Among the strong and influential citizens of Marion county, the record of
whose lives have become an essential part of the history of the section, the
gentleman whose name appears above occupies a prominent place, and for many
years has exerted a beneficial influence in the community in which he
resides.
T. W. Williams, the well-known Justice of the Peace at
Salem, Illinois, was born in Silver Springs, Wilson county, Tennessee, May
22, 1837, the son of W. G. Williams, a man of sterling worth and influence,
who was born and reared at Silver Springs. He came to Illinois in 1845,
locating in the northern part of Marion county which is now embraced in
Kinmundy township, where he developed a farm, making a comfortable home and
a good living during his residence there. Thomas Williams, father of W. G.
Williams and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to Illinois
with the family in 1845. He was a North Carolinian by birth and a fine type
of the true Southern gentleman. He followed farming all his life. He died in
Kinmundy. W. G. Williams died in 1904, at the advanced age of eighty-seven
years. The mother of the subject was Mary Morning, a native of old Virginia
and a woman of many estimable traits. She passed to her rest in 1852. Mr.
and Mrs. W. G. Williams were the parents of nine children as follows:
Elizabeth, widow of R. G. Williams, who now lives in Foster township, Marion
county; T. W., our subject; Othnial, who is living at Raleigh, Saline
county, Illinois, was a soldier in the Civil war; Joseph died while in the
Union army; G. H. also died in the Union army; George M. was killed while in
the Federal ranks; Henry N. also died in the Union army; Carroll died in
infancy; Mary Jane is the wife of John Carman, living at Kinmundy, this
county.
The subject's father married the second time, his last wife
being Martha Bocikiewicz, and by this union five children were born as
follows: Piety Smith, now de-ceased, who lived in Hamilton county, Illinois;
W. G., Jr., who is living in Hamilton county; F. O., who is also a resident
of Hamilton county; John V., is a Baptist minister, living at Galitia,
Saline county, Illinois; Priscilla died at the age of ten years.
T.
W. Williams, our subject, was raised on the farm and attended the common
schools where he diligently applied himself and received a fairly good
education. After he reached maturity he bought and sold livestock, making
this business a success from the start, having much natural ability as a
trader. He lived on the farm for twenty-five years. He also made a marked
success later dealing in livestock and grain, becoming widely known not only
as a man of unusual industry but also of scrupulous honesty.
Having
taken a lively interest in politics and becoming well known throughout the
county he was sought out by his political friends for positions of public
trust, having first served as Deputy Sheriff in 1890 of Marion county for a
period of two years, with the greatest satisfaction to all concerned and
reflecting much credit upon his innate ability as an official. In 1893 he
became Deputy Circuit Clerk, in which capacity he ably served for five
years. Mr. Williams was postmaster at Kinmundy, Illinois, in 1885, during
Cleveland's first administration. He had previously been living on his farm,
but he then moved to Kinmundy and from that town to Salem in 1900 for the
purpose of assuming the duties of Deputy Sheriff. In all of his official
career not the shadow of suspicion of wrong has rested upon him, and he has
given uniform satisfaction to all concerned in whatever place he has filled.
He was the Democratic nominee for Sheriff in 1894, but was defeated by a
Republican candidate.
Mr. Williams' early life was devoted very
largely to school teaching, having won a lasting reputation throughout
Marion county as an able instructor and his services were always in great
demand. He followed this line of work from the time he was twenty-one until
he was forty years old, having taught not only in Marion but also Hamilton
and Saline counties. He has given his time to the duties of the office of
justice of the Peace, to which he was elected in 1900. He is also engaged in
the hotel business, being the present proprietor of the Williams House,
which he has managed for ten years. Owing to the courteous treatment and
excellent accommodations which the traveling public finds at this house, it
has a liberal patronage and has become well known to those finding it
convenient to stop at a well-kept hostelry.
The domestic life of Mr.
Williams began when he was united in marriage with Juliet Boczkiewicz on
March 27, 1859. She was a representative of a highly respected and well
known family of this county. By this union the following interesting
children have been born: Henrietta, the wife of George M. Hargrove, of
Fayette county, Illinois; Annetta, deceased; Alfe, the wife of W. W. Newis,
of Salem; W. W., of Centralia, this state; Walter, of Ashland, Cass county,
Illinois; T. S., of Salem.
These children have received good
educations and careful home training which is clearly reflected in their
lives.
Mrs. Williams was called to her rest in 1881, and Mr. Williams
was married again in 1884 to Nannie L. Williams, a daughter of T. C.
Williams, of Kinmundy, a well-known family of that place. There have been no
children by this union.
Fraternally Mr. Williams is affiliated with
the Masonic order, having belonged to this lodge since he was twenty-five
years old. He is a member of the Baptist church, and judging from his sober,
upright, well ordered daily life one would conclude that he believes in
carrying out the sublime precepts and doctrines embraced in both the lodge
and the church to which he belongs. Mr. Williams is a man of striking
personality, portly with a proper poise of dignity to his military bearing
which makes him a conspicuous figure wherever he goes. He is a pleasant man
to meet, always kind, affable, well-mannered and congenial; these
commendable traits coupled with his industry and genuine worth make him a
favorite in Marion county and wherever he is known, and he justly merits the
high esteem of which he is the recipient.
Extracted 03 Nov 2017 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 54-56.