WILLIAMS, Peter, clergyman, b. in New Brunswick, N. J., about 1780 : d. in New York city, 18 Oct., 1840. His father, Peter, a negro, was born a slave, became sexton of the 1st Methodist Epis- copal church in New York, afterward engaged in trade, and was the principal founder of a church for colored Methodists. The son embraced Prot- estant Episcopal tenets with his pastor, the Rev. Thomas Lyell, was educated by the Rev. Richard C. Moore, became a lay reader, and in 1820 was ordained by Bishop John H. Hobart, and inducted as rector of an Episcopal church for people of his race. He published an " Oration on the Abolition of the Slave-Trade " (New York, 1808), and " Dis- course on the Death of Capt. Paul Cuffee " (1817).
WILLIAMS, Beuel, senator, b. in Hallowell
(now Augusta), Me., 2 June, 1783; d. in Augusta,
Me., 25 July, 1862. He was educated at Hallowell
academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar in
1802, and practised in Augusta. He was a member
of the state house of representatives in 1822-'6,
then sat in the state senate for three years, and
after that was in the house again till 1832. In
1836 he was a presidential elector on the Van
Buren ticket. In the following year he was elected
to the U. S. senate as a Democrat to fill a vacancy,
taking his seat on 4 Sept., 1837. He opposed the
Ashburton treaty, which adjusted the northeastern
boundary. In February, 1842, in consequence of
a resolution of the legislature, in which the Whigs
had obtained a preponderance, he offered his resig-
nation, and in the congress that began its sessions
on 4 Dec., 1843, he was replaced by John Fairfield.
He was the principal promoter of the railroad
between Portland and Augusta, which afforded
direct rail communication with Boston, and was its
president from 1847, when the work was begun,
and the chief manager after its completion in 1851
for about ten years. The degree ot LL. D. was
conferred on him by Bowdoin in 1855. — His son,
Joseph Hartwell, lawyer, b. in Augusta, Me., 15
Feb., 1814, was graduated at Harvard in 1834, and
at the law-school in 1837, and practised his pro-
fession in Augusta till 1862. He rnarried a sister
of the Rev. Sylvester Judd. He was president of
the state senate in 1857, and became acting gov-
ernor on the resignation of Hannibal Hamlin in
February of that year. Gov. Williams was nomi-
nated to the office of judge of the Maine supreme
court in 1862, but declined. In 1864-'6 and 1874
he was a member of the legislature, serving in
1865-'6 as chairman of the committee on finance.
He is the author of " A Brief Study in Genealogy,"
treating of the Cony family, to which his mother
belonged (printed privately, Cambridge, 1885). —
Reuel's nephew, Seth, soldier, b. in Augusta, Me.,
22 March, 1822; d. in Boston, Mass., 23 March,
1866, was graduated at the U. S. military acade-
my in 1842, commissioned as 2d lieutenant of
artillery on 31 Aug., 1844, and as 1st lieutenant on
3 March, 1847, and during the Mexican war served
as aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert Patterson, partici-
Eating in all the principal battles, and gaining the
revet of captain for gallantry at Cerro Gordo.
He was adjutant of the military academy in 1850-'3,
and subsequently served in the adjutant-general's
department till his death. He was promoted major
on 11 May, 1861, and appointed a brigadier-general
in the volunteer army on 23 Sept., and from 20
Aug., 1861, till 11 Nov., 1862, served as adjutant-
general on the staff of Gen. George B. McClellan,
being promoted lieutenant-colonel on 17 July, 1862.
He was adjutant-general of the Army of the Poto-
mac while it was commanded by Gen. McClellan.
and continued to serve in that capacity under Gen.
Ambrose E. Burnside, Gen. Joseph Hooker, and
Gen. George G. Meade, winning the brevet of
colonel for gallant conduct at Gettysburg. His
health was impaired by continued and arduous
duties, and from November, 1864, till the close of
hostilities he served on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's
staff as inspector-general of the army. He took
part in nearly every important engagement, and
received the brevet of major-general of volunteers
on 1 Aug., 1864, for brave conduct in the field in
the campaigns from Gettysburg to Petersburg,
that of brigadier-general in the U. S. army on 13
March, 1865, for gallantry in the final campaign
near Richmond, and that of major-general on the
same date for gallant and meritorious services
throughout the war.
WILLIAMS, Robert, clergyman, b. in Eng-
land about 1745 ; d. in Norfolk county, Va., 26
Sept., 1775. He was a local preacher in John
Wesley's society, and from him received permission
to preach in this country under the direction of
the regular missionaries. Arriving in New York
city in October, 1769, he began his labors in the
chapel there, then received a general license from
Joseph Pilmoor in Philadelphia, assisted Robert
Strawbridge in evangelistic work, and in 1772 en-
tered Virginia as the apostle of Methodism. When
he began by singing and preaching on the court-
house steps in Norfolk, his ecstatic manner caused
the citizens to suspect his sanity, yet he soon made
converts and organized a society. He was received
into the travelling connection at the first general
conference, which was held at Philadelphia in
June, 1773, and in the following year married and
located. He was the first to print Methodist books
in this country, and gave a wide circulation to
Wesley's sermons until the conference that ad-
mitted him appropriated the right of publication.
WILLIAMS, Robert, member of congress, b. in Surry county, N. C, 12 July, 1773 ; d. in Louisiana about 1820. His father, Maj. Joseph, was a Whig partisan who had many desperate encounters with the Tories during the Revolution. The son became a lawyer, and during the war acted as adjutant-general of the state. He also collected the acts of the general assembly from 1776. For many years he was a trustee and treasurer of the University of North Carolina. He was a member of congress for three terms, serving from 15 May, 1797, till 3 March, 1803, and was then appointed land commissioner for Mississippi. Retiring from that office in 1805, he went to Tennessee, and subsequently settled in Louisiana. — His cousin, Robert, lawyer, b. in Caswell county, N. C, about 1765; d. in Louisiana, was appointed governor of Mississippi territory bv President Jefferson, filling that office from 1805 till 1809.— The second Robert's brother, Marmaduke, member of congress, b. in Caswell county. N. C, 6 April, 1772; d. in Tuscaloosa, Ala., 29 Oct., 1850, studied and practised law, was a member of the state senate in 1802, and served in congress three successive terras, entering the house when his cousin retired. After the conclusion of his last term he emigrated to Alabama in 1810. He was a delegate from Tuscaloosa county to the convention that framed the state constitution in 1819, and on its adoption was a candidate for governor, but was defeated by William W. Bibb, who had held that office in the territorial government. He was elected to the legislature in 1821, and was ten times re-elected. In 1826 he was appointed a commissioner to settle territorial accounts between Alabama and Mississippi, and he was judge of the county court from 1832 till 1842, when he was retired by limitation
