History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
Names and Page # Index


JOHN S. WILLIAMS

John S. Williams, a public-spirited citizen of Solebury township who has given generous and helpful support to many movements fostering progress and improvement in the county, was born in Buckingham township, March 21, 1831. The first ancestry of whom the family has definite record was Jeremiah Williams, of English descent, who wedded Mercy Stephenson.

(II) Benjamin Williams, son of Jeremiah and Mercy (Stephenson) Williams, was a resident of Nockamixon township, where he followed the occupation of farming. He wedded Mercy Stevenson October 11, 1744, in Huntington township, New Jersey.

(III) Samuel Williams, son of Benjamin and Mercy (Stevenson) Williams, was born July 20, 1762, and reared in Tinicum township, where he resided until after his marriage, when he removed to Buckingham township and continued to engage in farming there up to the time of his death, which resulted from typhus fever when he was about forty-five or fifty years of age. His political allegiance had been given to the Whig party, and he was a man of local prominence, highly respected throughout his community. He wedded Sarah Watson, who was also reared in Tinicum township.

(IV) Edward Williams, son of Samuel and Sarah (Watson) Williams, was born on the old homestead farm in Buckingham township, and he, too, devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, becoming not only one of the leading farmers of his community, but also a man of prominence in community affairs, who integrity stood as an unquestioned fact in his career. He was frequently called upon to serve in positions of public trust, was president of a turnpike company and one of the trustees of the Hughesian free school. His political allegiance was given first to the Whig and afterward to the Republican party. He was married twice, his first union being with Phoebe Esther Schofield. They had three children, but John S. Williams, whose name introduces this record, is the only one now living. A second marriage resulted in the birth of seven children: Charles H., deceased; Esther S.; Mary E.; William, deceased; Marshall, who resides in Florida; Frank H., a practicing physician of Trenton; and Harriet F. The father, Edward Williams, died at the age of seventy-two years.

John S. Williams, son of Edward and Phoebe Esther (Schofield) Williams, was reared under the parental roof, acquired his early education in the common schools and afterward attended the Friends' school in Buckingham, also in Langhorne as a student in a boarding school conducted by James Anderson, and in the boarding school at Abington conducted by Samuel Smith, and in the Tremont Seminary at Norristown, Pennsylvania, of which Samuel Aaron was principal. When twenty-one years of age he assumed the management of the farm in Solebury township, which was the ancestral home of the Schofield family and descended to him through his maternal grandfather, John Schofield. He has since been actively and prominently identified with agricultural interests along progressive lines, and his splendidly improved property is an indication of his unflagging thrift and enterprise. He has been vice president and director of the Bucks County Trust Company since its organization, has for thirty years been a director of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Insurance company, and for twenty years its treasurer, and is secretary and treasurer of the New Hope and Delaware Bridge Company, in which capacity he has served for several years. His interest in public progress and the material upbuilding and improvement of his county has found tangible evidence in the hearty co-operation which he has given to many measures for the benefit of his community. In politics he is a Republican, and for years served as school director, but otherwise has declined public office. He belongs to the Friends' Society, and stands today as one of the best known and honored men of Solebury township.

Mr. Williams was married to Miss Rachel R. Magill, a daughter of Jonathan Paxson and Mary (Watson) McGill, of Solebury township, one of the early families of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have three children: Carroll R., the eldest, was graduated from Swarthmore College in 1877 and completed the latter course in the University of Pennsylvania with the class of 1880. He was admitted to the bar the same year, began the practice of his profession in Philadelphia, and is today one of the most successful lawyers of that city. He was elected a member of the common council from the twenty-fourth ward, serving thereon from 1835 to 1839. On January 23, 1890, he married Eleanor (Boyd) Palmer, of Baltimore, Maryland, and they have three children: Catherine B., born September 26, 1891; John S., born April 8, 1893; and Carroll R., born September 3, 1903. Agnes Blackfan, the only daughter of John S. and Rachel Williams, is at home. Edward Newlin, the younger son, died when but twenty-six years of age. He was a graduate of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and was acting as a physician and surgeon on the American Line steamship plying between London and New York.

Text taken from page 272-273

Davis, William W. H., A. M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed October 2001 as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project

Published November 2001 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb


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