John Overton Williams (1905 - 1996)

Born 13 Apr 1905 in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States

Husband of Mary Lou Elfrieda (Scruggs) Williams — married 10 Nov 1926 (to 1940) in Shelby, Tennessee, United States

Died 24 Nov 1996 at age 91 in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: US Black Heritage Project WikiTree [send private message]

John Williams is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage

Biography

John Williams is Notable.

Bearcat Williams was an American jazz musician.^[1]

John Overton Williams, son of Polly Williams, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1905.^[2] He moved to Kansas City in his youth and learned to play saxophone there as a teenager, playing in a local dance band and touring with the vaudeville revue, Hits 'n Bits, in the first half of the 1920s. While with this show he met pianist Mary Lou Burley, who became both a personal and professional companion; the pair married in 1926^[3] and Burley played piano in Williams' Synco Jazzers band on their 1927 tour and recording session. He then played with Terrence Holder's band, which Andy Kirk took over soon after; Williams played with Kirk for nearly a decade alongside his wife.

In 1939 he left Kirk's group, and divorced Mary Lou the following year. He went into the restaurant industry in the 1940s, but still played on the side with Cootie Williams and for several years with Earl Hines on baritone sax. His last performances were in the late 1940s, after which he worked in hospitality and in a factory.

Bearcat Williams died in Columbus, Ohio, aged 91.^[4][5][6]

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Overton_Williams
2. ↑ Ancestry Record 2238 #194554548 Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
3. ↑ "Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH9-BVX4 : 10 March 2021), John Williams and Mary Burley, 10 Nov 1926; citing Shelby, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. , Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,784,671.
4. ↑ "Ohio Death Index, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK2D-H55 : 12 November 2019), John Overton Williams, 1996.
5. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JKKF-32Q : 7 January 2021), John O Williams, 24 Nov 1996; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
6. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78631357/obituary-for-john-o-williams-aged-91/