History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/J. Wilson Williams

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search

J. WILSON WILLIAMS was born in 1816, at Charlotte, Vermont, and was educated for a civil engineer. In 1836 he came to Hancock County, Illinois, and was, for twelve years, county surveyor. When the boundary line was established between Iowa and Missouri, Mr. Williams was one of the engineers employed in that work. In 1850 he located at Huron, in Des Moines County, Iowa, which became his permanent home. In 1852 he was elected on the Whig ticket with James W. Grimes as a colleague to represent that county in the House of the Fourth General Assembly and again elected to the Sixth, in 1862, as a Republican and in 1866 was chosen to the same position for the fourth time. In 1874 he was elected to the Senate, serving four years, and again in 1880 was a member of the House, serving fourteen years as a member of the Iowa Legislature. In 1866 he was chosen one of the trustees of the State Agricultural College and served on the building committee during the erection of the main structure and the organization of the college. He died on the 29th of August, 1893.