BIOGRAPHY: William R. WILLIAMS, Cambria County, PA 

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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 112 
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WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, a farmer and timber dealer of near Ebensburg, Cambria 
county, is a son of Robert and Mary (Rowland) Williams, and was born on the old 
Williams homestead, three miles west of Ebensburg, in Cambria township, August 
11, 1835.
     William Williams, grandfather, was born in Wales, but in the year 1800 he 
left the land of his nativity to seek a home in the New World. He landed in New 
York city, and thence proceeded to Cambria county, Pennsylvania, and located 
upon a tract of land situated within three miles of Ebensburg, the county seat 
of that county. He at once proceeded to clear up a farm and establish a home, in 
which he was successful. He remained upon the farm until his death which 
occurred in 1843.
     Robert Williams, father, was born in the principality of Wales, on 
September 28, 1796, and died in Cambria township, April 24, 1869, having passed 
the greater part of his life there engaged in farming. He was a prosperous and 
well-to-do farmer, and in addition to the old homestead purchased a tract of 
timber land of two hundred and sixty acres, upon which he operated a saw-mill 
for some years. He enlisted in the War of 1812, and was on his way to the front 
when peace was declared, having gone as far as Cumberland, Maryland. He was a 
member of the Disciple church, and in early life a whig, but upon the 
organization of the Republican party, in 1856, became identified with its 
interests. He filled many local offices, and was regarded as a reliable and 
trustworthy citizen. In 1825 he married Mary Rowland, a daughter of Ellis 
Rowland, who was a native of Wales, and who emigrated to America in 1800, 
settling in Blacklick township, six miles west of Ebensburg, where he passed the 
remainder of his life upon a farm.
     Mr. and Mrs. Williams became the parents of five children: John, a farmer 
of Wadena county, Minnesota; Anna, died in girlhood; Harriet, the wife of 
Griffith J. Jones (see his sketch); William R., subject; and Julia A.
     William R. Williams and Mary J. McClure, daughter of James McClure, of 
Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, were united in marriage on October 19, 1869, 
and their union has been blessed in the birth of two children: Emma and Hattie, 
both of whom are married, the former to B. J. Evans and the latter to M. J. 
Hughes.
     Mr. Williams was reared upon a farm, and has followed the combined 
avocations of farming and saw-milling all his life. He owns a large farm, under 
a good state of cultivation, and three hundred acres of valuable timber land. 
Politically he is a Republican, and religiously a member of the Disciple church, 
of which he has been a deacon for twelve years in succession.