From: KyArchives [Archives@genrecords.org] Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 5:05 AM To: Ky-Footsteps Subject: Williams.John.Wesley.1827.Cumberland.BIOS John Wesley Williams December 10, 1827 - unknown Cumberland County KyArchives Biography Author: Kentucky Genealogy and Biography, Volume V, 3rd edition, 1886 JOHN WESLEY WILLIAMS, circuit clerk, is a native of Cumberland County, and was born December 10, 1827. His father, John O. Williams, a native of Henry County, Va., was born March 4, 1801. He was a slave owner and farmer, and was worth at his death about $16,000. He was married in this twenty-fifth year to Miss Eliza Wathall, the daughter of Richard and Sally (Hix) Wathall of Appomattox County, Va., and this marriage was blessed by twelve children: John W., James O., Henry E., Milton R., Amanda (wife of Josiah P. Frank), Sarah A. (married first to George W. Baker, and after his death to J. J. McGee), Daniel B., Victoria (wife of John Cloyd), Julia (wife of M. O. Allen), Marshall C., Foster M. and Leslie C (of whom Foster and Leslie are now deceased). Marshall C. Williams enlisted in the Confederate Cavalry service in 1862, and served two years. In 1805 John O. Williams was brought to Kentucky by his father, from whom he received several slaves, estimated to be worth $4,000, as a beginning in life. He owned a large tract of about 800 acres of land, only about 150 acres of which was in cultivation. His death occurred in October, 1856, and in life he was a member of the Presbyterian Church. His wife died in August, 1858, in the fifty-fourth year of her age, and in life she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Osbourn Williams, grandfather of John W. Williams, a soldier of the Revolution, was a native of Henry County, Va. He was married to Miss Sarah Wade, and immigrated in 1805 to Cumberland County, where they reared a family of nine children, five of whom were daughters, of which family of children, John O. Was the second. Osbourn and Sarah Williams began life in very moderate circumstances on a farm, but accumulated valuable property, being worth at the death of Osbourn Williams, in 1853, about $35,000. Garrett Williams, of English origin, was brought from South Wales to Henry County, where he lived most of his life, but died in Cumberland County, Ky. He was a veteran of the American Revolution, serving through the entire seven years of the struggle as a company officer. John Wesley Williams remained at home on his father's farm, when not at school, until twenty-one years of age, when he attended school in Burkesville fifteen months. He followed agriculture until 1858, owning at first 40 acres, and afterward 320 acres of land three miles from Burkesville on the Columbia road. In 1858 Mr. Williams was elected on the Whig ticket, as county surveyor, which position he held until 1867. In 1868, without opposition, he was elected circuit court clerk, which position as A Democrat, he still holds, having been re-elected twice since. On December 23, 1853, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Nunn, a daughter of George W. and Caroline (Alexander) Nunn, natives of Cumberland County. To this marriage were born four children, John Elmo, Irving, Ethel (who died in childhood) and Stewart (who also died in childhood. Mrs. Williams was a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, but was called from the scene of her earthly labors December 8, 1873, in the thirty-third year of her age. On December 22, 1874, Mr. Williams was married to Miss Sarah E. Cheatham, a daughter of Owen and Sarah A (Baker) Cheatham, natives of Cumberland County, and to this marriage have been born two children: Hattie M. and Hooker, both living. Mr. and Mrs. Williams, who own property and live in Burkesville, are both members of the Presbyterian Church, besides which Mr. Williams is a member of the Masonic order. He owns a farm but turns his entire attention to the duties of his office. Submitted by: Sandi Gorin http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00002.html#0000404 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/