emily 3, Minerva 5, Rufus 8, Louisa 9, and Eldridge 10. Cytha’s niece, Telitha Cox, 13, also lived with them. Three farm hands were present, George W. Richard’s, 23, Wi1liam Richard 20, and Samuel Ventis, 19. There must have been a big house or barn building program in progress, for there were three builders present also: George Bacon, 21, carpenter, with helpers Jacob Henry 21, and John Butler, 20. Wasn’t that a good family for Cytha, 29, and Te1itha, 13, to cook and wash for? And there were still three children to come before the Grim Reaper had his day.
Two of Uncle Dick’s siblings left no issue: Eldridge, born 1839, went away to war, a happy patriotic recruit of 1861. He was badly wounded at Antietam, and died a few days later in a military hospital, under the watchful care of Dr. Elkanah and Aunt Sallie. Michael Elijah born 1853, married Mary A. Boyd, but left no issue.
We know little more about James Dixon Williams. He apparently was a prosperous farmer. He died within two months of the birth of his and Cytha’s ninth child. Cytha, being a woman of strong character rose to the occasion, and raised the children while keeping the farm operating. There are several references to the fact that her brother-in-law “Uncle Jack” (Andrew Jackson Williams) provided a great deal of help and support in that effort
He (Uncle Jack) never married. He thought more of raising corn and hogs and blooded stock than a family squealing kids. “Skin and save” was the advice he gave young “Kanie” in 1857, when Dr. Elkanah, fresh back from medical schools in Europe, opened his eye practice in Cincinnati.
Uncle Jack practiced what he preached, too, for three years later when he reported his ho1dings to the Census Marshall, he valued his property at $22,735 and his personality at $15,000. Which was a “right peart” farm for a dirt farmer to be paying taxes on in those pioneering days in Hoosier land.
Although Uncle Jack had no family of his own to look after, he generously helped his widowed sister (in-law) Cytha (Cox) Williams in the rearing of her family after the death of her husband, James “Dick” Williams. Beulah Thompson got this story from Roxie Hatfield of Bedford, who in turn had it from her father Isaac, the son of Uncle Bart.
(Beulah
Thompson was a
collaborator on the original Dixon book
regarding Captain Isaac. She lived on the Williams-Stump Hole
Bridge road just across the road from the house that Otmar and Celia
Williams built. Both house are standing and in good repair in
2000.)
Wrote Beulah: “Uncle
Jack helped my great-grandmother, Cytha Cox Williams, raise her
family. Her farm was on White River two miles east of Williams
and about a half mile from us. The Williams farm called Hurricane
was some 20 miles down the river. He would mount his trusty steed
and speed away from one place to the other, if provoked about
something, or the boys played a joke on him. Once at Cytha’s he
had a bad toothache. He sat on a straight-back chair, tipped back
the wall behind the kitchen door. The children, playing and
running through the house, were having a wild time. One of them
slammed the door against Uncle Jack’s jaw, and he let out a yell! “Will
Hell never take a recess around here?” he growled; then stomped
outside, saddled his horse, and headed for “Hurricane”.
(James Dixon’s farm was what is currently (year 2003) called the “Spreen farm” located at the dead end of the Spreen Farm Road (county road 660w) that goes south from the Williams to Stumphole Bridge Road (county road 400) at the top of the big hill west of the bridge. The farmstead was located on a hill high above the White River. There was a commanding view of the river bottoms some of which would later be farmed by Jackson Bowman – a grandson of Garrett Williams and the grandmother of Celia Bowman who would marry James Dixon’s grandson Otmar.)
A 1870 and a 1900 plat map of the area are found on the following pages.
Points of interest include:
1. Kern School House
2. Old Union Church/Cemetery
3. Garrett Williams holdings
4. James Dixon and Cythia [sic Sythia) Williams holdings
5. Rufus Williams holdings
6. Site of future Stump Hole Bridge
6. Site of future
Stump Hole Bridge
7. Otmar & Celia Williams Home
8. Jackson Bowman Farmstead
9. “Green Farm” across the river owned by Jackson Bowman
1900 PLAT8. Jackson Bowman Farmstead
9. “Green Farm” across the river owned by Jackson Bowman
Son of James Dixon Williams and Cytha
(Rubottom) Cox.
Born March 9, 1843 in Lawrence Co. IN.; died Oct. 11, 1926 Buried Royal Palms Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Fl
Married Susan Jane Kern (b. 1846), daughter of Albert Kern and Elizabeth Hutton.
She died in December of 1885 and is buried at South Haven, Kansas
Born March 9, 1843 in Lawrence Co. IN.; died Oct. 11, 1926 Buried Royal Palms Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Fl
Married Susan Jane Kern (b. 1846), daughter of Albert Kern and Elizabeth Hutton.
She died in December of 1885 and is buried at South Haven, Kansas
ISSUE
1. Mattie E. Williams born May 6 1867 died April 9, 1908
Married, J. H. Geeslin, July 3, 1889
2. Ralph Williams born October 30, 1868 died May 2, 1921
never married. Buried Springdale Cemetery, Madison, IN. plot 32
3. Maggie Williams born June 25, 1871 died ???
Married James Christy Miles, August 30, 1888, born November 16, 1866, died of tuberculosis August 10, 1917. with issue
Married 2nd to M. N. Jessup
4. Ned Williams born March 31, 1873 died November 17, 1941 in Florida, buried at Royal Palms
Married Hannah E. Wilson April 27, 1894 with issue
5 Infant daughter born October 2, 1874 died November 11, 1874
Buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery, Williams, Indiana
6. Albert D. Williams born May 8, 1876 died June 17, 1927
Married Belle Moore September 1, 1896 with issue
7 Enos Williams born May 16, 1878 died 1962 Texas
Married Nannie Mallett August 18, 1898 with issue
8. Mozart (Mose) Williams born July 25, 1880 died December 19, 1935 in Florida never married
9. Otmar Williams born February 12, 1884 died February 12, 1963
Married Celia Bowman March 21, 1906, daughter of Jackson Bowman and Mary Harris. Died August 20, 1948
Rufus had just turned thirteen years of age when his father died. Thus he and his older brother Eldridge surely assumed a major role in the operations of the family farm. His Uncle, young Doctor Elkanah, noted in a letter written after James’ death that “Jake and Rufus” were feeding the stock.
(No record or indication of the source of Rufus’ name. Federal Census data indicated that it was a fairly common name in his time. It is a biblical name found in Mk 15:21 and Rm 16:13. Likewise there is no record of Susan’s grave site in S. Haven Kansas. Records were destroyed by a tornado in 1935 and a “school house fire” about the same time. She is not on the cemetery listings made of existing tombstones.)
Young Rufus, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Captain Isaac, uncles, and cousins, and joined the U.S. military. Rufus, his older brother Eldridge, and their cousins Laban and Daniel(sons of their uncle Garrett) were all members of Company D, Indiana 27th Volunteers Division during the civil war. All four of the patriots suffered one or more wounds. Rufus was wounded in battles at Gettysburg and New Hope Church. He had an honorable discharge on September 1, 1864.
Information from Company D regarding Williams family members:
Williams, Daniel B
Lawrence County, 18, 5-9, Farmer
Recruit promoted from Private. Wounded at Antietam—knee. Patent Office United States Army General Hospital Washington DC. Returned to regiment 12-11-62. Severely wounded at Gettysburg—gunshot right hip, ball entered right groin slightly injured penis & exited above femur slight. Camp Letterman United States Army Hospital Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Mower United States Army General Hospital Chestnut Hill Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Marine United States Army General Hospital Lock Street Cincinnati Ohio. Discharged Cincinnati 11-21-63 for wounds: weakness & flabbiness of lower extremity. “Dan” Brother of Adam Williams CO D
Williams, Eldridge
Lawrence County, 22, s, 5-9, Farmer
Prior service with another unit. Mustered in 8-15-62. Wounded at Antietam—thigh & wrist. Hospital Boonsboro Maryland. No 4 United States Army General Hospital Frederick Maryland. Died Frederick 11-12-62 of wounds. Buried Fayetteville Indiana, Old Union Christian Church Cemetery. Wounded 1 month after Mustered in Williams, George W (M)
Prior service with another unit. Mustered in 8-15-62. Wounded at Antietam—thigh & wrist. Hospital Boonsboro Maryland. No 4 United States Army General Hospital Frederick Maryland. Died Frederick 11-12-62 of wounds. Buried Fayetteville Indiana, Old Union Christian Church Cemetery. Wounded 1 month after Mustered in Williams, George W (M)
Williams, Laban (Laben)
Fayetteville, 23, 6-1, Farmer
Wounded at Antietam. Hospital Boonsboro Maryland. Hospital Frederick Maryland. Patent Office United States Army General Hospital Washington DC. Returned to regiment 12-11-62. Killed at Gettysburg—gunshot instantly; Buried Fayetteville Indiana, Old Union Christian Church Cemetery
Wounded at Antietam. Hospital Boonsboro Maryland. Hospital Frederick Maryland. Patent Office United States Army General Hospital Washington DC. Returned to regiment 12-11-62. Killed at Gettysburg—gunshot instantly; Buried Fayetteville Indiana, Old Union Christian Church Cemetery
Williams, Rufus
Fayetteville, 18, s, 5-10, Farmer
Wounded at Winchester—spent mini ball. Wounded at Antietam—shell left side. Hospital Boonsboro Maryland. No 5 United States Army General Hospital Frederick Maryland. United States Army Convalescent Hospital Patterson Park Baltimore Maryland. Returned to regiment 12-62. Wounded at Gettysburg—severe gunshot to right thumb. 1st Division/12th Corps General Field Hospital & United States Army Hospital Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Hospital Baltimore Maryland. Returned to regiment. Wounded at New Hope Church—slight. Mustered out. Died St. Petersburg Florida 10-10-1926, buried at St. Petersburg
Wounded at Winchester—spent mini ball. Wounded at Antietam—shell left side. Hospital Boonsboro Maryland. No 5 United States Army General Hospital Frederick Maryland. United States Army Convalescent Hospital Patterson Park Baltimore Maryland. Returned to regiment 12-62. Wounded at Gettysburg—severe gunshot to right thumb. 1st Division/12th Corps General Field Hospital & United States Army Hospital Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Hospital Baltimore Maryland. Returned to regiment. Wounded at New Hope Church—slight. Mustered out. Died St. Petersburg Florida 10-10-1926, buried at St. Petersburg
(Added 2002) The following are quotes from letters of Williams family cousins as found in the book “Giants in the Cornfield: The 27th Indiana infantry” written by Wilbur D. Jones and published by the White Main Publishers, Shippenburg, PA, 1997.
p. 10
They find me laying under a crib shed wounded. The other boys are all wounded but I think we will get well. I have not the ability to write much. I fired 30 rounds before I fell. The battle was one of the most severe, shell & shot flew thicker than hail. Our line was cut down like grain before the sickle. (Private Eldridge Williams)
p. 18
Eldridge was wounded in the thy & rist but is getting along pretty well. John A. Henshaw was killed. Laban is wounded in arm.. Daniel is wounded in knee. George Phillips wounded in leg. Them 3 is at another hospital & I have not saw them. Joe Fiddler is killed. Christ Fiddler wound in hand. I cannot tell all that is wound. I was struck in the left side by a piece of shell but I soon got over it. I am waiting on Eldridge & will stay with him until he gets well. I think the boys will all get well. I will try to get Laben & Daniel with Eldridge where I can tend to all of them. (Letter from Private Rufus Williams to his cousin.)
p. 164
Eye problems began in May 1864 from laying on our backs with moon and stars shinin in our face.. A man was detailed to lead him on marches. Suspecting Duzan was shirking, Private Rufus Williams “who didn’t think he was so blind, undertook to lead him one night. Later Williams said he knew the fellow was blind because he had lead him off a (pontoon) bridge and gave him a terrible hols.” No doubts then.
P 201
“Aunt” [“Sally,” Sarah wife of Dr. Elkanan Williams] visited Private Eldridge Williams, recovering from an Antietam wound, in a Frederick hospital November 12, 1862:
“I know that the news from Eldridge will grieve you very much. Kan (Dr. Elkanan Williams uncle of Eldridge and Rufus) does not think he can live thru today or at the utmost 1 or 2 days. His blood is absorbing the pus and can take no nourishment he is going down very fast. Poor boy! He is constantly talking of what he is going to do when he gets well. He is very cheerful & patient & tries to laugh when I remind him of how much he & Jimmy used to get into the sugar jar. He is very much recued and looks very different from the Eldridge who came to see us before he went into the army. Today we moved Eldridge into a private room adjoining ours with a door opening between where he will be more comfortable.”
They find me laying under a crib shed wounded. The other boys are all wounded but I think we will get well. I have not the ability to write much. I fired 30 rounds before I fell. The battle was one of the most severe, shell & shot flew thicker than hail. Our line was cut down like grain before the sickle. (Private Eldridge Williams)
p. 18
Eldridge was wounded in the thy & rist but is getting along pretty well. John A. Henshaw was killed. Laban is wounded in arm.. Daniel is wounded in knee. George Phillips wounded in leg. Them 3 is at another hospital & I have not saw them. Joe Fiddler is killed. Christ Fiddler wound in hand. I cannot tell all that is wound. I was struck in the left side by a piece of shell but I soon got over it. I am waiting on Eldridge & will stay with him until he gets well. I think the boys will all get well. I will try to get Laben & Daniel with Eldridge where I can tend to all of them. (Letter from Private Rufus Williams to his cousin.)
p. 164
Eye problems began in May 1864 from laying on our backs with moon and stars shinin in our face.. A man was detailed to lead him on marches. Suspecting Duzan was shirking, Private Rufus Williams “who didn’t think he was so blind, undertook to lead him one night. Later Williams said he knew the fellow was blind because he had lead him off a (pontoon) bridge and gave him a terrible hols.” No doubts then.
P 201
“Aunt” [“Sally,” Sarah wife of Dr. Elkanan Williams] visited Private Eldridge Williams, recovering from an Antietam wound, in a Frederick hospital November 12, 1862:
“I know that the news from Eldridge will grieve you very much. Kan (Dr. Elkanan Williams uncle of Eldridge and Rufus) does not think he can live thru today or at the utmost 1 or 2 days. His blood is absorbing the pus and can take no nourishment he is going down very fast. Poor boy! He is constantly talking of what he is going to do when he gets well. He is very cheerful & patient & tries to laugh when I remind him of how much he & Jimmy used to get into the sugar jar. He is very much recued and looks very different from the Eldridge who came to see us before he went into the army. Today we moved Eldridge into a private room adjoining ours with a door opening between where he will be more comfortable.”
Following the war,
Rufus returned to his home place
east of Williams and established himself as a farmer. A township
land plat of cirri 1870 shows him holding title to about 400 acres of
river-bottom land west of the stump hole bridge area. He and
Susan J. Kern were married July 26, 1866. To the union were born
nine children.
In 1882 Rufus sold his holding in Lawrence County and moved west settling first in the North Bend, Nebraska. A portion of his property was purchased by Jackson Bowman who would later become the father-in-law of Rufus’ son Otmar. Otmar, the last child, was born there. After two years in that location, Rufus moved the family to a new farm and a newly built home near South Haven, Kansas. Tragedy struck the family early in this location when Susan suffered a fatal illness and died in December of 1885 leaving to a heart broken Rufus the task of raising nine children ranging in age from seventeen to young Otmar who was less than two years of age.
A search of the cemetery records at South Haven does not reveal the burial site for Susan Kern Williams. Her parents and her in-laws are buried at Old Union Cemetery northeast of Williams, Indiana. However, Susan’s name is not recorded in the cemetery census of Lawrence County which is quite extensive. We must assume that she is buried in an unmarked grave at South Haven. (Rufus and sons Ned, Mose, and Ralph are all in unmarked graves as well.)
Most of what is known about Rufus can be credited to fate, the will of God, his daughter Maggie Miles and a great granddaughter Margaret “Podie” (Ferguson) Ligon. Maggie saved a series of letters written by or received by Rufus. These letters were carried by Maggie and her family when they moved to Medina, Oaxaca, Mexico and they were carried out of old Mexico in a trunk when Maggie’s family fled for their lives as revolutionary forces closes in on their holdings. Best estimates are that the families left in 1916.
In 1882 Rufus sold his holding in Lawrence County and moved west settling first in the North Bend, Nebraska. A portion of his property was purchased by Jackson Bowman who would later become the father-in-law of Rufus’ son Otmar. Otmar, the last child, was born there. After two years in that location, Rufus moved the family to a new farm and a newly built home near South Haven, Kansas. Tragedy struck the family early in this location when Susan suffered a fatal illness and died in December of 1885 leaving to a heart broken Rufus the task of raising nine children ranging in age from seventeen to young Otmar who was less than two years of age.
A search of the cemetery records at South Haven does not reveal the burial site for Susan Kern Williams. Her parents and her in-laws are buried at Old Union Cemetery northeast of Williams, Indiana. However, Susan’s name is not recorded in the cemetery census of Lawrence County which is quite extensive. We must assume that she is buried in an unmarked grave at South Haven. (Rufus and sons Ned, Mose, and Ralph are all in unmarked graves as well.)
Most of what is known about Rufus can be credited to fate, the will of God, his daughter Maggie Miles and a great granddaughter Margaret “Podie” (Ferguson) Ligon. Maggie saved a series of letters written by or received by Rufus. These letters were carried by Maggie and her family when they moved to Medina, Oaxaca, Mexico and they were carried out of old Mexico in a trunk when Maggie’s family fled for their lives as revolutionary forces closes in on their holdings. Best estimates are that the families left in 1916.
(While there is no written
documentation that Rufus was in old Mexico at that time and therefore a
part of the flight, his presence there would help explain the trunk and
the letters being in old Mexico. Maggie’s granddaughter Bernice
indicated in a note written in 1980 to Uncle Ermel that “Her [Maggie’s]
father and brother stayed [in old Mexico] to try to save????”
{illegible}) Maggie was a writer. Her “grade
school story” and the “obituary” which she probably composed, along
with the letters that she salvaged, give us a silhouette of Rufus’ life.
From these writing, we know that Rufus kept the family together. Seven of the children married and raise their own families. Ralph and Mose remained single.
Rufus stayed in the west until the children were grown. Daughters Mattie and Maggie and son Ned all married in Oklahoma. Rufus and the boys were a part of the great land rush of 1989 in the Oklahoma territory. His and his first son-in-law, Maggie’s husband James Christy Miles, homesteaded near Crescent, Oklahoma. Further information regarding Maggie is recorded later in this document.
We are also told that he was an excellent fiddle player – his musical talents were passed on to one or more of his children including Otmar. Aunt Estelle recalls that all of Otmar’s brothers played the fiddle. Rufus sold that farm in 1985.
Rufus, sons Mose, Ralph, Otmar, and Enos returned to their Williams, Indiana roots. Rufus’s mother, Cythia, was still alive at the time. The 1910 census of Lawrence County records their presence and notes that Cythia was living with her daughter Emily and David Kern. Ralph and Otmar settled in Indiana. Enos married Nannie Mallett in Indiana and later moved to Texas. Ned and Mose eventually settled in St. Petersburg, Florida. Cousins and uncles from Williams, Indiana apparently settled in the St. Petersburg, Florida area first.
Rufus apparently joined his daughter Maggie and her husband James Miles on their pineapple plantation in southern Old Mexico. He is not recorded with any of his children in the 1910 census and a family pictures had has a handwritten notation of “Rufus Williams Medino, Mexico 1912.”
Following their ouster from Old Mexico, Rufus and the Miles families returned to the United States. Rufus is listed in the 1920 census as living with Enos and Nannie in Oklahoma. He enjoyed wintering and fishing in the Saint Petersburg, Florida area with his sons Enos, Ned, and Mose.
Rufus died in Florida at the home of his son Mose and is buried in the Royal Palm Cemetery 101 55th St. S. St. Petersburg, Florida.
This writer visited and photographed the gravesite in March of 2005. It is a lovely setting in the oldest section of the well-maintained cemetery. His sons Mose and Ned—-and Ned’s wife—are also buried nearby in the same cemetery. The combined efforts of Richard Williams, a great grandson who lives in St. Petersburg and this writer resulted in the installation of an Official Military Headestone on the grave early in 2005. It is also fitting to note that a pair of bald eagles elected to build a nest in a tall pine tree near the grave site.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS FROM THE TRUNK OF MAGGIE (WILLIAMS) MILES
(The letters, spirited out of old
Mexico in the dead of night, were passed from Maggie to her daughter
Podie who has saved them and shared photo copies and typed
transcriptions of them with Otmar’s son Ermel in 1980 when Podie was
also constructing a family history. (All letters have been
transcribed as written without corrections for spelling or grammar.)
August the (2nd or 20?) 1861
Sir I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well at present and all of the boys are about well But my advisce would bee to stay at home. We got plenty to eat such as it is If I was at home like I was ______? I would stay But as I ant I will stay here if the company is ____________________________________(missing)
And wee will gow home but you take my advice and stay home. We drill around three hours a day and the balance of the time wee lay around camp We had preching in camp A bunch of men can get ay pass almost day to gow in town Eye took in the sty?? Ay big walk today and saw everything and ???????
Camp near Staford Court House, VA. June the 10th, 1863
Dear Sister it is with pleasure that I embrace the present opportunity of writing you a fewl lines in aswer to yours of the 28th of last month which I received the other day. It was with great pleasure to me for I had not got ary letter from home for some time. I suppose Uncle Jack has not had time to write you said you was going to school. That it a very good occupation if you will put your attention to it and try to learn.
Well I have nothing to write more than you letter found us all well. We are still here in old camp where we have been all winter & standing picket about every three days. Well Emley I would like to see you all ons’t more. I expect you have grown so that I would not know you iff I was to come back. God knows when that will be. Well I will close as my pen and ink is bad. I could go ahead and write a lot of foolishness but under the present circumstances I .....
(Uncle Jack would be Andrew Jackson Williams
______________________________________________________________________________
Hospital ner Sharpsburg Sept 20th, 1862
Uncle Jack, Dear Sir I set myself to let you know how we came out in the last battle. Eldridge is wounded in the thy and rist but is getting a long pretty well John A. Crenshaw was kild Laben is wounded in the arm. Daniel is wounded in the knee George Philips wounded in the leg Them three is at another hospital and I have not saw them Joe Fidler is kild Criss Fidler wounde din the hand I cannot tell all that is wounded I was struck in the _______________ by a peace of a shell But I soon got over it I weighting on Eldridg and I will say him untille he getsw well Well it was a hard fight but we gained a complete victory I think against the reble farm gets our of Maryland They will be satisfied I think they will leaf the big part of ther armey here There was a awful loss on both sides The rebels lost about 3 to our one Will I cannot tell much about it yet well I close I think the boys will all get well I try to get Laben and Daniel with Eldridg whe I can tend to all of Them Well I must close as Eldridg is goung to write I will write again as soon as I see the other boys.
Direct to Washington City Banks Division so no more at present there is one thing I had like to forget We lost Patterson some time ago overf in Vergna on the Rapicano (c or e) He was kild or Taken prisoner
So no more
yours truly
Rufus Williams
Phillips, George W
Trinity Springs (Martin), 25, 5-10, Farmer
Wounded at Antietam right leg, United States Army Field Hospital Smoketown Maryland, United States Army General Hospital No 2, City Hotel Branch Frederick Maryland. Returned to regiment 1-2-63. Discharged Stafford Court House Virginia 4-24-63 wounds: severe supporation; Died 8-6-66, buried Fayetteville Indiana Old Union Christian Church Cemetery
_____________________________________________________________________________
Written in red ink
Tullahoma Tenn December the 4th 1863
Dear Cousin Christepher It is with pleasure that I embrace the present opportunity to acknowledg the reception of you most welcome leter which came to hand the other day It found me well and harty Well I have no news of importance to write The 51st Ind Regt though here this morning enrout for the fromt They exic know where they are exchanged yet or nor?) They have no officers with them They are all in prison at Ritchmund Grant has took some of Pembertons men again They never been exchanged Grant has teligrafted to the President to know what to do with them I expec they will gow up to the spout. Lieutnet Res (Rox? Rohe?) has benn promoted to Capt of our company and Bagley to Capot of Co H. Well for my part I exic care who is promoted. This is a plesent day We have not had eney cold weather yet. There has not ben snow enough to cover the ground The people of this country are about 15 years behind the time. You can see them going around wian an old yoke of oxen and an old horse in the lead They pull there corn and stridth foder and stack it in the field. Well I will close as I have nothing to write. There is nothing going on here at all.
(Embossed in upper left hand corner; Shepherd & Riley, under a large building that looks like a hugh Capitol with Many Columns.)
Tullahoma, TENN
Dec the 24th, 1863
Friend Bill yours of the 12th has come to hand. It found me well I never had my health better in my life. I weigh 190 pounds nmeeet so you see that we are not starving. Well Bill this is Christmas Eve and I would give 10 dollars to be there to have a spree with you but that cant bee so I will try and content myself on picket tomorrow. Well I have nothing of importance to make. The boys are all well The gurillas captured Lieutenant Porter of Co A, while out on a foriging expedition last knight but he is like the nigers rebet not much lose. He is port dry meat anyhow there is a good meny regts going into the veteren servis. I understood that the 3rd Wisconsin is going home tomorrow. The 2nd Mass has all gone in but 9 men It seems that our regt cant see it at least I cant I can stick out 8 months very easy then I think I will be ______ ______ a while.\
Well Bill I will Git I will stick a few lines of your letter in this for you to explane
Yours truley
Rufus Williams
Don’t forger to write
(on the back of this letter is written
Giles Williams and just
Then Serena William
[Giles would be a brother. Serena mispelling of Cyrena – a sister? Was Bill a cousin-son of Rufus’s uncle Richard?)
August the (2nd or 20?) 1861
Sir I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well at present and all of the boys are about well But my advisce would bee to stay at home. We got plenty to eat such as it is If I was at home like I was ______? I would stay But as I ant I will stay here if the company is ____________________________________(missing)
And wee will gow home but you take my advice and stay home. We drill around three hours a day and the balance of the time wee lay around camp We had preching in camp A bunch of men can get ay pass almost day to gow in town Eye took in the sty?? Ay big walk today and saw everything and ???????
Camp near Staford Court House, VA. June the 10th, 1863
Dear Sister it is with pleasure that I embrace the present opportunity of writing you a fewl lines in aswer to yours of the 28th of last month which I received the other day. It was with great pleasure to me for I had not got ary letter from home for some time. I suppose Uncle Jack has not had time to write you said you was going to school. That it a very good occupation if you will put your attention to it and try to learn.
Well I have nothing to write more than you letter found us all well. We are still here in old camp where we have been all winter & standing picket about every three days. Well Emley I would like to see you all ons’t more. I expect you have grown so that I would not know you iff I was to come back. God knows when that will be. Well I will close as my pen and ink is bad. I could go ahead and write a lot of foolishness but under the present circumstances I .....
(Uncle Jack would be Andrew Jackson Williams
______________________________________________________________________________
Hospital ner Sharpsburg Sept 20th, 1862
Uncle Jack, Dear Sir I set myself to let you know how we came out in the last battle. Eldridge is wounded in the thy and rist but is getting a long pretty well John A. Crenshaw was kild Laben is wounded in the arm. Daniel is wounded in the knee George Philips wounded in the leg Them three is at another hospital and I have not saw them Joe Fidler is kild Criss Fidler wounde din the hand I cannot tell all that is wounded I was struck in the _______________ by a peace of a shell But I soon got over it I weighting on Eldridg and I will say him untille he getsw well Well it was a hard fight but we gained a complete victory I think against the reble farm gets our of Maryland They will be satisfied I think they will leaf the big part of ther armey here There was a awful loss on both sides The rebels lost about 3 to our one Will I cannot tell much about it yet well I close I think the boys will all get well I try to get Laben and Daniel with Eldridg whe I can tend to all of Them Well I must close as Eldridg is goung to write I will write again as soon as I see the other boys.
Direct to Washington City Banks Division so no more at present there is one thing I had like to forget We lost Patterson some time ago overf in Vergna on the Rapicano (c or e) He was kild or Taken prisoner
So no more
yours truly
Rufus Williams
(Rufus makes
mention of a George Phillips. This was the same George Phillips
who would later marry Rufus’s cousin Clarissa [daughter of Garrett
Williams and widow of Pleasant Bowman and become the step-grandfather
of Celia Bowman who would marry Rufus’s son Otmar?) (Company D
information indicates the following about George Phillips
Phillips, George W
Trinity Springs (Martin), 25, 5-10, Farmer
Wounded at Antietam right leg, United States Army Field Hospital Smoketown Maryland, United States Army General Hospital No 2, City Hotel Branch Frederick Maryland. Returned to regiment 1-2-63. Discharged Stafford Court House Virginia 4-24-63 wounds: severe supporation; Died 8-6-66, buried Fayetteville Indiana Old Union Christian Church Cemetery
_____________________________________________________________________________
Written in red ink
Tullahoma Tenn December the 4th 1863
Dear Cousin Christepher It is with pleasure that I embrace the present opportunity to acknowledg the reception of you most welcome leter which came to hand the other day It found me well and harty Well I have no news of importance to write The 51st Ind Regt though here this morning enrout for the fromt They exic know where they are exchanged yet or nor?) They have no officers with them They are all in prison at Ritchmund Grant has took some of Pembertons men again They never been exchanged Grant has teligrafted to the President to know what to do with them I expec they will gow up to the spout. Lieutnet Res (Rox? Rohe?) has benn promoted to Capt of our company and Bagley to Capot of Co H. Well for my part I exic care who is promoted. This is a plesent day We have not had eney cold weather yet. There has not ben snow enough to cover the ground The people of this country are about 15 years behind the time. You can see them going around wian an old yoke of oxen and an old horse in the lead They pull there corn and stridth foder and stack it in the field. Well I will close as I have nothing to write. There is nothing going on here at all.
(Christopher
Columbus Williams, son of Rufus’s uncle Pryor is the only Williams
cousin so named. That family was in the Williams area until after
the civil war when then moved west. The other possibility would
be an unknown cousin on the Kern side of the family.)
(Embossed in upper left hand corner; Shepherd & Riley, under a large building that looks like a hugh Capitol with Many Columns.)
Tullahoma, TENN
Dec the 24th, 1863
Friend Bill yours of the 12th has come to hand. It found me well I never had my health better in my life. I weigh 190 pounds nmeeet so you see that we are not starving. Well Bill this is Christmas Eve and I would give 10 dollars to be there to have a spree with you but that cant bee so I will try and content myself on picket tomorrow. Well I have nothing of importance to make. The boys are all well The gurillas captured Lieutenant Porter of Co A, while out on a foriging expedition last knight but he is like the nigers rebet not much lose. He is port dry meat anyhow there is a good meny regts going into the veteren servis. I understood that the 3rd Wisconsin is going home tomorrow. The 2nd Mass has all gone in but 9 men It seems that our regt cant see it at least I cant I can stick out 8 months very easy then I think I will be ______ ______ a while.\
Well Bill I will Git I will stick a few lines of your letter in this for you to explane
Yours truley
Rufus Williams
Don’t forger to write
(on the back of this letter is written
Giles Williams and just
Then Serena William
[Giles would be a brother. Serena mispelling of Cyrena – a sister? Was Bill a cousin-son of Rufus’s uncle Richard?)
______________________________________________________________________________
FROM THE PEN OF MAGGIE (WILLIAMS) MILES
FROM THE PEN OF MAGGIE (WILLIAMS) MILES
A LITTLE STORY OF
RUFUS OTMAR WILLIAMS
Once upon a time there was born a
little baby girl to farmer parents in IN. The parents lived there
until the baby girl was twelve years old. Then the father decided
they should get their children out of that part of the country on
account of every one almost was related to each other. So they
sold their farm there and moved to North Bend, Neb. They lived
there 2 yrs. Then sold the farm and moved to South Haven Kansas,
where he bought another farm. They moved down there in the early
spring – built, or rather had a 6 room house built on the farm,- in the
fall. He decided to go to the Indian Territory on a hunting
expedition (what was then the Indian territory on south border of
Kans. When he returned home he found his wife to be quite
sick. He got all the Dr’s to be had and in spite of it all she
died, leaving 8 children from 18 yrs down to a little one year old baby
boy – (6 boys and 2 girls.)
Well he was certainly a broken up man – but he managed to keep the children fed and clothed and together and never married again.
Well he was certainly a broken up man – but he managed to keep the children fed and clothed and together and never married again.
(A little story written by Maggie
(Williams) Miles, daughter of Rufus Williams, as attested by
Maggie’s daughter, Bernice (Miles), to her daughter Margaret Rosalie
“Podie” (Ferguson) Ligon Handwritten original held by Margaret
Ligon
In 1980 a copy of the handwritten story was sent by Margaret to Ermel Williams. Ermel is the son of the “”little one year old baby boy”, Otmar Williams. This transcription made by Roger Williams September 1998. Roger is great grandson of Rufus, son of Stanley, and a nephew of Ermel.
In 1980 a copy of the handwritten story was sent by Margaret to Ermel Williams. Ermel is the son of the “”little one year old baby boy”, Otmar Williams. This transcription made by Roger Williams September 1998. Roger is great grandson of Rufus, son of Stanley, and a nephew of Ermel.
(Transcriptions of letters written by Bernice, Essie & Doyle, children of Maggie Williams to their grandfather Rufus O. Williams)
South Haven, Kas
Dear papa,
I would love to see you. I miss you an awful lot. I would love to see you . Essie is a little sick today. Wish you were home. We are getting along all right in school. Write soon. Doyle Miles
______________
Dear papa, I love you papa. I would like to see you. I would like to see little Rufus, and all the rest of them. I put the sweetes kisses in the paper I have got. Bernice Miles
xvi. - - - - - - - -
(Upside down at top of page)
I am like the children, I miss you, and would like to see little Rufus & all the rest. Don’t you have any help in the timber??. (No signature??)
(second page)
_____________
dear papa,
i would just love to see you. I want you to ??? ??? love you papa, you are so sweet. I would like to see little Rufus and uncle Bert and aunt Bell and uncle Enos and aunt Nannie too. I would like to see you and we get along all right. I got me a bull and a handkerchief case and two hand ker chief case for my birth day. Come home right soon i love you a bushel. Essie Miles
_____________
(Notes from Podie to Ermel)
Ermel – here is the front and back of a letter written in 1899 by Bernice, Essie, & Doyce, children of Maggie Williams Miles. I have always thought it was to their Grandfather Rufus O. Williams, as it mentions all the Williams family members, etc.
(notes from Roger Williams, “Little Rufus would have been Uncle Bert & Aunt Belle Williams’ baby son)
Ermel – here is the front and back of a letter written in 1899 by Bernice, Essie, & Doyce, children of Maggie Williams Miles. I have always thought it was to their Grandfather Rufus O. Williams, as it mentions all the Williams family members, etc.
(notes from Roger Williams, “Little Rufus would have been Uncle Bert & Aunt Belle Williams’ baby son)
OBITUARY OF RUFUS WILLIAMS
October 11, 1926
(Son of James Dixon & Cynthia Cox Williams)
Rufus Williams, born March 9th, 1843 near Williams, Ind., died October 11th, 1926 at the home of his son M. J. Williams, St. Petersburg, Fla. Age 83 yrs, 7 mo. 2 days. He was laid to rest in Royal Palms Cemetery, Oct. 13th in that city.
He was the son of James Dixon and Cynthia Cox Williams and grandson of Isaac and Amelia Gibson Williams—pioneers around whose home in the southern Indiana woods the little community town of Williams grew.
The third child in a family of nine, his early youth was spent on his father’s farm near there.
He was a member of the 27th Co. “D” Indiana Volunteers, being in active service throughout the bitter struggle of the Civil War. At its (the war’s) close he was honorable discharged and came back home where he remained until his marriage to Susan J. Kern, Aug of 1866 – establishing their new home in the same community.
To this union was born nine children, six of whom are living, 24 grand children and several great grandchildren. Coming of pioneer stock, the call of new country was in his blood. He moved toward the west in 1882 settling in South Haven, Kansas. There his beloved wife passed away on December 11, 1885 bringing to a close more than 19 years of a beautiful companionship and leaving a vacancy in his life and heart that nothing ever filled.
Restless and lonely though doing his best to be father and mother both to his children he became something of a wanderer living for short periods in several
western states and IN. until they (his children) were all grown and married. The late years of his life were spend among his children in Old Meico and the West, but the last 20 yrs. The greater part of his time was spent in the Florida sunshine, where hundreds from all over the world fished beside him at the pier, called him “Dad,” knew and loved him for his gentle and wise philosophy.
The key note of his entire life—he was never known to complain when the way was hard. Charitable and kindly toward his fellow man always, he died as gently and patient as he had lived.
Baptized in the Old Union Christian Church where his wife and people were members, he lived the teachings of Christ throughout his life.
Of his nine brothers and sisters, he is survived by only one brother, Giles Williams, of St. Petersburg, Fla, and Williams, Ind., who with hundreds of others, his friends and relatives, morn his loss and cherish his memory.
(Combined Transcription done by Roger Williams, 6-8-97 from a handwritten document, source and author unknown, that was in possession of Ruth (Williams) Compton and a copy of partial reproduction of newspaper clipping (newspaper source unknown) of same from Margaret (Podie) Miles, Ligon provided by Ermel Williams in September 1998. (Did Rufus’s daughter Maggie write this and have it published in some paper???)
NEWSPAPER OBITUARIES OF RUFUS WILLIAMS
Wednesday, October 20, 1926
Bedford Daily Times
RUFUS WILLIAMS
DIES IN FLORIDA
Former Well Known Resident of
Williams Neighborhood Succumbs
at Jacksonville
Friends here of Rufus Williams, former well know resident in the Williams neighborhood who for several years has resided at Jacksonville, Fla. Have just learned of his death at the home of his brother, Giles Williams, in that city a week or ten days ago.
(Other than the dates, none of this agrees with other documentation that he died 10-16-26 in St. Petersburg at home of his son Mozart. No additional information found in Bedford papers.) (Transcribed by Roger Williams, 9-14-98)
St. Petersburg Independent Newspaper
October 11, 1926
OBITUARY
RUPERT [sic Rufus] WILLIAMS
Rupert [sic Rufus} Williams, 83 years old, retired farmer, died at 4:15 o’clock this morning at his home, 597 22d avenue north. Mr. Williams had been a permanent resident here the past two years and was visitor here during the winter season more than 20 years. He was formerly from Watonga, Okla.
Mr. Williams was a Civil war veteran, a member of the 27th infantry, company D, Indiana volunteers. He was also a member of the Christian church.
Surviving him are five sons, M. J. Williams of this city, Ned Williams, A. B. Williams, Enos Williams, Altman [sic Otmar`] Williams and one daughter, Mrs. J.J. Jessup, all living in Oklahoma and Indiana.
(This is the only newspaper obituary for Rufus found in the microfilms of the St. Petersburg newspapers. Rufus is incorrectly listed as Rupert and his son Otmar is listed at Altman.)
Susan Jane (Kern) Williams
This is the only known picture of
Susan. It is reproduced from a
photocopy sent by “Podie” to
Ermel Williams about 1980.
This is the only known picture of
Susan. It is reproduced from a
photocopy sent by “Podie” to
Ermel Williams about 1980.
Daughter of Rufus Williams
and Susan J. Kern
Daughter of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born May ??, 1867 at Williams, IN.
Died April 9, 1908 inOklahoma , buried at East Mt. Pleasant (Cordlell)
Cemetery, Watonga , OK
Married Joe H. Geeslin, July 3, 1889. Joe was born 11-5-1867Hillsboro
Died 6-6-1963 buried atWatonga , OK 
Daughter of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born May ??, 1867 at Williams, IN.
Died April 9, 1908 in
Married Joe H. Geeslin, July 3, 1889. Joe was born 11-5-1867
Died 6-6-1963 buried at
Joe
re-married to “Edna Mae” who was also born in
(3/2002
has a son Joe who is a retired farmer at
GEESLIN, J. G. INTERVIEW 10565
Louise S. Barnes,
Investigator,
April 19, 1938
Interview with J. G. Geeslin,
Watonga, Oklahoma
I was born in Highland County, Hillsboro, Ohio, November 8, 1867, and moved to Kansas with my parents when I was four years old.
I came from the southern boarder of Kansas in 1889 and made the run to a claim eleven miles northwest of Guthrie and one and one-fourth miles south of Crescent, but it was mostly timber land so I did not file, I traded it for 100 bushel of wheat which I sold and returned to Kansas until May 13, 1892, at which time I filed in the Cheyenne and Arapaho opening.
I came down with my oldest brother from South Haven, Kansas, in a surrey and the first night we camped on Salt Fort Creek because we had to wait until the creek went down some before we could get the provisions across and then when we got to the Cimarron River it had raised so hard we could not ford it and so we had to leave our wagons and horses in Dover, and we took the train into Kingfisher where we hired a wagon to take us out to look at the land and then I filed on the place I still own, and brought my wife and one son to live on the homestead in October. There were very few claims in this county because there was so much Indiana land but even so we organized our own schools and churches, now the Indiana land has been sold and is owned by white people.
I was elected to the school board in the second school election; and I was president of the board for twenty-three years, I resigned then. I was president of the Greenfield State Bank a few years, chairman of the Cooperative Elevator the last fifteen years, chairman of the County Farms Union and also the Local Organization.
My(2nd) wife, Edna Mae, who was born in Indiana, May 11, 1878, and I still live on the old homestead and have raised a large family.
SOURCE:
Indian Pioneer History Collection
Grant Forman Collection housed at:
Archives/Manuscripts
Oklahoma Historical Society
2100 N. Lincoln Blvd,
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Volume 84, p 104-105
Transcript is verbatim (except notation of 2nd wife) from copy of original document created as a part of an oral history project completed in 1934-36 in Oklahoma. Grammatical errors have not been corrected. Transcribed by Roger Williams December 2000
Ralph Williams, son of Rufus and Susan
Kern Williams
Born October 30, 1868 died May 2, 1921
Never married. Buried Springdale Cemetery, Madison, IN. plot 32 in an unmarked gravesite.
Ralph apparently suffered from some type of neurological disorder that eventually led to him receiving residential care in the State Hospital at Madison, Indiana. Following a telephone call from the hospital, his brother Otmar traveled from Washington, Indiana by train to visit Ralph a few weeks before Ralph’s death. Aunt Estelle remembers that her dad took a small sack of apples from the Veale Creek farm to share with his brother Ralph.
Born October 30, 1868 died May 2, 1921
Never married. Buried Springdale Cemetery, Madison, IN. plot 32 in an unmarked gravesite.
Ralph apparently suffered from some type of neurological disorder that eventually led to him receiving residential care in the State Hospital at Madison, Indiana. Following a telephone call from the hospital, his brother Otmar traveled from Washington, Indiana by train to visit Ralph a few weeks before Ralph’s death. Aunt Estelle remembers that her dad took a small sack of apples from the Veale Creek farm to share with his brother Ralph.
Daughter of Rufus
Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born June 25, 1871 at Williams, IN. moved to Nebraska at age 12 and to South Haven, Kansas two years later.
Died ??
Married James Christy Miles, August 30, 1888 at South Haven, Kansas
J. C. Miles was born November 16, 1866 at Beetown, Grant county, Wisconsin,
died of tuberculosis at the Woodman Sanitarium at Fort Collins, Colorado, August 10, 1917 and is buried at Brush, Colorado.
Married (2) M. N. Jessup NFR
Maggie and husband J. C. Miles homesteaded a claim near Crescent, Oklahoma (Logan County) in 1889 – a short year after they were married. In 1908 they moved to a pineapple farm at Medina, Oaxaco, Mexico. The Oaxaco region is southeast of Mexico City. In 1916 they were ordered out in advance of revolutionary forces and returned to Oklahoma. According to notes from Maggie’s granddaughter Margaret (Miles) Ferguson, the family literally “fled for their lives with what they could carry on their backs.” The Rufus Williams obituary indicated that Rufus spent some time with his children in old Mexico.
Maggie was a zealous writer. (See Appendix A) She contributed articles to the newspaper in Medina and is assumed to be the author of the obituary for her father Rufus Williams contained elsewhere in this document. Thank God for Maggie and her sense of history!!
Maggie spent her final years living with her daughter Bernice Ferguson. Bernice’s daughter, Margaret (Podie) would “take up the torch” and document the family history. Thank God for daughters!!
Born June 25, 1871 at Williams, IN. moved to Nebraska at age 12 and to South Haven, Kansas two years later.
Died ??
Married James Christy Miles, August 30, 1888 at South Haven, Kansas
J. C. Miles was born November 16, 1866 at Beetown, Grant county, Wisconsin,
died of tuberculosis at the Woodman Sanitarium at Fort Collins, Colorado, August 10, 1917 and is buried at Brush, Colorado.
Married (2) M. N. Jessup NFR
Maggie and husband J. C. Miles homesteaded a claim near Crescent, Oklahoma (Logan County) in 1889 – a short year after they were married. In 1908 they moved to a pineapple farm at Medina, Oaxaco, Mexico. The Oaxaco region is southeast of Mexico City. In 1916 they were ordered out in advance of revolutionary forces and returned to Oklahoma. According to notes from Maggie’s granddaughter Margaret (Miles) Ferguson, the family literally “fled for their lives with what they could carry on their backs.” The Rufus Williams obituary indicated that Rufus spent some time with his children in old Mexico.
Maggie was a zealous writer. (See Appendix A) She contributed articles to the newspaper in Medina and is assumed to be the author of the obituary for her father Rufus Williams contained elsewhere in this document. Thank God for Maggie and her sense of history!!
Maggie spent her final years living with her daughter Bernice Ferguson. Bernice’s daughter, Margaret (Podie) would “take up the torch” and document the family history. Thank God for daughters!!
11278—33-1. Doyle Williams Miles born July 23, 1989 South Haven, Ks
Married Feb 26, 1916 to Victoria Rojas said to be the daughter of a general in Carranza’s army, at Vera Cruz, Mexico. Four children
11278—33-2. Leulla Miles born August 20, 1891 at Crescent, Oklahoma
Died August 10, 1892 and is buried at Crescent.
11278—33-3. Esther Miles Born January 19, 1893 at Crescent, Oklahoma
Married Jay D. Waddle, September 19, 1914 at Topeka, Kansas. Four children
11278-33-4. Bernice Miles born October 13, 1894 at Crescent, Oklahoma.
Married Ned Ferguson, April 17, 1919 at Shreveport, Louisiana. Five children.
The following materials, printed in different type list the known information regarding Maggie’s family. It is an expansion of materials supplied to Uncle Ermel Williams by Podie in 1980.
JAMES CHRISTY MILES, was born Nov. 16, 1866 at Beetown, Grant County, Wisconsin, died of tuberculosis at the Woodman Sanitarium at Fort Collins, Colorado, August 10, 1917, and is buried at Brush, Colorado. James C. Miles homesteaded a claim near Crescent, Oklahoma, in 1889. In 1908 he moved to Medina, Oaxaco, Mexico. Ordered out in 1916 leaving all his property, he and his family returned to Oklahoma.
[There were some 2,000 North Americians in this area of old Mexico during the revolution which in one way or another lasted from 1910 to 1917. The exican rebels were fighting the Mexican Federals who were fighting the constitutionalist army of Mexico; and they were all fighting Pancho Villa, who was also having a private war with New Mexico and General John S. Pershing. Mini (Bernice) and her family was taken to safety by a German cruiser which happened to be in the harbor and showed kindness and generosity to many Americians. In 1938 the Mexican government began payments to all the North Americans who had to leave all their property and possessions and flee for their lives. Her father and brother stayed to try to save ???? {notes in margin written by Podie}]
MAGGIE WILLIAMS, was born June 25, 1871 at Williams Indiana
Maggie and James were married August 30, 1888 at South Haven, Kansas. Their children: Doyle Williams, Luella, Esther, and Bernice. After the death of James C. Miles, his wife married M. M. Jessup and was lived with her daughter in Big Springs, Texas until her death.
11278-33-1. DOYLE WILLIAMS Miles, was born July 23, 1889 at South Haven, Kansas. He was married Feb 36, 1916 to VICTORIA ROJAS, said to be the daughter of a general in Carranza’s army, at Vera Cruz, Mexico. Their children: Evelyn, Evelia, Doyle Page, and Reina Bernic.
11278-331-1 EVELYN EVELIA MILES was born June 22, 1918 at Mena, Arkansas, and lives in Lawton, Okla.
11278-331-2 DOYLE PAGE MILES, was born April 5, 1920 at Vivian, Louisiana, and lives in Old Mexico.
11278-331-3 REINA BERNICE MILES was born August 7, 1922 at Vivian, Louisiana, and lives in Old Mexico. (Still there in 1980)
11278-33-2. LEULLA MILES, was born August 20, 1891 at Crescent, Oklahoma, died August 10, 1892, and is buried at Crescent. OK
11278-33-2 ESTHER MILES, (Essie) was born Jan. 19, 1893 at Crescent, Oklahoma. She was married to JAY. D. WADDLE on September 19, 1914 at Topeka, Kans.. They lived at Lawton, Oklahoma. Their children: Mildred Esther, James Addison, and Paul Christy.
11278-332-1 MILDRED ESTHER WADDLE, was born Sept. 17, 1915 at Rush Springs. Missouri. Lived in Lawton, OK in 1980
11278-332-2 JAMES ADDISON WADDLE, was born March 14, 1817 at Hillrose, Colorado. In Ft. Worth TX in 1980
11278-332-3 PAUL CHRISTY WADDLE, was born Nov. 23, 1919 at Brush, Colorado. Was killed in W.W.II
11278-33-3 BERNICE MILES, was born October 13, 1894 at Crescent, Oklahoma.
Died 1973 Austin Tx.
Married to NED FERGUSON, born 4-16-1919 at Moore, Tx, on April 17, 1919 at Shreveport, Louisiana. Ned Ferguson was a drilling contractor. Left the business about 1949 and moved to a farm in Arkansas. Ned died 2-12-1969 buried Austin, Tx.
11278-333-1 BERNICE VIVIAN FERGUSON, was born March 23, 1924 at Cersicana, Texas.
Married Charles Paradeux Hughes 194411278-333-2 JACK (Johnny) CHRISTY FERGUSON, was born August 5, 1925 at Enid, Oklahoma.
Dianne; b. 1-21-1946; Uvalde TX
1 child Mitchell
2nd marriage Glen Edge 1950,
Phyllis b 11-1951 Mena,AK
2 children Heather and Scott
Married Edith Flowers May 1947 Uvalde Tx
Douglas b 8-30-1949 AbileneTx ; m Janet Morgan
Christy b. 5-9-1952 Uvalde TX
Daniel b 5-1956
11278-333-3 MARGARET ROSALIE (Podie) was born June 16, 1927 at Big Spring, Texas. (1998 living in Virginia)
Married Williams Hastings Ligon 5-10-1949 in Mena, AR
William Austin b 1-27-1950 Trinidad CO
Rosalie b 5-10-1952 Mena AR
m. Paul Gray live in Paris TX
Reid b 6-29-19?? Midland TX; U.S. Air Force Veteran
Scott b 2-1957 Midland TX
m. Betinna Louise Isaacs from Logansport, IN
Shannon Louise
11278-333-4 VIRGINIA LUCILLE FERGUSON, was born Sept. 26, 1928 at Big Spring, Texas
Married Milton L Flowers 10-18-1946 at Uvalde, TX Milton b 10-18-1946
Bernice b 12-23-1948 Uvalde TX
Milton III, b 11-30-1951 Uvalde TX
M Candyce Bonnel 5-1-1976
Phillip b. 9-20-1956 Austin TX
11278-333-5 EDWIN WILLIAM (Eddie) FERGUSON, was born June 4, 1930 at Big Spring, Texas (1998 lives in New Mexico)
Married Marilyn Chambers
Kaye
Gaye
Eddie operated a Refrigeration Service and lives in Las Cruces N.M. in year 2000.
(This writer has had telephone and mail contact with Eddie Ferguson and with Scott Ligon)
Son of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born March 31, 1873 at Williams, IN.
Died at sea on a fishing expedition with his son, Captain Clarence Richard Williams, November 17, 1941. Buried in Royal Palm Cemetery at St. Petersburg, Fl.
Married Hanna Wilson April 27, 1894 with issue Hanna is NOT listed as a survivor in Ned’s obituaries, date of death is unknown at this time.
He and Hanna raised four children while two others died as infants. Originally working as tenant farmersin Oklahoma, Ned, Hanna, son Clarence and his wife Thelma and son Richard are listed as farmers in the 1930 federal census of Lincoln Township, Blaine Co, Oklahoma.
Ned and his family tried their had at several farming operations in east Texas and various locations in Florida before Ned and family moved to Florida in 1936 and lived in Miami with Ned’s daughter Hazel (Collins) for a year. They then moved to St. Petersburg and lived with Annis (Williams) Newberry and family before purchasing their own home on the south side of St. Petersburg, in 1938. It was on some of the earlier excursions to Florida that both Annis and Clarence met and married their spouses.
Ned and Clarence owned and operated a commercial fishing boat for several years with Clarence as the Captain. Clarence was an active and reserve officer in the Coast Guard. Clarence was piloting the fishing ship when Ned suffered his heart attack and died at sea.
Herman Williams was also a commercial fisherman who died an accidental drowning when he fell overboard from a fishing vessel about 1949. The family sold the boat shortly after that.
Ned and son Clarence then purchased and operated a 640 acre farm near Gainesville, FL 1951-55. Grandson Richard helped on the farm as well. Clarence moved to Tarpon Springs where he continued to operate a small “truck farm.”
Ned made a return trip from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, to his Indiana roots in the summer of 1938. During that visit he was reunited with his baby brother Otmar after a separation of some 42 years. Otmar, who was only a lad of 12 years when Ned left home immediately, recognized his older brother. Ned’s visit is recorded in a family picture taken at the farm.
Aunt Eula (Williams) Riggins’ recollections of that event are as follows:
“I distinctly remember when I was about fifteen years old and Uncle Ned came to visit us at the farm west of Walnut Hill where I grew up. He walked the mile and one-half from the train station in Odon, carrying his suitcase. We did not have a telephone. He lived in Florida and dad hadn’t seen him for some forty years. Seems at though they missed seeing each other by one day at an earlier event.
Uncle Ned walked up on the porch and knocked on the dining room door. Dad was reading the daily newspaper and he got up, newspaper in hand, and went to the door. Ned said: “Bet you don’t know me, do you?” And dad replied, “Yes I do – you are Ned.”
It was blackberry season and Uncle Ned arose early every morning and went to the lower pasture and picked a little gallon bucket rounded up full of blackberries which mom, Celia, made into a cobbler for noon dinner. Yum, they were delicious.
I am not sure about how long uncle Ned stayed with us; but it was at least two weeks. While there, he taught dad a new fiddle tune called “Liberty.” I also learned this tune and I remember the day he left. I asked him to play it one more time. After carrying water to the house from the back yard pump and heating it on the wood fired cook stove, he took a bath in the galvanized laundry washtub in the woodshed. Then he sat on the back porch and played the tune while I followed along as best I could. After that dad took him to Odon to board the train.”
ISSUE
11278-34-1. (Captain) Clarence Richard Williams. Born 3-26-1898 in Texas Died 1967 Married Thelma Newberry, sister-in-law of Annis Williams Newberry Divorced
11278-341-1. Richard, b. 193?, Greenfield, OK
Married. Barbara McKnight May 1952, Divorced 1968
Following a tour of duty in the service, Richard worked part time in the Post Office and helped on the farm while attending college at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He eventually earned both a B.S.(1956) and M.S. Degree (1958)in mathematics and physics. He then joined the faculty for a year before gaining a fellowship grant at the University of California, Berkley campus where he worked on a doctoral program. In 1963 he returned to Florida where he rejoined the faculty at the University of Florida. He later worked at St. Petersburg Junior College and obtained degrees in Accounting and Computers. He currently lives in St. Petersburg, FL.
11278-3411-1. Rick Williams b. 1962. Graduate of West Virginia University (1986), M. ?? in Chicago, Il
to Jackie . Rick is a certified electrician and a reserve officer in the military. Currently living in Westchester, Il
11278-34111-1, Brianne born 3-15-2002
11278-34111-2, Davis, b. 5-28-2003 Winchester, Il
11278-34-2. Annis Williams b ??, D ?? ; 1st m. Robert Earl Newberry. (Born 4-12-1901 died 8- ? – 1975) divorced
Earl was a Detective for the St. Petersburg City Police Dept. and also worked some with the county sheriff’s department.
11278-342-1. Robert W., b 1930, Fl m. Patricia Hoffman 1930
d. 1996 St. Petersburg, Fl
Robert W. was a general contractor. He and Pat were both students at St. Petersburg High School where he stared in football. However, they did not meet until after graduating. He was also a talented musician who played the guitar and passed on several old family songs to his sons.
11278-3421-1. Randy, b. 2-6-56. m. Cecelia Marie Bahari, a native of Hungary, she was born 6-12-1982. They were married in a home on the shore of Lake Tarpon which Randy and his father had built.
Randy is an electrical engineer. He and a boyhood friend established a successful circuit board manufacturing business in Homosassa Springs.
11278-34211-1. Derrick, b. 11-20-1982
11278-34211-2. Chelsea b. 9-2-1986 is a star athlete in high school
2nd marriage to Pat Tucker, Divorced 1975
11278-3421 –2. Robert Rockland (Rocky) Newberry born 11-4-54 and lives in St. Petersburg, Fl.
11278-34-3. Herman V. Williams is listed as a son in Ned’s obituary living in Miami. Mrs. Pat (Tucker) Newberry remembers Bob taking her, the boys, and Hazel Collins to visit H. V. and his wife on a farm near Gainesville, Fl.
11278-34-4. A Mrs. J. A. (Hazel) Collins, living also in St. Petersburg is listed in Ned’s Obituary. Mrs. Newberry remembers Hazel as a very warm person and as having a son James Collins.
Son of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born March 31, 1873 at Williams, IN.
Died at sea on a fishing expedition with his son, Captain Clarence Richard Williams, November 17, 1941.
Buried in Royal Palm Cemetery at St. Petersburg, Fl.
Married Hanna Wilson April 27, 1894 with issue Hanna is NOT listed as a survivor in Ned’s obituaries, date of death is unknown at this time.
He and Hanna raised
four children while two others
died as infants. Originally working as tenant farmersin Oklahoma,
Ned, Hanna, son Clarence and his wife Thelma and son Richard are listed
as farmers in the 1930 federal census of Lincoln Township, Blaine Co,
Oklahoma.
Ned and his family tried their had at several farming operations in east Texas and various locations in Florida before Ned and family moved to Florida in 1936 and lived in Miami with Ned’s daughter Hazel (Collins) for a year. They then moved to St. Petersburg and lived with Annis (Williams) Newberry and family before purchasing their own home on the south side of St. Petersburg, in 1938. It was on some of the earlier excursions to Florida that both Annis and Clarence met and married their spouses.
Ned and Clarence owned and operated a commercial fishing boat for several years with Clarence as the Captain. Clarence was an active and reserve officer in the Coast Guard. Clarence was piloting the fishing ship when Ned suffered his heart attack and died at sea.
Herman Williams was also a commercial fisherman who died an accidental drowning when he fell overboard from a fishing vessel about 1949. The family sold the boat shortly after that.
Ned and son Clarence then purchased and operated a 640 acre farm near Gainesville, FL 1951-55. Grandson Richard helped on the farm as well. Clarence moved to Tarpon Springs where he continued to operate a small “truck farm.”
Ned made a return trip from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, to his Indiana roots in the summer of 1938. During that visit he was reunited with his baby brother Otmar after a separation of some 42 years. Otmar, who was only a lad of 12 years when Ned left home immediately, recognized his older brother. Ned’s visit is recorded in a family picture taken at the farm.
Ned and his family tried their had at several farming operations in east Texas and various locations in Florida before Ned and family moved to Florida in 1936 and lived in Miami with Ned’s daughter Hazel (Collins) for a year. They then moved to St. Petersburg and lived with Annis (Williams) Newberry and family before purchasing their own home on the south side of St. Petersburg, in 1938. It was on some of the earlier excursions to Florida that both Annis and Clarence met and married their spouses.
Ned and Clarence owned and operated a commercial fishing boat for several years with Clarence as the Captain. Clarence was an active and reserve officer in the Coast Guard. Clarence was piloting the fishing ship when Ned suffered his heart attack and died at sea.
Herman Williams was also a commercial fisherman who died an accidental drowning when he fell overboard from a fishing vessel about 1949. The family sold the boat shortly after that.
Ned and son Clarence then purchased and operated a 640 acre farm near Gainesville, FL 1951-55. Grandson Richard helped on the farm as well. Clarence moved to Tarpon Springs where he continued to operate a small “truck farm.”
Ned made a return trip from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, to his Indiana roots in the summer of 1938. During that visit he was reunited with his baby brother Otmar after a separation of some 42 years. Otmar, who was only a lad of 12 years when Ned left home immediately, recognized his older brother. Ned’s visit is recorded in a family picture taken at the farm.
Aunt Eula (Williams) Riggins’
recollections of that event are as follows:
“I distinctly remember when I was about fifteen years old and Uncle Ned came to visit us at the farm west of Walnut Hill where I grew up. He walked the mile and one-half from the train station in Odon, carrying his suitcase. We did not have a telephone. He lived in Florida and dad hadn’t seen him for some forty years. Seems at though they missed seeing each other by one day at an earlier event.
Uncle Ned walked up on the porch and knocked on the dining room door. Dad was reading the daily newspaper and he got up, newspaper in hand, and went to the door. Ned said: “Bet you don’t know me, do you?” And dad replied, “Yes I do – you are Ned.”
It was blackberry season and Uncle Ned arose early every morning and went to the lower pasture and picked a little gallon bucket rounded up full of blackberries which mom, Celia, made into a cobbler for noon dinner. Yum, they were delicious.
I am not sure about how long uncle Ned stayed with us; but it was at least two weeks. While there, he taught dad a new fiddle tune called “Liberty.” I also learned this tune and I remember the day he left. I asked him to play it one more time. After carrying water to the house from the back yard pump and heating it on the wood fired cook stove, he took a bath in the galvanized laundry washtub in the woodshed. Then he sat on the back porch and played the tune while I followed along as best I could. After that dad took him to Odon to board the train.”
“I distinctly remember when I was about fifteen years old and Uncle Ned came to visit us at the farm west of Walnut Hill where I grew up. He walked the mile and one-half from the train station in Odon, carrying his suitcase. We did not have a telephone. He lived in Florida and dad hadn’t seen him for some forty years. Seems at though they missed seeing each other by one day at an earlier event.
Uncle Ned walked up on the porch and knocked on the dining room door. Dad was reading the daily newspaper and he got up, newspaper in hand, and went to the door. Ned said: “Bet you don’t know me, do you?” And dad replied, “Yes I do – you are Ned.”
It was blackberry season and Uncle Ned arose early every morning and went to the lower pasture and picked a little gallon bucket rounded up full of blackberries which mom, Celia, made into a cobbler for noon dinner. Yum, they were delicious.
I am not sure about how long uncle Ned stayed with us; but it was at least two weeks. While there, he taught dad a new fiddle tune called “Liberty.” I also learned this tune and I remember the day he left. I asked him to play it one more time. After carrying water to the house from the back yard pump and heating it on the wood fired cook stove, he took a bath in the galvanized laundry washtub in the woodshed. Then he sat on the back porch and played the tune while I followed along as best I could. After that dad took him to Odon to board the train.”
ISSUE
11278-34-1. (Captain) Clarence Richard Williams. Born 3-26-1898 in Texas Died 1967
Married Thelma Newberry, sister-in-law of Annis Williams Newberry Divorced
11278-341-1. Richard, b. 193?, Greenfield, OK
Married. Barbara McKnight May 1952, Divorced 1968
Following a tour of duty in the service, Richard worked part time in the Post Office and helped on the farm while attending college at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He eventually earned both a B.S.(1956) and M.S. Degree (1958)in mathematics and physics. He then joined the faculty for a year before gaining a fellowship grant at the University of California, Berkley campus where he worked on a doctoral program. In 1963 he returned to Florida where he rejoined the faculty at the University of Florida. He later worked at St. Petersburg Junior College and obtained degrees in Accounting and Computers. He currently lives in St. Petersburg, FL.
11278-3411-1. Rick Williams b. 1962. Graduate of West Virginia University (1986),
M. ?? in Chicago, Il to Jackie Schafer . Rick is a certified electrician and a Major in the USArmy Reserves. He is currently stationed at Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin and lives in nearby Tomah, Wi.
11278-34111-1, Brianne born 3-15-2002, Winchester, Il
11278-34111-2, Davis, b. 5-28-2003 Winchester, Il
11278-34-2. Annis Williams b ??, D ?? ; 1st m. Robert Earl Newberry. (Born 4-12-1901 died 8- ? – 1975) divorced
Earl was a Detective for the St. Petersburg City Police Dept. and also worked some with the county sheriff’s department.
11278-342-1. Robert W., b 1930, Fl m. Patricia Hoffman 1930
d. 1996 St. Petersburg, Fl
Robert W. was a general contractor. He and Pat were both students at St. Petersburg High School where he stared in football. However, they did not meet until after graduating. He was also a talented musician who played the guitar and passed on several old family songs to his sons.
11278-3421-1. Randy, b. 2-6-56. m. Cecelia Marie Bahari, a native of Hungary, she was born 6-12-1982.
They were married in a home on the shore of Lake Tarpon which Randy and his father had built.
Randy is an electrical engineer. He and a boyhood friend established a successful circuit board manufacturing business in Homosassa Springs.
11278-34211-1. Derrick, b. 11-20-1982
11278-34211-2. Chelsea b. 9-2-1986 is a star athlete in high school
2nd marriage to Pat Tucker, Divorced 1975
11278-3421 –2. Robert Rockland (Rocky) Newberry born 11-4-54 and lives in St. Petersburg, Fl.
11278-34-3. Herman V. Williams is listed as a son in Ned’s obituary living in Miami. Mrs. Pat (Tucker) Newberry remembers Bob taking her, the boys, and Hazel Collins to visit H. V. and his wife on a farm near Gainesville, Fl.
11278-34-4. A Mrs. J. A. (Hazel) Collins, living also in St. Petersburg is listed in Ned’s Obituary. Mrs. Newberry remembers Hazel as a very warm person and as having a son James Collins.
OBITUARIES
The Independent, St. Petersburg
Tuesday, November 18, 1941
Son Arrives in Port
With Father’s Body
Carrying the body of his father, who had died suddenly at sea last night about 7:10 o’clock, Capt. C. R. Williams, Tampa, early this afternoon docked the fishing schooner Pilar at the Hibbs Fish Company Dock here, to report the tragedy to officials.
The dead man, Ned Williams, 68, father-in-law of City Detective Earl Newberry, collapsed, it was reported to local police, while he was pulling in a fish on the snapper banks 75 miles west of here in the Gulf of Mexico.
Captain Williams and the crew of six other men aboard the Pilar carefully wrapped the body of the stricken man in canvas and headed back to port. The ship arrived here about 1 o’clock this afternoon.
Police reported that the death was apparently due to a heart attack.
Williams resided here at 1515 39th street south. The vessel on which he sailed was out of Tampa.
Beside his son, survivors include the daughter, Mrs. Annis Newberry, and several other children.
Funeral arrangements will be announced later by Ralph G. Cooksey.
St. Petersburg Times
Wednesday, November 19, 1941
Son Brings Body Of Fisherman Back from Gulf
The body of Ned R. Williams, 68, who died at sea Monday night, apparently of a heart attack, was returned to St. Petersburg yesterday aboard the Pilar, piloted by Williams’ son, Capt. C. R. Williams of Tampa.
Williams told Constable Sid Saunders his father had just pulled a fish into the boat when he fainted and fell to the deck. He never recovered consciousness.
Magistrate Joe E. Carpenter said death was due to natural causes and no inquest will be held.
Williams, who lived here at 1515 Thirty-ninth street south, sailed from Tampa with the ship and Captain Williams said the Pilar was working the snapper banks 75 miles out in the gulf when his father died.
Mr. Williams is survived by his wife, Hannah Elizabeth; two daughters, Mrs. R. E. Newberry of this city and Mrs. J. A. Collins of Miami; two sons C. R. and H. V. Williams, both of this city; two brothers, Enos Williams of Watonga, Okla., and Ott Williams of Indiana, and one sister Miss Maggie Williams of this city.
Funeral services will be held at the Cooksey funeral home at 3 o’clock this afternoon with the Rev. H. B. McDonnell officiating. Internment will be at Royal Palm.
(There are two editions –early an final - of the Nov 19th paper on the microfilm in the library. The first edition does not include the names of the children or the funeral arrangements.
There is no other documentation that “Miss Maggie Williams” was in St. Petersburg at the time of Ned’s death. She married James Miles in south Haven, Kansas in 1888 and he died in 1917. Sometime later she married M.M. Jessup and later lived with a daughter in Texas. Perhaps she was on an extended vacation in St. Petersburg when Ned died??)
St Petersburg Newspaper
September, 1946
By Scotty Campbell
A gallant little schooner, tattered and battered but too stubborn to say enough, was in port today after carrying her crew of seven safely through 72 hours of hurricane hell.
The Pilar, skippered by Clarence R. Williams, St. Petersburg, and owned by the Sanitary Fish Company of Tampa, came into the coast guard basin here last night behind an 83 foot cutter her riggings frayed to shreds by terrific winds that had tossed her mercilessly since Wednesday afternoon.
“She’s the best ship ever build,” Captain Williams said, and then lauded his crewmen for their work during the storm. His crew, all of Tamps, included: Paul Slay, Cleve Mixon, Ernest Weese, Howard Burney, Eugene Starr, and James Birne.
The Pilar, a schooner-rigged Greek-type craft, left Tampa Monday on a routine fishing trip. Tuesday, after one day’s angling and with about 400 pounds of fish aboard, the skipper received hurricane warnings on his radio set. He immediately decided to head in, and here is his story:
“Iour position at that time was 26 degrees, 50 minutes north—or about 60 miles from Tampa, 50 miles from Boca Grande. We decided to head for Boca Grande, it being hearer. It was only a short time later that heavy seas knocked out our engine.
WE IMMEDIATELY notified the Pilar’s owners, and then asked aid of the St. Petersburg coast guard station. Then we anchored, but out two anchors held only about 30 minutes. We were encountering seas of the heaviest type by sundown Wednesday; and were without power and drifting al the will of the wind. It was possible to give our position within two or three miles by dark Wednesday, but from there on the Pilar was Lost.
“The first half of the storm, --one of the worst hurricanes I’ve ever seen and I’ve been on the sea 30 years—carried us southward from 5:30 p.m. Wednesday until 2: a.m. Thursday,. Then we were treated to the unusual calm of the “eye.” (The “eye” is the center of a hurricane and is devoid of the heavy winds that make up the outer circle.)
FROM 2 A. M. until about 2:30 a. m.” Capt. Williams continued, “ we were in calm weather, exceedingly dark, but at least calm. Then terrifying, battering gales stuck us again.
“The second half of the storm carried us northward until late Thursday. We were taking water badly all the time, and the only pumps we had were hand worked. Turns about at the pump were taken; while half the crew pumped the other half slept—and believe it or not, we slept good.!
“Our radio is powered by dry cell batteries, and while we were anxious to keep constant with the air station we also were fearful of running down our power units. So I began calling at intervals of about and hour, and this way could still keep contact without using up the batteries altogether.”
HOWARD BURNEY, first mate of the Pilar, took up the story: “We learned lat Thursday, while we were catching the tail of the blow, that the coast guard had dispatched the cutter Juniper for us. It was black-dark and visibility was so poor due to the flying spray that it was impossible to see the Juniper’s lights, although our radio kept us informed that she was moving nearer all the time.
“Then early this morning (yesterday) we saw the coast guard plane circling us. Just then our radio batteries played out.
RADIOLESS, the crew of the Pilar sat and waited, but now feeling secure that they were safe. Luckily, the plane they saw early yesterday morning just as their radio failed had also spotted them and was able to direct the Juniper to the drifting craft.
James Birne, cook abort the Pilar, tells his part: “We had plenty of food aboard, but it was impossible to cook. Our galley is so located that I have to go in deck to reach it, and except for the half hour we were in the “eye” it was impossible to go on deck.
Captain Williams, who lives at 928 Arlington Avenue, said all his crew were veterans of at least two hurricanes, and of them had weathered as many as five. The captain himself was at sea when a 1920 hurricane plowed through the Caribbean and again when the 1940 blow hit the gulf. He said neither was as bad as the one from which he had came, although the 1940 winds did blow as hard at times.
The crew members described the beating given the Pilar as being terrible. Sometimes, they said, the 40-foot craft would be hurled clear of the water, tossed about for seconds, and then thud back to the sea. Injuries were avoided by clinging tightly to the bunks below deck, and except when pumping the men kept to their beds.
DESPITE THE FACT that the crew are all seamen with years of experience, Mate Burney said seasickness overtook several of them during the early hours of the storm.
Captain Williams said he did not think the Pilar was seriously damaged, although there might a plant or two loose in the bottom. The rigging was heavily damaged, but as a whole the little boat seemed last night to have weathered the hurricane in good shape.
**************
11278-3-5. INFANT DAUGHTER
Daughter of Rufus O. and Susan (Kern) Williams
Infant daughter born October 2, 1874 died November 11, 1874
Buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery, Williams, Indiana
Son of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born May 8, 1876 at Williams, IN.
Died January 17, 1927 at Crescent, Oklahoma Buried there
Married Belle Moore September 1, 1896 in Ok born 1869 d 1940
“Uncle Bert” apparently spent all of his life in Kansas and Oklahoma once he left Indiana with his mother and father in 1883. He farmed for a few years on land east of Greenfield but left the farm and moved back to Crescent a few years before he died.
Two daughters, Ruth and Mona and a son Rufus were born to this union. Young Rufus visited several times with his Uncle Otmar and family when they live north of Odon. Ruth and Mona made at least two visits to Indiana during the 1950’s and thus were known to this writer. Their uncle Otmar and cousin Stanley and his wife visited them in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1956 on their way to a visit with Albert and Otmar’s brother Enos in Brownsville, Texas. This was after the sisters’ first visit to Indiana.
None of the three children ever married. The girls both of them followed in their mother’s profession, and became schoolteachers in the Tulsa public school system. During their second visit in 1957 they presented a communion set for the Mt. Olive church at Williams, IN. in memory of their ancestors. (This according to Mrs. (Leland) Annabel Williams, longtime communion steward of the church and wife of distant cousin as verbalized to this writer at her home in 1998.)
Ruth and Mona corresponded with some of their Indiana cousins for several years until the mid 1980’s. Unfortunately, those communication links were lost and the fate of the sisters is unknown.
ISSUE
11278-36-3 Rufus Williams
b. 11-24-1897 d. 3-?-1985
11278-36-1 Ruth Williams
b. 11 24-1899 d 6-? 1983
11278-36-2 Mona Williams
b. 10-15-1901 d 7-18-1993
Ruth and Mona in Indiana mid 1950’s
Son of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born 5-16-1878 at Williams, IN.
Died March 27, 1962 in Brownsville, Texas, buried there
Married Nannie Belle Mallatt, August 19, 1898 Guthrie, Logan Co, OK
Nannie born 2-19-1881, Beloit, Mitchell Co. Kansas
Died May 11, 1965, Florence, Colorado, Buried Brownsville, TX
Enos returned to Williams, Indiana with
his bride. Their only
child was born at Williams. They sold their home in Williams
Indiana to cousin Giles Williams 5-26-06 for $300 according to deed
records in the county court house. Verbal family history is that
they lived at Terre Haute, Indiana for a period of time then before
returning to Watonga, OK where they were living when his brother Moses
died an accidental death in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was a
successful farmer. At some point in time they move to
Brownsville, Texas, to be near their son Earl, where they remained
until their death.
Enos-and wife Nannie, like some of his brothers and father, was an avid fisherman. They made regular pilgrimages from Oklahoma to St. Petersburg, Fl and later to Brownsville, Texas to visit and fish his brothers and father there.
Enos’s brother Otmar, with assistance from Otmar’s son Stanley, visited with Enos and Nannie at Brownsville, Texas in December of 1956. Their son, Earl, made a quick stop in Indiana in the summer of 1958—at the time of the death of Otmar’s son Warren.
Enos-and wife Nannie, like some of his brothers and father, was an avid fisherman. They made regular pilgrimages from Oklahoma to St. Petersburg, Fl and later to Brownsville, Texas to visit and fish his brothers and father there.
Enos’s brother Otmar, with assistance from Otmar’s son Stanley, visited with Enos and Nannie at Brownsville, Texas in December of 1956. Their son, Earl, made a quick stop in Indiana in the summer of 1958—at the time of the death of Otmar’s son Warren.
ISSUE
11278-37-1 Earl Jackson born Ok 7-14-1900 at Williams, Indiana
Died 4-16-1981 at National City, Ca
Married Grace Agnes Rich 6-8-1919 at Edmond, OK. Divorced 1938
Grace born 1-19-1900, Morrisonville, IL died 12-25-74, Watonga, OK
Grace died of a stroke while fixing Christmas Dinner for her family
Married Bessie Roundtree when where???
Bessie Died 1-10-1970 at Deming, NM
Married Jennie ???
Earl and Grace met in “normal school” and married shortly out of high school. Earl was at one time the manager of a Montgomery Ward store in Enid, Oklahoma. However, he “took off” shortly after his 2nd child was born and was not located for several years.
Grace and the two kids moved in with Enos and Nannie and apparently lived with them until the kids grown.
Children of Earl and GRACE
11278-371-1 (Delpha) Irlene b 10-17-1920 Watonga OK d. 12-23-02
Married Jerome Frank Sykora, 8-5-1943, Watonga, OK
Jerome born 8-5-1919 in Marietta, OK, died 11-28-1993, Stillwater, OK, cancer.
Irlene wass a graduate of Oklahoma State University and was the administrative assistant to the
Vice President of University Relations until her retirement in 1980.
1278-3711-1 Shirley Jean b 6-4-1948, Stillwater, OK
Married Ronald Paul Stout 6-24-1967 Stillwater
Ronnie born 1-28-1947 in Stillwater, OK
Both graduates of Oklahoma State University. Shirley taught elementary school for 2 years before starting a family.
Ronnie was a science teacher and coach for 6 years before become a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company
1278-3711-1-1 Jeremy Kyle b 3-9-1972 Vernon Texas
1278-3711-1-2 Julie Dawn b 12-29-1974
1278-3711-1 Phillip, b. 7-29-51 Stillwater OK
Married Sara Gamber, 8-8-1976 Salina, Kansas
Sara b 2-12-1951 in Salina??
1278-3711-1-1 Holly Anne b 1-18-1980 Honolulu, HI
Married Luke Tallon in Denver CO. 12-2-02
1278-3711-1-2 Shannon Michelle b 7-20-1982 Denver CO
11278-371-2 Hubert Lee, b
9-23-1922 Enid, Ok
Died 6-11-2000 Lynn Haven FL
1st marriage Marry Ellen Spahn June 27, 1943, Moultrie, Georgia (Spence Field Air Corps)
Divorced 9-20-1966.
Mary Ellen born 4-28-1922, Okeene, Oklahoma. Resides in a nursing home in Louisville, KY in 2003
This writer, and his wife, had the privilege of meeting Ruthie Williams in the spring of 2002 at her home in Lynn Haven, Florida. She is a delightful lady who enjoyed sharing her memories of Hubert and trips to Oklahoma and Indiana.
This writer had lived some 18 years (1983-2001)less than 10 miles from Roger Allen and less than 30 miles from Janet Wilder , totally unaware that there were unknown cousins living in the same area. It was an eventful day in the summer of 2002 when we all met at the Overlook Restaurant in Leavenworth, Indiana – a place which both Rogers had frequently regularly.
The writer met Mary and George at their home near the campus of his alma mater, Purdue University, in the spring of 2003. They are a wonderful couple.
Died 6-11-2000 Lynn Haven FL
1st marriage Marry Ellen Spahn June 27, 1943, Moultrie, Georgia (Spence Field Air Corps)
Divorced 9-20-1966.
Mary Ellen born 4-28-1922, Okeene, Oklahoma. Resides in a nursing home in Louisville, KY in 2003
1278-3712-1 Mary Lee (Parker) b.
6-26-1944, Moultrie, Ga
Married George Ralph Parker, 9-4-1965, Tulsa, OK George, born 9-16-1942, Tulsa, OK. Is a Professor of Forestry at Purdue University.
1278-3712-11 Ryan Christopher, b. 12-13-1973, Lafayette, In. Lives in Chicago, Il
1278-3712-12 Robbin Michelle, b. 8-16-1977, Lafayette, In. Lives in Lafayette, In
1278-3712-2 Roger Allen, b. 7-4-1949, Stillwater, OK. Married Karen Moore 1968. Karen born 1-31-1950 Woodbury, KY Divorced 1980
Works at Corp of Engineers in Louisville, Ky lives Georgetown, In.
1278-3712-21 Dana Ann b. 1-23-1969, Louisville, KY
Married Trent McNeeley, 1991
Children: Lauren Reid, b 5-13-1995
Logan Hunter, b 12-15. 1999
1278-3712-3 Janet Ann, b. 5-25-1959, St. John’s, Newfoundland (Pepperell Air Force Base, now closed)
Married Donnie Ray Wilder, June 27, 1987, Louisville KY.
Donnie operates a landscaping design business. Janet is employed with the Veterans Administration
1278-3712-4 Michael Fred, b. 6-16-,1960 at West Point Military Academy Hospital, NY (Hubert was stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, NY and West Point was the closest military hospital)
Died 1-26-1966 at age 5 as result of injuries suffered in a freakish sledding accident in Louisville, KY
Married George Ralph Parker, 9-4-1965, Tulsa, OK George, born 9-16-1942, Tulsa, OK. Is a Professor of Forestry at Purdue University.
1278-3712-11 Ryan Christopher, b. 12-13-1973, Lafayette, In. Lives in Chicago, Il
1278-3712-12 Robbin Michelle, b. 8-16-1977, Lafayette, In. Lives in Lafayette, In
1278-3712-2 Roger Allen, b. 7-4-1949, Stillwater, OK. Married Karen Moore 1968. Karen born 1-31-1950 Woodbury, KY Divorced 1980
Works at Corp of Engineers in Louisville, Ky lives Georgetown, In.
1278-3712-21 Dana Ann b. 1-23-1969, Louisville, KY
Married Trent McNeeley, 1991
Children: Lauren Reid, b 5-13-1995
Logan Hunter, b 12-15. 1999
1278-3712-3 Janet Ann, b. 5-25-1959, St. John’s, Newfoundland (Pepperell Air Force Base, now closed)
Married Donnie Ray Wilder, June 27, 1987, Louisville KY.
Donnie operates a landscaping design business. Janet is employed with the Veterans Administration
1278-3712-4 Michael Fred, b. 6-16-,1960 at West Point Military Academy Hospital, NY (Hubert was stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, NY and West Point was the closest military hospital)
Died 1-26-1966 at age 5 as result of injuries suffered in a freakish sledding accident in Louisville, KY
2nd Marriage Ruth Howell, October,
1966. Ruth lives in Lynn Haven, FL
Hubert and Mary Ellen were high school sweethearts at Watonga High school. They both enrolled in Oklahoma State University but Hubert dropped out to serve in WWII. After the war ended, they both went to Oklahoma A & M and finished their degrees in 1949. Hubert had a most successful career in the Air Force as a fighter pilot where he attained the rank of Colonel. His aircrafts were hit by enemy fire on at least two separate occasions. The 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, under his command, at McCord AFB, Tacoma, Washington received the Hughes Trophy in the late 1950’s. This identified them as the outstanding fighter interceptor squadron in the nation.
He and Ruth were living in Lynn Haven, Fl at time of his death. He died 6-11-2000 of complications from liver cancer surgery and injuries suffered when struck by a pick-up truck while crossing a street. He and Ruth had visited family and friends in Oklahoma shortly before accident.
Mary Ellen Parker has memories of her grandfather Earl Williams visiting Hubert’s family at the air base in Dayton, Ohio in 1958. Earl stopped to visit some cousins in Indiana as a part of that trip.
Hubert and Mary Ellen were high school sweethearts at Watonga High school. They both enrolled in Oklahoma State University but Hubert dropped out to serve in WWII. After the war ended, they both went to Oklahoma A & M and finished their degrees in 1949. Hubert had a most successful career in the Air Force as a fighter pilot where he attained the rank of Colonel. His aircrafts were hit by enemy fire on at least two separate occasions. The 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, under his command, at McCord AFB, Tacoma, Washington received the Hughes Trophy in the late 1950’s. This identified them as the outstanding fighter interceptor squadron in the nation.
He and Ruth were living in Lynn Haven, Fl at time of his death. He died 6-11-2000 of complications from liver cancer surgery and injuries suffered when struck by a pick-up truck while crossing a street. He and Ruth had visited family and friends in Oklahoma shortly before accident.
Mary Ellen Parker has memories of her grandfather Earl Williams visiting Hubert’s family at the air base in Dayton, Ohio in 1958. Earl stopped to visit some cousins in Indiana as a part of that trip.
This writer, and his wife, had the privilege of meeting Ruthie Williams in the spring of 2002 at her home in Lynn Haven, Florida. She is a delightful lady who enjoyed sharing her memories of Hubert and trips to Oklahoma and Indiana.
This writer had lived some 18 years (1983-2001)less than 10 miles from Roger Allen and less than 30 miles from Janet Wilder , totally unaware that there were unknown cousins living in the same area. It was an eventful day in the summer of 2002 when we all met at the Overlook Restaurant in Leavenworth, Indiana – a place which both Rogers had frequently regularly.
The writer met Mary and George at their home near the campus of his alma mater, Purdue University, in the spring of 2003. They are a wonderful couple.
Son of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born July 25, 1880 at Williams, IN.
Died December 19, 1935 in construction accident at St. Petersburg, Fl
Buried at Royal Palm Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida
Little is know of “Mose” Mozart. What was the reason for his name?? We will never know. Perhaps his parents’ appreciation for music and a famous composer?
He returned to Indiana in the late 1800’s with his father and three other brothers. The 1900 census has him living in the household of Pleasant Bowman and working as laborer on the farm. Pleasant’s daughter, Celia would later become his sister-in-law following her marriage to Otmar Williams.
By the time of the 1910 census he had moved back to Oklahoma and was living with his brother Enos and working as a farm laborer. He was still there in the 1920 census.
We do not know when he moved from Oklahoma to St. Petersburg, Florida. We do know that he worked in the construction business in Florida. Some family lore suggest that he was the first member of the family to move there and that his brothers and father followed.
Sometime about 1920, while living or visiting in Oklahoma, Mose purchased a watermelon from a street vendor. He liked the taste of the melon so much that he saved some of the seeds and mailed them to his brother Otmar in Indiana. From those few seeds of the “Appleseed” melon, Otmar started the production and sales of the tasty melons in Daviess County. That trade flourished for many years and was continued by Otmar’s son-in-law Willard Lamb and others commercial growers in the area until the open pollinated variety became susceptible to a melon virus and had to be discontinued.
Mose’s obituary follows:
OBITUARY OF MOSE WILLIAMS
December 19, 1935
St. Petersburg Times
December 19, 1935
St. Petersburg Times
MOSE
WILLIAMS HURT FATALLY AT AIR STATION
Pile Driver Foreman Dies
After Being Struck by Heavy Weight
Mose Williams, pile driver foreman employed on the construction of buildings at the local Coast Guard air station died at Mound Park hospital yesterday afternoon at 1:15 o’clock from injuries he received several hours earlier when he was struck by a 1,100-pound weight that broke loose from the pile driver leads.
According to witnesses the weight struck him on the right shoulder and the heavy impact threw him against a large wood piling several feet away. Still conscious, he was rushed to the hospital in a Wilhelm ambulance but continued to loose strength until his death.
Williams was employed by the Stevens Construction Company, [sic a] Tampa firm that is driving the pilings at the government reservation on a sub-contract with E. C. Moore and Son of this city. He was popular with his fellow workmen and was foreman in charge of all pile-driving here when municipal pier was constructed.
The accident occurred when a steel brace buckled on the five-ton hammer and the iron follow block was thrust from the leads and hurtled against the victim, who was standing nearby.
Three brothers, Ned Williams, and Enos Williams, Watonga, Okla., and Ott Williams, Odon, IN. and a cousin, B. L. Williams 1331 Tangerine avenue, this city, survive.
Funeral arrangements will be announced by J. W. Wilhelm.
December 19, 1935
St. Petersburg Times
The body of Mose Williams, pile driver foreman, who as injured fatally while working at the Coast Guard Reservation Thursday will be in state at the J. W. Wilhelm Funeral Home Today beginning at 10:00 am.
(B. L. Williams would have been
Bartimus, father of Ruth (Williams)
Dye, a 2nd cousin. The burial, in an unmarked grave not far from
his father, Rufus, and brother, Ned, at Royal Palms has been verified
at the cemetery office by this writer 6/1999)
Son of Rufus Williams and Susan J. Kern
Born February 12, 1883, North Bend, Dodge County, Nebraska
Died February 12, 1963 at Elnora, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married Celia Bowman, daughter of Jackson P. Bowman and Mary Harris March 21, 1906.
Member of the Church of Christ, Williams, IN.
Celia died August 20, 1948 at Washington, IN., buried at Walnut Hill
Otmar, given his father’s middle name at birth, was the only child of Susan and Rufus to be born outside of Indiana. Otmar never really knew his mother, as he was less than two years of age when she died. He returned to Williams, Indiana sometime in his late teens. (His father Rufus, and one or more of the brothers also returned to Williams for a period of time.) He apparently stayed with some family members and worked as a hired laborer. A tall young man of strong bone and features, he was by this time an accomplished fiddle player, having been taught by his father Rufus and older brothers, who often played for “barn dances” and other gatherings in the neighborhood. He passed his musical talents on to several of his children. Ermel learned to play the French Harp, Warren and Freeda strummed guitar and Eula learn to play the violin. Warren’s daughter, Linda Ault, has possession of the last fiddle that Otmar owned.
While living at Williams, Otmar meet, courted, and married Celia Bowman, a distant cousin. Celia was a great-granddaughter of Otmar’s great uncle Garrett Williams. Celia’s father, Jackson Bowman, was a prosperous farmer in the “Stumphole Bridge” community east of Williams, Indiana and farmed some of the land once owned by Rufus Williams. Celia received her education in the Lawrence County schools and attended Marion Normal College.
Celia and Otmar lived a year at Williams on the “Green farm”-owned by Jackson Bowman-and across the river from the home place for a year. (Raleigh and Zella (Bowman) Miller occupied the property for several years.) Their first child, a son named Stanley, was born there before the young family moved to Watonga, Oklahoma for a few months to work with Otmar’s brother-in-law Joe Geeslen following the death of Joe’s wife Mattie, Otmar’s older sister.
They returned to Williams, build a small home and farmed on the 20 acres of land given to them by Celia’s father Jackson Bowman. This house was located on the north side of the Stumphole Bridge Road on the west slopes of the big hill. To this union was born three more sons, Warren, Oletus, and Ermel and a daughter, Estelle before greener pastures and a need for more farm land lead Otmar to move the family from Williams to the Gus Keel farm at Sandy Hook in Daviess County, Indiana in 1918. (Waldo Spreen and his family had apparently moved his family from the Stumphole Bridge area to the Sandy Hook area of Daviess County sometime earlier and perhaps enticed Otmar and Celia join them.) Freeda was the first child of Otmar and Celia to be born in Daviess County. As they came of the proper age the children enrolled in the Letts School located near the farm.
A year later, in 1919, they moved a short distance to the “Old log house” on the Jones place (owned by Cameron Hyatt) where daughter Ellen was born. Celia delivered a fifth male Child, Otmar Ray who failed to live the day. He is buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery at Williams, IN. The move to the Hyatt farm would begin a tenant-landlord relationship with the Cameron Hyatt families that continued through three generations until 1998. Otmar, his sons Stanley and Oletus, son-in-law Willard Lamb (husband of Freeda), and grandson Marvin Jolliff would all farm some of the lands owned by the Hyatt families. In 1998 Marvin purchased some of the Hyatt land he had been farming for 35 years when the heirs decided to liquidate their holdings, thus ending the landlord-tenant relationship.
In 1923 Otmar moved the family to a farm owned by the Hyatt family some 3.5 miles southwest of Plainville, Indiana. Their last child, Eula was born at this location.
In 1928 Otmar purchased a 141 acre farm just north and west of the Walnut Hill cemetery north of Odon, Indiana. This farm was “home” to the family – from there most of the children completed their educations, meet and married their spouses, and gathered for the one known photograph of the children (1938). While living at Odon, Otmar and the boys also did tenant farming on land in the river bottoms southwest of Elnora. On those occasions the “boys” lived at a cabin on the farm for a week at a time.
Like his great-grandfather Isaac, Otmar loved the sports of hunting. He maintained kennels of hunting dogs all of his active life. Bird and fox hunting were his favorites. This writer and his sister Charlotte have early childhood memories of grandpa Otmar making large pans of cornbread that he used as food for his hounds. Otmar’s love of hunting was passed on to three of his sons, Warren, Oletus, and Ermel and at least two grandsons, Jim Williams and Travis Riggins. In turn Warren’s grandsons Jay R. Crew and David Ault and great-grandson Cody Ault carry on the love for hunting dogs. Uncle Ermel taught David the art of coon hunting.
Otmar also enjoyed maintaining several hives of honeybees, a trait passed on to his son Oletus. That enterprise provided a steady supply of honey for the table and Celia’s cooking. Stanley particularly enjoyed the “blue vine” honey that was only available for a short time each year that they lived in the river bottoms.
In 1943, with all of the children, except Ellen, married and settled, Otmar and Celia sold the farm at Odon and moved to a smaller tract on the southwest corner of Taylor Bluff and Maysville Roads southwest of Washington. This farm was just “up the road” from where they had originally started in 1918 and close to their son Oletus. Celia’s health began to fail while they lived here and she died on August 20, 1948. Sons Warren and Stanley, and grandson Roger learned of the death late on that hot Friday evening as they were winding down a hard week of activities at the county fair in Elnora. She was brought back “home” to Walnut Hill cemetery for burial.
A year later, Otmar sold the farm at Washington, retired, and he and daughter Ellen moved to a home in Elnora. He was treated for cancer in 1955; however, he lived to morn the loss of his two firstborn sons to heart attacks in 1957 and 1958. Otmar died in 1963 and rejoined his Celia in sleep at the Walnut Hill Cemetery.
Otmar and Celia’s children all had their formative years during the great depression of the 1930’s and early days of World War II. Times were tough, there was little non-farm work or money to be had: electricity, telephones and modern conveniences had not yet arrived on the scene, particularly in rural America, and self-sufficiency was the norm. (One of the fond memories this writer has of grandmother Celia is one of her using an ordinary table fork to whip egg whites into a stiff meringue for the topping on a homemade pie. The writer also remembers the day when his mother was finally able to afford the purchase of a hand powered rotary beater.)
As each child –
except poor Ellen – finished school
they learned to earn their own keep, married, and established
themselves in farming and often shared their labor and efforts with
each other.
The three married sisters gathered each fall to continue a practice of making apple butter in a large cooper kettle outside over an open fire.
Hog butcherings in the cold winter months, wheat thrashings in the heat of the summer, silo fillings and corn husking in the fall, and moving to a different home or farm often brought one or more family members together to share in the fun and work of the occasion.
Saturday evenings were almost always spent “in town” at Odon. The farmer’s and the laborer’s work week was over and a trip to town provided the opportunity to shop and socialize with friends, neighbors, and relatives.
Sometimes excess eggs or cream from the farm were taken to the Dearmin Company and sold for sorely needed cash which was then used to purchase basic staples in the stores which always stayed open late on Saturday nights to accommodate the shoppers. (All the stores were closed on Sundays.)
Frequently two or more of the Williams families would buy a block of ice at the end of the evening and go to one of the homes where a freezer of ice cream, made with lots of country cream and eggs would be “hand cranked” and enjoyed by all complete with home made chocolate syrup and maybe a cake or pie.
On other occasions, a decision would be made to have an impromptu outing at Spring Mill State Park or some other location after church on Sunday.
That sense of family caring and sharing continues:
Some of Otmar’s children have fond memories of summer visits to grandpa Bowman’s farmstead at Williams, Indiana – It was a short train ride from Daviess County back to Lawrence County.
Estelle and Gabe helped Stanley and Ruth clean up the farmhouse at Odon in 1941. They also helped harvest a corn crop by hand one year when weather conditions made for a difficult and late harvest. Some thirty years plus years later they helped their nephew Roger and his family clean up the old farmhouse on Edwardsport Road in Washington, Indiana. That same year, Estelle and Gabe’s son Marvin used his large farm tractor and front-end blade to clear and bury the remains of an outbuilding at the same location.
Stanley and Ruth share part of their home on the farm at Odon with newly wed Ermel and his wife Virginia. Many years later, Stanley drove Ermel’s little Ford tractor and a wagon loaded with farm and personal items from Raglesville to the Ermel’s new farming location at Petersburg.
Ermel sold that 1943 9N Ford tractor to his nephew-in-law Gary Ault—husband of Ermel’s niece Linda (Warren) Williams—and told them the story of how he got one of the few 1943 Fords. Cousin Linda recalls the following:
“With metal being in short supply during the World War II years, farmer put their names into drawings for the few tractors that were being produced. Ermel was surprise to have his name drawn for the Ford tractor and even more thrilled when he learned that the new tractor had the “new” rubber tires instead of the anticipated metal wheels. The tractor came complete with a disc, cultivator, plow, and headlights.
Ermel told Gary that he cut the headlights off because he had no intention of ever farming at night.
Ermel said the only night the tractor was inside a building was when he was helping his brother Oletus farm and pulled the tractor into Oletus’s barn. Oletus was upset that Ermel had moved something of Oletus’s in order to park the tractor in the barn and words were exchanged.
The tractor never sat inside again under Ermel’s ownership but remained in surprising good shape and sits in a shed at the Ault’s homestead today.”
Many of Otmar’s grandchildren would spend a week or more week during the summer months visiting in the home of an aunt or uncle where the time as passed playing with other cousins. Some of the older cousins also got to spend time with grandma Celia and grandpa Otmar on the farm at Odon.
A few stories about the “pranks” which the boys in particular played on each other have been repeated to this writer; but they have been omitted for the best interest of all concerned. But that helps to explain why, the writer remembers that a small boy if we arrived at a relative’s house and found no one at home we would “leave our mark” but doing something harmless to the house or yard before departing. And we sometimes arrived back at our own home to find a comparable “calling card” had been left there as well.
Warren and Esther arranged a small apartment in the attached summer kitchen of their farm home as a place for Otmar to live and recuperate following his cancer surgery.
While the whole family “looked out” for Ellen, Ermel and Virginia, following the death of Otmar, took up the task of securing the appropriate government assistance needed to care for her until her untimely death.
Two of Ermel’s daughters jointly opened their homes to care for their aging parents.
Grandmother Celia initiated an attempt to “piece and quilt” a quilt for each of her grandchildren. However, ill health kept her from completing that task. Several of her grandchildren prize the one that they own.
Oletus made a special effort to purchase one of the last Belgium draft horse owned his brother Stanley and kept the animal on the farm until its death.
The three married sisters gathered each fall to continue a practice of making apple butter in a large cooper kettle outside over an open fire.
Hog butcherings in the cold winter months, wheat thrashings in the heat of the summer, silo fillings and corn husking in the fall, and moving to a different home or farm often brought one or more family members together to share in the fun and work of the occasion.
Saturday evenings were almost always spent “in town” at Odon. The farmer’s and the laborer’s work week was over and a trip to town provided the opportunity to shop and socialize with friends, neighbors, and relatives.
Sometimes excess eggs or cream from the farm were taken to the Dearmin Company and sold for sorely needed cash which was then used to purchase basic staples in the stores which always stayed open late on Saturday nights to accommodate the shoppers. (All the stores were closed on Sundays.)
Frequently two or more of the Williams families would buy a block of ice at the end of the evening and go to one of the homes where a freezer of ice cream, made with lots of country cream and eggs would be “hand cranked” and enjoyed by all complete with home made chocolate syrup and maybe a cake or pie.
On other occasions, a decision would be made to have an impromptu outing at Spring Mill State Park or some other location after church on Sunday.
That sense of family caring and sharing continues:
Some of Otmar’s children have fond memories of summer visits to grandpa Bowman’s farmstead at Williams, Indiana – It was a short train ride from Daviess County back to Lawrence County.
Estelle and Gabe helped Stanley and Ruth clean up the farmhouse at Odon in 1941. They also helped harvest a corn crop by hand one year when weather conditions made for a difficult and late harvest. Some thirty years plus years later they helped their nephew Roger and his family clean up the old farmhouse on Edwardsport Road in Washington, Indiana. That same year, Estelle and Gabe’s son Marvin used his large farm tractor and front-end blade to clear and bury the remains of an outbuilding at the same location.
Stanley and Ruth share part of their home on the farm at Odon with newly wed Ermel and his wife Virginia. Many years later, Stanley drove Ermel’s little Ford tractor and a wagon loaded with farm and personal items from Raglesville to the Ermel’s new farming location at Petersburg.
Ermel sold that 1943 9N Ford tractor to his nephew-in-law Gary Ault—husband of Ermel’s niece Linda (Warren) Williams—and told them the story of how he got one of the few 1943 Fords. Cousin Linda recalls the following:
“With metal being in short supply during the World War II years, farmer put their names into drawings for the few tractors that were being produced. Ermel was surprise to have his name drawn for the Ford tractor and even more thrilled when he learned that the new tractor had the “new” rubber tires instead of the anticipated metal wheels. The tractor came complete with a disc, cultivator, plow, and headlights.
Ermel told Gary that he cut the headlights off because he had no intention of ever farming at night.
Ermel said the only night the tractor was inside a building was when he was helping his brother Oletus farm and pulled the tractor into Oletus’s barn. Oletus was upset that Ermel had moved something of Oletus’s in order to park the tractor in the barn and words were exchanged.
The tractor never sat inside again under Ermel’s ownership but remained in surprising good shape and sits in a shed at the Ault’s homestead today.”
Many of Otmar’s grandchildren would spend a week or more week during the summer months visiting in the home of an aunt or uncle where the time as passed playing with other cousins. Some of the older cousins also got to spend time with grandma Celia and grandpa Otmar on the farm at Odon.
A few stories about the “pranks” which the boys in particular played on each other have been repeated to this writer; but they have been omitted for the best interest of all concerned. But that helps to explain why, the writer remembers that a small boy if we arrived at a relative’s house and found no one at home we would “leave our mark” but doing something harmless to the house or yard before departing. And we sometimes arrived back at our own home to find a comparable “calling card” had been left there as well.
Warren and Esther arranged a small apartment in the attached summer kitchen of their farm home as a place for Otmar to live and recuperate following his cancer surgery.
While the whole family “looked out” for Ellen, Ermel and Virginia, following the death of Otmar, took up the task of securing the appropriate government assistance needed to care for her until her untimely death.
Two of Ermel’s daughters jointly opened their homes to care for their aging parents.
Grandmother Celia initiated an attempt to “piece and quilt” a quilt for each of her grandchildren. However, ill health kept her from completing that task. Several of her grandchildren prize the one that they own.
Oletus made a special effort to purchase one of the last Belgium draft horse owned his brother Stanley and kept the animal on the farm until its death.
All of Otmar and Celia’s married children engaged in farming. None of them –- or their spouses – opted to leave the hard work and joys of farm life and take a “city job” even during the times of World War II. They all lived to see rural America come into the modern era of the 1940’s and 50’s. Dirt roads were graveled and still later coated with asphalt or concrete and amenities like electricity and telephones came into their homes; running water replaced the hand pumps and water buckets, horses were replaced by tractor power; automated farming equipment became the norm; highly specialized hybrids replaced open pollinated varieties in both grains and hay crops; these and commercial fertilizers, pesticides, and chemical weed controls greatly increase production levels.
Radios, daily newspapers, magazines, and then television and the Internet system brought the world into their living rooms. Most of them witnessed the initiation and growth of the space age and many of the advanced technologies generated by that initiative. What a change from the stark years of the great depression of the 1930’s and World War II.
ISSUE
11278-39-1. STANLEY BAZIL
WILLIAMS Born
4-16-1907 at Williams, IN.
Died July 13, 1957, Odon, IN., buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married (Violet) Ruth Christenberry, February 27, 1934 at Washington, IN.
11278-39-2. WARREN LESLIE WILLIAMS Born 9-27-09 at Williams, IN.
Died June 14, 1958, Elnora, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married Esther Arford, on 2-29-1936 at Odon, IN.
11278-39-3. OLETUS HALBERT WILLIAMS Born 10-11-1911 at Williams, IN.
Died 6-6-1971 at Bloomfield, IN., buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married Kleadeth Bernice Wagner, 8-30-1934 at Vincennes, IN.
11278-39-4. ERMEL JACKSON WILLIAMS Born 9-29-1913, Lawrence County, IN.
Married Virginia Avis Holt, 5-03-1941 at Odon, IN.
Died 12-1-1999, Ligonier, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
11278-39-5. ESTELLE MERELLE WILLIAMS Born at Williams, IN. 10-14-1915
Married 1-29-1938 to Gariel Albert Jolliff, son of Levi and Ethel Jolliff.
Gariel (“Gabe”) born 9-14-1913, died March 19, 1998 and is buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery at Odon, IN.
11278-39-6. FREEDA MYRENE WILLIAMS Born 4-2-1918 in Daviess County, IN.
Died October 27, 1999 at Odon, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery at Odon.
Married 3-12-1938 to Willard Lamb, son John and Myrtle (Lemonds) Lamb.
Willard born 8-22-1915 at Odon, IN.
11278-39-7. OTMAR RAY WILLIAMS
Born and died 7-27-1920 in Daviess County, buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery, Williams, IN.
11278-39-8. ELLEN LORISTINE WILLIAMS
Born 8-19-1921 in the “Shotgun” log house on the Hyatt farm southwest of Washington.
Never married
Died 1-16-1983 at Washington, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery at Odon, IN. beside her parents.
11278-39-9. EULA MAY WILLIAMS Born 11-06-1923 at Plainville, Daviess County, IN.
Married 4-04-1942 to James Robert Riggins
Died July 13, 1957, Odon, IN., buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married (Violet) Ruth Christenberry, February 27, 1934 at Washington, IN.
11278-39-2. WARREN LESLIE WILLIAMS Born 9-27-09 at Williams, IN.
Died June 14, 1958, Elnora, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married Esther Arford, on 2-29-1936 at Odon, IN.
11278-39-3. OLETUS HALBERT WILLIAMS Born 10-11-1911 at Williams, IN.
Died 6-6-1971 at Bloomfield, IN., buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
Married Kleadeth Bernice Wagner, 8-30-1934 at Vincennes, IN.
11278-39-4. ERMEL JACKSON WILLIAMS Born 9-29-1913, Lawrence County, IN.
Married Virginia Avis Holt, 5-03-1941 at Odon, IN.
Died 12-1-1999, Ligonier, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Odon, IN.
11278-39-5. ESTELLE MERELLE WILLIAMS Born at Williams, IN. 10-14-1915
Married 1-29-1938 to Gariel Albert Jolliff, son of Levi and Ethel Jolliff.
Gariel (“Gabe”) born 9-14-1913, died March 19, 1998 and is buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery at Odon, IN.
11278-39-6. FREEDA MYRENE WILLIAMS Born 4-2-1918 in Daviess County, IN.
Died October 27, 1999 at Odon, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery at Odon.
Married 3-12-1938 to Willard Lamb, son John and Myrtle (Lemonds) Lamb.
Willard born 8-22-1915 at Odon, IN.
11278-39-7. OTMAR RAY WILLIAMS
Born and died 7-27-1920 in Daviess County, buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery, Williams, IN.
11278-39-8. ELLEN LORISTINE WILLIAMS
Born 8-19-1921 in the “Shotgun” log house on the Hyatt farm southwest of Washington.
Never married
Died 1-16-1983 at Washington, IN. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery at Odon, IN. beside her parents.
11278-39-9. EULA MAY WILLIAMS Born 11-06-1923 at Plainville, Daviess County, IN.
Married 4-04-1942 to James Robert Riggins
Oletus Warren Stanley Ermil
Vist by Uncle Ned Williams to Otmar's Family in 1938
|
Gariel STANLEY Ermel Otmar Ned Warren Oletus Virginia Willard Celia Kleadeth Eula Freeda Estelle/ Ruth Ellen Charlotte |
Oletus
Stanley Warren
Freeda Estelle Ellen Ermel
Freeda Estelle Ellen Ermel
EASTSIDE PARK, WASHINGTON, INDIANA
SUMMER OF 1949
SUMMER OF 1949
LEFT TO RIGHT:
BACK ROW:
Garriel Jolliff, Stanley Williams, Elbert “Buck” Bowman, Warren Williams, Charles Hayes, Vonn Hayes, Johnny Tumey, Willard Lamb. Adolphis Voorheis.
Third Row:
Robert Riggins, Otmar Williams, Bernice Richardson, Ellen Williams, Freeda Lamb, Evelyn Tumey, Zella & Rolla Miller, Elizabeth Hayes, Orley & Miles Bowman, Freeman Hayes
Second Row
Eula Riggins holding Steven Riggins, Alice Voorheis, Ruth Williams, Charlotte Williams, Pauline Hayes holding Linda, Pauline Bowman, Maxine Bowman, Barbara and Ruth Bowman, Agnes Rini, Ruth Smith, Estelle Jolliff, Esther Williams
Front Row
Angeline & Geraldine Rini, Darlene Bowman and Judith Bowman Joan Lamb & Nina Lamb, Shirley Williams, Linda & Jane Ann Williams, Karen and Travis Riggins, Marvin Jolliff, Roger Williams, Charlotte Ann Rini, Gerald Smith, ??? Bowman, Tilford Tumey
This was the first gathering of the “Bowman Cousins” as organized by Stanley and Ruth Williams in the summer following the death of Celia (Bowman) Williams. There is a high percentage of attendance. Shortly after this picture was taken the skies opened and a heavy summer thunderstorm sent the families on their way. The group continued to gather on a regular basis until the late 1950’s
BACK ROW:
Garriel Jolliff, Stanley Williams, Elbert “Buck” Bowman, Warren Williams, Charles Hayes, Vonn Hayes, Johnny Tumey, Willard Lamb. Adolphis Voorheis.
Third Row:
Robert Riggins, Otmar Williams, Bernice Richardson, Ellen Williams, Freeda Lamb, Evelyn Tumey, Zella & Rolla Miller, Elizabeth Hayes, Orley & Miles Bowman, Freeman Hayes
Second Row
Eula Riggins holding Steven Riggins, Alice Voorheis, Ruth Williams, Charlotte Williams, Pauline Hayes holding Linda, Pauline Bowman, Maxine Bowman, Barbara and Ruth Bowman, Agnes Rini, Ruth Smith, Estelle Jolliff, Esther Williams
Front Row
Angeline & Geraldine Rini, Darlene Bowman and Judith Bowman Joan Lamb & Nina Lamb, Shirley Williams, Linda & Jane Ann Williams, Karen and Travis Riggins, Marvin Jolliff, Roger Williams, Charlotte Ann Rini, Gerald Smith, ??? Bowman, Tilford Tumey
This was the first gathering of the “Bowman Cousins” as organized by Stanley and Ruth Williams in the summer following the death of Celia (Bowman) Williams. There is a high percentage of attendance. Shortly after this picture was taken the skies opened and a heavy summer thunderstorm sent the families on their way. The group continued to gather on a regular basis until the late 1950’s
The narrative of the next generations
of this family will be added to
this web site in the near future.