Coryell Co. TX - Uriah Deloy Williams - Mary Elizabeth Painter Williams Submitted by Bobbie Ross ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Uriah Deloy Williams (1848-1929) & Mary Elizabeth (Painter) Williams (1854-1892) Early in Uriah's life he lost both of his parents. He was placed with a fmily named Holloman, who operated a sheep ranch in Angelina County, Texas. It was the period of the Civil War and the Holloman boys who were older than Uriah went into the Army and Uriah we left to do the chores and herd the sheep. This he did until the return of the Holloman boys. Uriah then moved to Coryell County, married, and started a family of his own. Mary Elizabeth Painter was the oldest child of David Painter, who died from a "fever" contracted while in Confederate service in 1862. The family lived near old Fort Gates and later Straws Mill in Coryell County. Their origin was Scotland. Mary Elizabeth and Uriah were married in 1870. They purchased a farm near Coryell Creek and lived there the remainder of their lives. Unfortunately, Mary Elizabeth died in childbirth, as did her infant son. The children of Uriah and Mary were all born in Texas and are listed below: Clara (Williams) Shipman 1874 - 1893 Elizabeth (Williams) Meharg 1875 - 1959 Emma (Williams) Holmes 1879 - Robert (Bud) Williams 1882 - 1958 Willis Williams & 1884 - 1974 Walter Williams (Twins) 1884 - Bert Williams 1887 - 1973 Lanie (Williams) Morris 1889 - A younger brother of Mary Elizabeth, Robert, lived nearby in the White Hall area all of his life. His descendents are still worthy residents of that area. Texas was still frontier country during the early years of the family. Uriah bought his first farm of 274 acres for a dollar per acre. Later, he bought 26 acres more, for which he traded a horse, saddle, and a pair of boots. The Indians were gone by that time, but there were numerous rough characters. It was not too long after the Civil War and times were hard. The country was restless, but at the same time there was a sense of growth. Settlers were coming in not only from nearby states, but also from abroad. As measured by present standards life was hard and rewards low and unpredictable. Nevertheless, they persisted and with a sense of good humor and neighborly helpfulness which would be very hard to match today. Educational opportunities were very limited - generally a month or two per year. It is greatly to the credit of the Williams family that they were in the forefront of education whenever possible. Uriah collected money and helped build the first school house on Coryell Creek. If you learned to read, write, and do simple addition and subtraction, that was about all you could expect. Additional education, if any, was up to you. Yet by diligent reading and study it was possible to become an educated person, and some did. In addition to farming, Uriah was a fiddler and often played for nearby dances, After his fiddling days were over, he grew a long white beard which his grandchildren loved to admire. He was fond of sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch and stroking that long white beard - a patriarch in this time. I have a keen recollection of the first William home. It was of logs, the cracks being filled with some sort of clay or plaster. How the family fit into it will always be a mystery to me - four boys and four girls with their parents! There was a kitchen, which also served as an eating area. And of course, there was the fireplace. This, together with the kitchen stove, were the only means of heating. I do not remember bedrooms. Privacy was at a premium. The "facilities" were outdoors of course. The fireplace and stove used wood for fuel, which was generally to be had for the cutting and hauling. No one thought of paying for it. I also have recollection of my step-grandmother Williams (Nancy Coskrey Williams) making soap by leaching the wood ashes and heating with the "rendering" of the hog fat. The soap was not as good as today's, but it served its purpose. A large pot of cast iron holding about twenty gallons was heated on a fire outdoors. This pot had multiple uses - not only for soap making, but also to boil clothes on wash day. Water was also heated to boiling in the pot and the hog's carcass dunked into it on slaughtering day. This loosened the lard which could them be removed easily. Later the Williams built a conventional frame house, which may have had indoor "facilities," but to me it never had the fascination of the log house. It is still in use. In spite of the hardships, people's attitudes were usually cheerful and highly independent. The people were almost universally religious. Within my family the variation was from Presbyterian to some form of Baptist (Uriah Williams was instrumental in getting the church built on Coryell Creek). But regardless of denomination there we a helpful attitude towards neighbors. That attitude was the only relief for the poor, widows and orphans. There was no publicly financed relief. The church was a strong factor in this. It served not only as the conscience of the community, but it also was a special influence which brought people together as no other factor did. copyrighted Bobbie Ross 2002