John Williams (abt. 1816 - 1893)

Born about 1816 in Fayette County, Indiana [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Ann (White) Williams — married 17 Jul 1836 in Warren County, Indiana

Husband of Lucinda (Lane) Williams — married about 23 Mar 1862 in Vermilion County, Illinois

Descendants

Died 16 May 1893 at about age 77 in rural Dennis, Labette County, Kansas

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kenneth Kinman [send private message]

Biography

John was born about 1816, Fayette Co., Indiana. That was during the time (1816) of the "year without a summer" due to the cold summer weather caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora volcano the previous year. "On June 25, 1816, The Franklin Repository in Pennsylvania reported that snow blanketed the area. Around the same time, The Evening Post in New York described freezing temperatures and nearly a foot of snow. Farm animals in Vermont succumbed to the freezing temperatures as long-time residents said they’d never seen anything like it!" "As fall approached, the Hartford Courant noted that 1816 would go down in history because there had been frost every month of the year. European papers complained that constant rains had ruined crops and created a famine."

He moved with his parents about 1833 to Warren County, Indiana, and was married there on 17 July 1836 to Sarah Ann White (b. 17 August 1819 or 18 October 1818), Ohio; d. 04 October 1860, Blount Township, Vermilion Co., Illinois).

John Williams and family are found in Warren County, Indiana, in the 1840 Census (page 97). They moved about 1849 to Iroquois County, Illinois (certainly there by the 1850 Census). They moved to Blount Twp., Vermilion County, in the 1850s, appearing there in the 1860 Census (page 223). After his first wife Sarah died (1860), John married 2nd (marriage license dated 23 March 1862) to the widow Mrs. Lucinda (Lane) Watson-Davis. He and Lucinda had 3 sons (Milburn, Wilburn, and Smith).

John and Lucinda appear in the 1870 (page 13B/26) and 1880 (page 203) Census in Blount Twp., Vermilion Co., Illinois. The 1870 Census shows John to be a farmer with real estate valued at 57,000 and personal property of 1040, so he was well-off financially (compared with the 1860 Census entry when he had real valued at 4000 and personal property worth 800).

John Williams appears in the 1885 Kansas State Census for Osage Township, Labette County (page 61). His second wife Lucinda died in April 1888 (buried Pleasant Hill Cemetery).

The 17 May 1893 edition of the Parsons Palladium newspaper says: "John Williams died Tuesday afternoon on his farm near Dennis, aged 76 years. He was one of the prominent farmers of that community and was respected by all.

The 18 May 1893 edition of the Parsons Daily Sun newspaper says: "John Williams, one of the oldest settlers of Labette county, died yesterday of general debility, aged 76 years."

NOTE: Their son Smith Williams was in Labette County, Kansas, during the 1895 state census, living near his half-sister (my ancestor) Frances Alsena Williams-Moore. Smith Williams died in 1911.

Sources

• Warren Co., Indiana, marriage record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZRMG-5J6Z

• 1840 Census record (Warren County, Indiana): https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3143073:8057?_phsrc=DBj4081&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=John&gsln=Williams&ml_rpos=2&queryId=4c0dae130b451c3e79207ca3fb647b97

• 1850 Census (Iroquois County, Illinois): https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4193359-00051?pId=16290163

• 1860 Census: https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/37263658:7667

• 1862 Marriage: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HS4R-LX3Z

• 1870 Census: https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=yWB8724&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&indiv=1&db=1870usfedcen&gsfn=lucinda&gsln=Williams&gsln_x=NS&msbdy=1824&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=2&msrpn__ftp=vermilion,%20illinois,%20usa&msrpn=2989&new=1&rank=1&uidh=u2c&redir=false&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=27&h=17454949&recoff=&fsk=MDsxOTsyMA-61--61-&bsk=&pgoff=&ml_rpos=28

• 1880 Census: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXKG-5YP

• 1885 Kansas Census (Labette County, Kansas): https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1088/images/ks1885_70-0135?pId=353663

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194977804/john-williams

• Y-DNA: Y-DNA results 1412 and 1413 for "Q-Group 136" on page 5 of: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/WilliamsDNA?iframe=ycolorized