Biography of 	Lester J. Williams, M. D., St. Landry, then E. Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by 	Mike Miller September 2000

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Lester J. Williams, M. D., is one of the representative physicians of the City of Baton 
Rouge, where he is specializing in X-ray and radium, maintaining a modern and splendidly 
equipped X-ray laboratory, the facilities of which are of great value alike to him and to 
his professional confreres in the capital city.

Doctor Williams was born at Opelousas, judicial center of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, 
November 19, 1880, and at the same place his father, Austin D. Williams, was horn in the 
year 1860, a son of Josiah and Maria (Bushnell) Williams, both natives of Rapides Parish, 
this state, and both residents of Opelousas at the time of their deaths, though the greater 
part of their lives was passed in their native parish, where Mr. Williams was an extensive 
and successful planter.  Mrs. Josiah Williams was a gracious and talented woman who gained 
high reputation in literary work, she having made many contributions to the Youth's Companion 
and other periodicals.  The Williams family was founded in Virginia in the Colonial era, the 
original representatives having come from England.

Austin D. Williams became a successful newspaper publisher at Opelousas, where he continued 
his residence until 1881, when he removed with his family to Baton Rouge, where he became 
editor and publisher of the old Baton Rouge Advocate and also owner and publisher of the Baton 
Rouge Bulletin.  He served one term as a member of the City Council of Baton Rouge, and both 
in individual activities and through the medium of his newspapers he gave yeoman service in 
behalf of the democratic party.  He was one of the honored and influential citizens of the 
capital city at the time of his death, which here occurred June 24. 1902.  His widow passed 
away in December, 1906.  Both were earnest communicants of St. James Church, Protestant 
Episcopal. Mr. Williams was affiliated with Live Oak Camp No. 14, Woodmen of the World, of 
which he was counsel commander many years; Baton Rouge Lodge No. 490, Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks; Capital Lodge No. 29, Knights of Pythias, of which he was a past 
chancellor and in which he held at the time of his death the office of keeper of records and 
seals, he having been a member also of the Knights of Honor.  Mrs. Williams, whose death 
occurred in 1906, as previously noted, was born at Opelousas, in 1862, her maiden name having 
been Margary Porter and she having been a daughter of the late Judge James H. Porter who was a 
leading member of the bar of St. Landry Parish and who served many years on the bench of the 
District Court at Opelousas.  He received in the Masonic fraternity the thirty-second degree 
of the Scottish Rite.  His wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Taylor, was born at Opelousas, 
and was a resident of Hammond, this state, at the time of her death.  Doctor Williams of this 
review is the elder of the two surviving children, and his sister, Laura, is the wife of Fred 
M. Teusch, a commercial traveling salesman, their home being in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Doctor Williams was an infant at the time of the family removal to Baton Rouge, and after 
here completing the curriculum of the public schools he entered the Louisiana State University.  
In this institution he was graduated in 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 
preparation for his chosen profession he then entered the medical department of Tulane 
University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1904 and with the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine.  In connection with his undergraduate activities the Doctor became 
affiliated with the Sigma Nu college fraternity and the Phi Chi medical fraternity.

After receiving his professional degree Doctor Williams was engaged in the practice of 
medicine at Melville, St. Landry Parish, until he responded to a higher duty, in 1917, when 
the nation became involved in the World war.  He promptly volunteered, and in May of that year 
received his commission, as a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the United States Army.  
He was sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, for intensive preliminary training and one month later 
was transferred to Camp Lee, Virginia, where he remained eleven months.  As captain of 
Ambulance Company No. 318 he then went overseas with the Eightieth Division and he was in 
active service in France during a climateric period of thirteen months, within which he lived 
up to the full tension of the great conflict.  He participated in the St. Mihiel major 
offensive, as well as that of the Meuse-Argonne, and after the latter offensive he received 
his commission as major. After the armistice brought the war to a close the Doctor finally 
returned to his native land, and at Camp Lee, Virginia, he received his honorable discharge 
in June, 1919.  He has since been engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the 
capital city of his native state, and in addition to operating his own modern X-ray laboratory 
at his offices he also owns and operates the X-ray laboratories of the Baton Rouge Sanitarium 
and Our Lady of the Lake Sanitarium.  He is an expert and authority in the field of electrical 
application, and keeps his laboratories at the highest modern standard.

The democratic party receives the unqualified allegiance of Doctor Williams, and while a 
resident of Melville he served six years as its mayor.  He and his wife are active 
communicants of St. James Church, Protestant Episcopal, in which their marriage was solemnized.
 He is a past master of Melville Lodge No. 268, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, from which 
he transferred his affiliation to Capital Lodge at Baton Rouge; at Opelousas is a member of 
Gordy Chapter No. 32, Royal Arch Masons and in Baton Rouge he is affiliated with Plain's 
Commandery No. 11, Knight Templars, he being a past commander of St. Landry Commandery No. 
13, at Opelousas.  His Masonic affiliations are further extended to El Karubah Temple of the 
Mystic Shrine at Shreveport.  He is a member of Baton Rouge Lodge No. 490, Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, the local Chamber of Commerce and Baton Rouge Golf and Country Club, 
as well as the local Rotary Club.  The Doctor is a popular and appreciative member of the East 
Baton gouge Parish Medical Society, of which he has served as president, and he is a member of 
the Sixth District Medical Society, the Louisiana State Medical Society (of which he is 
president in 1924), and the American Medical Association.  In his home city the Doctor k a 
director of the Security Building & Loan Association and the Louisiana Fire Insurance Company.  
He is the owner of his attractive home property at 739 Convention Street.

October 10, 1906, recorded the marriage of Doctor Williams and Miss Mayme Steele, daughter
of the late Capt. Ollie Brice Steele and Juliet (Parks) Steele, Mr. Steele having served 
as state treasurer of Louisiana and having been at the time of his death the vice president 
of the Bank of Baton Rouge.  Mrs. Williams received excellent educational advantages, 
including those of the Kate P. Nelson Institute at Shreveport, and she is a popular figure 
in the social activities of the capital city of her native state.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 62-63, by Henry E. Chambers.  
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.