Biography of James H. Williams, Franklin Co, AR

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        Date: 16 Aug 1998
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SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford,
Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed
Publishing Co., 1889.

James H. Williams was born in Carroll County, Ark., in 1841, and is a
son of Lewis and Nancy (Shropshire) Williams, natives of Tennessee,
who located in Carroll County, Ark., in 1840. The father, who was a
farmer all his life, died in 1843, leaving three children, viz.:
Wesley, William and James H. Wesley and William were killed during the
late war. After the death of her first husband Nancy Williams married
Henry Nelson, who died in 1854, the father of one child, Adaline, now
the wife of James Stelfer. The mother subsequently married Sam Crooks,
by whom she had three children, viz.: Amanda, who married James
Robinson; Miranda, the wife of Joseph Perkins, and Willis. Mr. Crooks
died in December, 1887, and his widow lives on her father's old
homestead. She is well along in years, and is a member of the
Christian Church. The maternal grandfather of our subject, James
Shropshire, was a native of Tennessee, from which State he removed to
St. Francis County, Ark., and afterward to Carroll County, where he
lived a number of years, locating finally in Franklin County. He died
in Yell County. In 1861 James H. Williams enlisted in Company A, Fifth
Arkansas Regiment, and served until the close of the war,
participating in the battle of Pea Ridge and others. After the
surrender he returned home and turned his attention to farming. In
1866 he married Emily Smith, who was born in 1846, and is a daughter
of Arthur Smith, who came to Arkansas from Alabama in 1860; he served
in the late war, and died at Pine Bluff April 7, 1864. To Mr. and Mrs.
Williams have been born twelve children, viz.: Mary A., wife of J. J.
Ward; Martha J., William W., Lewis A., Nancy M., Florence E., Robert
H., Anna D., Columbus M. and John M.; Sarah and Jane F. are deceased.
As a result of hard work and good management, Mr. Williams has 300
acres of a fine tract of land under cultivation, and also owns and
operates a cotton-gin and corn-mill; he also conducts a general
merchandising business, which he established in the spring of 1888. He
takes an active interest in educational and public enterprises, and is
a Democrat politically. Mrs. Williams is a member of the Christian
Church.