Family of Josiah Williams

(This person can be viewed within the Melton/Sharp Ancestry Chart by clicking here. Additional information for this family can be found at Judy Baugh's Web Site.)

1. CAPTAIN JOSIAH² WILLIAMS (P HILLIP¹)^1,2 was born Abt. 1764 in Amelia County, Virginia, and died Abt. Jan 4, 1826 in Autauga Co., AL. He married JUDITH ELMORE May 4, 1785 in Amelia Co, VA⁴, daughter of ARCHELAUS ELMORE and SUSANNA MORRIS. She was born Abt. 1764 in Prince Edward Co., VA, and died Aft. Nov 21, 1840 in Alabama.

Notes for CAPTAIN JOSIAH WILLIAMS:

In the will of Phillip Williams Sr., Josiah is referred to as "son of Williams-alias-Hundley".

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MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS NOT GIVEN IN DOLIANTE - from Judy Baugh

(Amelia Co., Va. WB 4:343) June 8. 1791 - January 24, 1793. Will of Samuel JETER of Nottoway Parish. Daughter Olive JETER when single, now called Olive CRADDOCK. Daughter Frances Parks JETER. Father's estate. Brother Oliver JETER. Wife Mine. Sons: Tibonon, Ellison, Thomas Ellort, Samuel Beverly and Ryland, all sons of wife Mine JETER. Executors: Friends Richard LEGGON, Presly JETER and Mine JETER. Wit: Philip WILLIAMS, Josiah WILLIAMS James ATKINSON, Benjamin OVERTON (ref. Amelia County, Virginia, Will Book 4 with Additional Deaths and Heirs from Order Books 18 and 19. Bel Hubbard Wise)

[Note: Samuel Jeter above was guardian to the orphans of Josiah Hundley dec'd. A return on the gdnship account from 25 Dec 1788 was filed by his estate on 28 Aug 1794 (ref. Amelia Co., Va. WB 4:343, in Amelia County, Virginia, Will Book 4 with Additional Deaths and Heirs from Order Books 18 and 19. Bel Hubbard Wise)].

Samuel Jeter was one of the appraisors who signed the final settlement of the estate of Philip Williams Sr.

1790 Amelia County Personal Tax List - Shown as owner of 3 Blacks >16 yrs & 4 horses (Phillip Williams is shown living with Josiah)

1791 Amelia County Real Estate Tax List - Shown as owner of 324 acres with a valuation of 79 dollars?

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Autauga County, Alabama Index to Wills and Estates

TYPE: E-Estate Proceedings G-Guardianship H-Heirs O-Other

NAME TYPE DATE BOOK BEG. PAGES

--------------- --------- ------------ ---------- -------------

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH E 1826 R1824 74

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH E 2 APR 1827 RB- 1 140, 257

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Autauga County, Alabama Index To Orphans Court Records

NAME TYPE DATE BOOK BEG. PAGE

------------------------------- --- ---------- ---- -------------

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH APR 1826 1 96

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH FEB 1827 1 126

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH FEB 1827 1 127

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 2 APR 1827 1 139

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 2 MAR 1829 2 20

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 5 MAR 1827 1 135

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 5 MAR 1827 1 136

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 24 MAR 1828 1 198

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 25 AUG 1828 2 2

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 26 MAY 1828 1 208

WILLIAMS, JOSIAH 28 JUN 1828 1 217

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More About CAPTAIN JOSIAH WILLIAMS:

Census 1: 1790, Amelia Personal Tax List - pg 16

Census 2: 1791, Amelia Real Estate Tax List - pg 13

Census 3: 1810, Laurens County, South Carolina⁵

Military: Captain, South Carolina Militia

Residence 1: Abt. 1817, Autauga County, Alabama

Residence 2: 1791, Amelia County, Virginia

Residence 3: Abt. 1796, Bedford County, Virginia

Residence 4: Abt. 1802, Laurens County, South Carolina

Will: April 04, 1825, Probate in Autauga Co., AL

Notes for JUDITH ELMORE:

WILLIAMS, JUDITH transfered to ROSS, S. S. property on 15 AUG 1833 as shown in Book D, beginning on page 11 of Autauga County, AL land Records.

More About JUDITH ELMORE:

Census 1: 1830, Perry County, Alabama

Census 2: 1840, Pike County?, Alabama

Residence: Abt. 1817, Autauga County, Alabama

Will: Probated in Tallapoosa Co., AL

Marriage Notes for JOSIAH WILLIAMS and JUDITH ELMORE:

By 1810, Judith and Josiah Williams were having serious marital difficulties, and, with the help of her brother, John Archer Elmore, Judith filed a suit for separate maintenance, support, & custody of Louisa, Nancy & Patsy (Martha) sometime between July 20, 1810 and January 7, 1811. Details of their problems are given in the court records which can be found in Sharon Doliante's book entitled "Maryland and Virginia Colonials".

More About JOSIAH WILLIAMS and JUDITH ELMORE:

Judith was awarded support and custody: Abt. June 19, 1811, Laurens County, South Carolina

Suit for separate maintenance filed: Bet. Jul 20, 1810 - Jan 7, 1811, Laurens Co, SC

Marriage: May 04, 1785, Amelia County, Virginia⁶

Children of JOSIAH WILLIAMS and JUDITH ELMORE are:

i. JOHN ELMORE³ WILLIAMS⁷, b. March 29, 1787, Amelia County, Virginia; d. February 28, 1850, Laurens County, South Carolina; m. JANE BEASLEY, January 14, 1816, Laurens County, South Carolina; b. June 20, 1798, Nottoway County, Virginia; d. February 24, 1869, Hempstead County, Arkansas.

More About JOHN ELMORE WILLIAMS:

Burial: Sardis Methodist Church Cem, Laurens Co., SC

More About JANE BEASLEY:

Burial: Little Piney Grove Cemetery, Bingen, Arkansas

More About JOHN WILLIAMS and JANE BEASLEY:

Marriage: January 14, 1816, Laurens County, South Carolina

ii. JOSIAH HUNDLEY WILLIAMS, b. Abt. 1790, Amelia County, Virginia; m. MARTHA UNKNOWN, Bef. May 03, 1814; b. Abt. 1802, Virginia.

More About JOSIAH HUNDLEY WILLIAMS:

Occupation: 1850, Dance Teacher

Residence: Bet. 1840 - 1860, Tallapoosa County, Alabama

More About JOSIAH WILLIAMS and MARTHA UNKNOWN:

Marriage: Bef. May 03, 1814

iii. ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, b. Bet. 1791 - 1792; m. ALEXANDER WILKINSON, Bef. 1811, Laurens County, South Carolina.

More About ALEXANDER WILKINSON and ELIZABETH WILLIAMS:

Marriage: Bef. 1811, Laurens County, South Carolina

iv. DANIEL WILLIAMS, b. Abt. 1793, m1. unknown, m2 Margaret Durden, 1841 Tallapoosa Co, AL.

Notes for DANIEL WILLIAMS:

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* * * Notes of Judy Baugh * * *

Only known extant record in Laurens is the deposition given 1811 in legal separation of his parents. First known record in Alabama is as guardian to the orphans of Joseph Lewis (1825, multiple entries, Autauga cty. Deeds & Mtgs., Book A) and in Tallapoosa cty. records. Also extant are land grant, Autauga, 1828, and a deed for sale of same to Howell Rose, 1829. Last record known at this time is census 1850 Tallapoosa cty. __________________________________________________

v. WARNER WILLIAMS⁸, b. Abt. 1793, Bedford County, Virginia?; d. 1858, Smith County, Texas⁹; m. (1) CHARLOTTE ROSS, October 11, 1820, Montgomery County, Alabama; m. (2) SARAH R. MCCULLER, October 17, 1833, Autauga County, Alabama; b. Georgia.

Notes for WARNER WILLIAMS:

Judy Baugh (procyon@prodigy.net) writes:

Warner Williams moved to DeSoto Par., LA bef 1850 - he was enum. there w/ family by sec. wife. He moved to Smith cty., TX & died there 1859. I'm very suspicious that there were chn of his first marr who stayed in AL. Youngest child of Judith & Josiah, Martha "Patsy" Williams had also moved to DeSoto Par. by 1850. The name of her husband was Hilliard J. Phillips [ref. deed Martha Phillips to J. J. Greening, apprvd. by husb. Hilliard Phillips, DeSoto conveyance records, 1864]. I can find no record of any chn. of that marr, but won't know until I pull her

succession [probate] record.

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More About WARNER WILLIAMS:

Census: 1850, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana

Occupation: 1850, Teacher

Residence 1: Abt. 1856, Smith County, Texas

Residence 2: 1850, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana

More About WARNER WILLIAMS and CHARLOTTE ROSS:

Marriage: October 11, 1820, Montgomery County, Alabama

More About WARNER WILLIAMS and SARAH MCCULLER:

Marriage: October 17, 1833, Autauga County, Alabama

vi. LOUISA WILLIAMS, b. January 05, 1799, Virginia; d. March 19, 1877, Eutaw, Hale County, Alabama; m. REV. JOHN DUBOIS, January 06, 1825, Autauga County, Alabama; b. June 28, 1798, St Thomas, St Peter's Parish, Charleston, South Carolina; d. January 31, 1884, Whistler, Alabama.

More About LOUISA WILLIAMS:

Burial: Mesopotamia Cem., Eutaw, AL ¹⁰

Census: 1850, Greene Co, Alabama¹¹

Notes for REV. JOHN DUBOIS:

Came to Alabama from Charleston, South Carolina in 1821.

I believe that he and Joseph Houck, his brother in law were part of the group of people from South Carolina that founded the church in Weoka, Alabama (between Equality, AL and Wetumpka, AL) called "Carolina". Originally founded as a Presbyterian church, it became a Methodist church by the mid 1800's (1840?). The name of the church was changed to "Trinity United Methodist Church" in 1975. Contact may be "JGoodwin@Mont.MidnSpring.com".

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John DuBois Inventor, Writer, Minister, Cotton Gin Maker By Elizabeth DuBois

JOHN DUBOIS (6/28/1798-1/31/1884) was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of Rev. Peter DuBois and Anne Clarkson (Carne) DuBois. Like his father before him, Rev. John DuBois was a Methodist minister and businessman. He manufactured cotton gins, earning three patents on improvements made to the DuBois Cotton Gin. Married 52 years to the woman he loved deeply, John was also blessed with seven children, including a doctor, two dentists, an inventor and one or more teachers. Among his many descendants and their spouses are counted doctors, lawyers, teachers and preachers, musicians, writers, and several business entrepreneurs. Luckily for his descendants, John was also a gifted and prolific writer of biographical letters and articles, and it is from these that much of his life can be viewed. In December, 1820, young John, one of ten children, left Charleston to "seek [his] fortune in the famous land of Alabama." Traveling with his friend and future brother-in-law, Joseph Houck, John camped in the Creek Nation in Georgia for a month. Then, with replenished supplies they continued, crossing the Alabama River at Washington, then the capital of Autauga County. Thirteen miles further on they reached their destination, the settlement called Dutch Bend. Traveling from Mobile to Autauga County was not easy, but for young men in their early twenties, it was nonetheless an adventure "We had to bring our supplies from Mobile in the ordinary flat bottom, or pole-boats. This was, as may well be imagined, a task of no ordinary magnitude. To make a trip from Vernon in forty days, required not only favorable conditions of wind and weather, but the constant stroke of the sturdy oarsman....However, the romance and novelty of such a voyage softened many a hardship, and the stirring scenes of busy preparation for departure always found a number of stalwart pioneers ready to share the promised toil and fun of such an expedition."

By January 1821, John settled in Old Vernon as a boarder at the home of Seaborn Mims, continuing his education by reading books brought in saddlebags by Methodist preachers. In 1822, John experienced a major turning-point in his life while stopping at a brook with a friend after a church camp-meeting at Grave's campground, near Old Vernon. "The Spirit of the Lord descended upon [us] and simultaneously [we were] converted. He dropped the reins of his bridle and yelled like an Indian. The people who had come up got out of their wagons, carriages and buggies, shouting and praising God, and several, as I was told, were savingly converted." On January 6, 1825, John "consummated the most important engagement of my life" through marriage to Miss Louisa Williams, a niece of General John Archer Elmore. The occasion was made even more special in that it was a double wedding. Joseph Houck, who had accompanied John from Charleston, married Miss Nancy Williams, Louisa's sister. The newlyweds moved to Perry County where the family grew to include five children, although the oldest lived just over one year. John and Louisa's neighbors included their respective parents as neighbors. Next door were Peter and Anne DuBois, and one residence further away was Judith Williams. By 1834, John and Louisa had relocated to what was then Greene County and John had received his license to preach. Rev. John rose through the ranks of the Methodist church, being ordained Deacon, then Elder in 1841; by then three more children had been born.

In the 1850 Census for Greensborough, John's occupation was "gin maker", with real estate value of $3000. Listed in his household are his wife, his seven children, and ten slaves. From the time of his early adulthood until at least 1860, Rev. DuBois, cotton gin maker, farmer, husband, fatherand slave ownerwas probably committed first and foremost to mission work "among the Africans." As a boy, he had viewed slaves being treated in an inhumane manner while being unloaded from ships in Charleston. And he had little sympathy for slave traders and speculators who came time and again into Alabama with still more slaves. Rather than becoming a zealous abolitionist, Rev. DuBois, perhaps more effectively, committed to preaching, teaching, and building churches for the slaves as well as their owners. This continued a tradition that John first experienced as a boy in Charleston's Bethel Methodist Church.

It is not clear where John and Louisa were living in 1860. If John and Louisa were absent from the state during the War, it was not to keep their sons out of military service. At least three of the four sons served in the Confederate States Army Dr. Samuel P. DuBois as Captain and Quarter Master of the Louisiana Infantry, Consolidated Crescent Regiment; Dr. Rufus DuBois as Private, Company H, 8th (Hatch's) Alabama Cavalry; and John E. W. DuBois as Sergeant, Company C, 36th Alabama.

By February, 1867, John and Louisa were again living in Greensboro which had just become a part of Hale County. In a letter to his nephew in South Carolina, John wrote of postwar life My family is now in the enjoyment of pretty good health and we send our love to you and yours. Our County has been divided and a new one formed name of "Hale" in honor of Stephen Hale, an eminent Lawyer of Eutaw who fell at the Battle of Gaines Mills. We also find it difficult to get hands enough to work our rich cane Lands though this behaviour in the general is as good as could be expected in the circumstances Most of the Planting furnishes every thing as I give the hands one fourth of the produce of the Lands for their share. When wages are given it ranges from 8 to 14 dollars per month and provisions [provide] them with fire wood and Shelter.

By 1870, John, 72, and Louisa, 71, were again living in Greensboro, this time with their daughter and son-in-law, Martha and Thomas Armstrong and their children. John and Louisa spent time in all three of their daughters' homes for extended periods. While living with daughter Sarah Elizabeth and son-in-law William O. Monroe in Eutaw in March, 1877, John lost his wife and a son to unrelated illnesses within days of each other. The magnitude of the loss of his wife is very apparent in this letter to a friend

[I] write first to you, to acquaint you with the departure of my dear, precious wife, Louisa DuBois, which took place on Monday evening, March 19, 1877... [S]he breathed her last as peacefully as a babe falling asleep upon its mother's breast. God, in his mercy to me, has taken her first, as she was better prepared; and I trust it will be a means of grace to me...

In his family Bible that he had kept from the time of his marriage, John lovingly wrote names and dates of the events concerning his family. But a clipping of the above letter was the last item he placed in this Good Book that had served him so well. On January 31, 1884, while staying with his daughter Judith in Whistler, Alabama, John went to meet Louisa "on the other side of the river."

John and Louisa were buried in the Mesopotamia Cemetery in Eutaw. Until 1955, Rev. John had no gravestone. But Rev. F.S. Moseley of Eutaw wrote of Rev. John's life in a series of articles called "Heroes of the Cross." During his research for this article, Rev. Moseley tracked down descendants of Rev. DuBois and organized a fund for an appropriate monument which was placed on October 21, 1955.

Children of John and Louisa DuBois:

SAMUEL PATTON DUBOIS, (9/15/1827- 3/22/1877), doctor and apothecary;

RUFUS URBANE DUBOIS, (4/18/1829-4/17/1905), dentist;

JOSEPH CORNELIUS DUBOIS, (b. 2/13/1831), dentist and entrepreneur;

JOHN ELMORE WINBOURNE DUBOIS, (10/8/1841- 5/30/1910), teacher and inventor;

JUDITH ANN (DUBOIS) GRACE, (1/28/1833- 1906), teacher; married a doctor;

MARTHA LOUISA (DUBOIS) ARMSTRONG, (11/27/1837-d. 6/18/1906) married a minister;

SARAH ELIZABETH JANE6 (DUBOIS) MONROE, (8/25/1839-12/28/1891) married a minister/editor/teacher.

About the author: Elizabeth DuBois, attorney and writer, is a fourth-generation descendant of John DuBois. Resources Rev. DuBois wrote a series of biographical articles that appeared in the Alabama Christian Advocate in the 1880's. All quotations in this article, unless otherwise noted, are from a collection of his articles published as Necessary Fried Chicken, Elizabeth DuBois, ed., (DuBois Publishing Co., PO Box 332, Weatogue, CT, 06089, 1998).

More on the DuBois Cotton Gin: A family legend asserts that Eli Whitney visited a DuBois plantation where he saw a cotton gin already in operation, and offered to obtain a patentwhich he did. However, Eli patented his cotton gin improvements before John DuBois was born. It is possible that Eli did visit a DuBois plantation in SC, and it is also possible that the DuBois family engaged in cotton gin making before John's birth.

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More About REV. JOHN DUBOIS:

Burial: Mesopotamia Cem., Eutaw, AL

Census: 1850, Greene Co, Alabama¹¹

Occupation 1: Bef. 1821, blacksmith

Occupation 2: inventor¹²

Occupation 3: Minister

Occupation 4: Bet. 1844 - 1856, Cotton Gin Maker^13,14

Religion: Methodist

Marriage Notes for LOUISA WILLIAMS and JOHN DUBOIS:

This was a double wedding ceremony. Anne and her sister Louisa married respectively, Joseph Houck and John DuBois. Joseph and John were good friends and had traveled together from Charleston, South Carolina to Autauga County, Alabama.

More About JOHN DUBOIS and LOUISA WILLIAMS:

Marriage: January 06, 1825, Autauga County, Alabama

vii. THOMAS JEFFERSON WILLIAMS¹⁵, b. Abt. 1803; d. Aft. 1840; m. (1) EVELINA YOUNG, November 05, 1825; d. Bef. 1852; m. (2) MARIE CELEMINE LAFITTE, September 17, 1851, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

Notes for THOMAS JEFFERSON WILLIAMS:

Born: 1803 South Carolina (probably Laurens cty., SC)

Marr (1): November 5, 1825 Montgomery cty., AL EVELINA YOUNG (d/of Bernard Young)

Marr (2): September 17, 1851 DeSoto Parish, LA MARIE CELEMINE LAFITTE

Land - Alabama

April 8, 1837, 120 acres (in total of 3 grnts.), Sects. 1& 2, Twnshp 21N, Range 21E, Tallapoosa,AL

adj. Dillard, Saunders, Sutley, Thornton, Tillery, Tucker, West, Josiah H. Wms., Warner Wms.

September 17, 1841, 325.8 acres, Sec. 36, Twnship 22N, Range 21E Tallapoosa cty., AL

adj. Caldwell, J. Carter, W. Carter, Crawford Weste.

May 15, 1837, 111 acres, Sec. 24, Twnshp 19N, Range 17E (2 ptnts), Elmore(now) cty.,

adj. Burt, McKeithen, Nelson

May 15, 1837, 39.81 acres, Sec. 26, Twnshp 19N, Range 17E, Elmore(now) cty., AL

adj. Broome, Hill, H. Ziegler, L. Ziegler

- Louisiana, DeSoto Parish

Sect. 23, Twnshp. 12N, Range 12W, 40 acres 01 Jun 1860, adj. Cocks, Rambin, J.L. Williams

Sect. 23, Twnshp. 12N, Range 12W, 40 acres 02 Apr 1860

Moved to DeSoto Parish, LA about 1848

Sheriff of DeSoto Parish 1857-1863

Civilian aid to Gen. Richard Taylor during War For Southern Independence

"I cannot speak too highly of the services rendered during the two days operation by my staff. Major Surget......distinguished himself highly. So did Lieutenant Hunter aide de camp, and G.L. Fusilier, and T.J. Williams volunteer aids. The latter gentleman formerly Sheriff of DeSoto Parish, was very useful from his intimate acquaintance with the country." [Official Record of the Rebellion, U.S. Govt. Series I, Vol. 34, part 2]

Died aft 1870, bur Parson's Cem. DeSoto Par. LA

More About THOMAS WILLIAMS and EVELINA YOUNG:

Marriage: November 05, 1825

More About THOMAS WILLIAMS and MARIE LAFITTE:

Marriage: September 17, 1851, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana

viii. ANN ELMORE WILLIAMS, b. Abt. 1805, Laurens County, South Carolina; d. Bet. 1860 - 1870; m. JOSEPH W. HOUCK, SR. ^16,17,18, January 06, 1825, Autauga County, Alabama; b. Abt. 1796, Pennsylvania; d. Bet. 1870 - 1876.

ix. MARTHA A. WILLIAMS, b. Abt. 1808; m. HILLIARD J. PHILLIPS²⁸.

More About MARTHA A. WILLIAMS:

Residence: 1850, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana