Friday, May 29, 2009

One big happy family

Well I have looked at all those relatives of the Williams of Vance county. And guess what!

One Joseph Williams, known as the "Duke of Surry" is from Surry county where I now live. He is in fact a cousin to Col. James Williams killed at the battle of Kings Mountain from SC.  AND he commanded the whigs at the Battle of Shallowford I discussed earlier. How about that?

MAJ. JOSEPH WILLIAMS, a cousin of COL. JAMES WILLIAMS, killed at King's Mountain, was the youngest son of NATHANIEL WILLIAMS, who migrated from Wales to Hanover County, Virginia. Joseph lost his father when he was 15 years old, and was taken care of by a namesake, and kinsman, JOSEPH WILLIAMS, a merchant of Williamsboro, Granville County, North Carolina. JOSEPH WILLIAMS settled at the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin before the Revolution and died in August 1827, his widow surviving until 1832. 
For a time there was a general store at Williamsboro, then called Nutbush which was known as the
WILLIAMS & BURTON Store. The Burton was either COL. ROBERT BURTON, son-in-law of JUDGE JOHN WILLIAMS or his father HUTCHINS BURTON. Thus, there were two JOSEPH WILLIAMS who were prominent merchants in this section of North Carolina.

The following is a letter from his son ALEXANDER WILLIAMS of Greenville, Tennessee, written June 28, 1845, this being the postscript.
"I expect I received a letter from the same gentleman you speak of, from Baltimore, Mr. Lyman C. Draper, who wishes to know something of my father, and particular as to the battle between the WHIGS and TORIES fought near Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, at which battle my father headed and commanded the WHIGS. It is a little singular, history has never named this battle, although nearly 100 Tories were killed and only one Whig lost his life." A.W.

And did you know that Draper also said Joseph Winston was related to Patrick Henry? True. Col. Cleveland of Wilkes county claimed to be directly related to Oliver Cromwell. Hummm... probably not true. But here is another project. Who married who. Who was cousin/brother to who?  The revolution as Joseph Winston's mother said was a first little more than another "border war" between low-land Scots and English.   
How about the energetic minority?

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