Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/439

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WILLIAMS


state senator, 1808-09. He died in Moore county, N.C., July 20, 1814.

WILLIAMS, Channing floore, first bishop of Yedo, Japan, and Tiith in succession in the Am- erican episcopate, was born at Richmond, Va., July 18, 1829. He was graduated from "William and Mary college in 1853 ; and from the Theo- logical Seminary of Virginia in 1855 ; was ordered deacon in 1853 at St. Paul's church, Alex- andria ; and was sent to China as a missionary in 1859. He was ordained priest in the mission chapel at Shanghai, China, by Bishop Boone. Jan. 11, 1857, and was transferred to Japan. He was elected bishop of the China mission in 1866 ; was consecrated at St. John's chapel. New York city, Oct. 3, 1866, by Bishops Hopkins, Lee and Johns, assisted by Bishops Payne. Potter and Wliipple, In 1874 his title was changed to Bishop of Yedo, and he served in that capacity till October, 1889, when he resigned, but continued actively in mis- sionary work.

WILLIAMS, Christopher Harris, representa- tive, was born in North Carolina, Dec. 18, 1798 ; son of Duke and Eda (Harris) Williams ; grand- son of Col. John Williams (a Revolutionary officer and a brotlier of Col. Joseph Williams, of Surry county, N.C.) and Elizabeth (Williamson) Williams, and of Tyree and Mary Ann (Simpson) Harris, and a descendant of the Williams family mentioned in the sketch of Senator John W^illiams (q.v.). He practised law in Lexington, Hender- son county, Tenn., and was a WHiig representa- tive from Tennessee in the 25th-27th and 31st- 32d congresses, serving, 1837-43 and 1849-53, re- ceiving no opposition in his election to the last two corlgresses. He was married, Dec. 9, 1819, to Jane Allison (born Nov. 11, 1801 ; died April 2, 1871) of Williamson county, Tenn. John Sharp Williams (q.v.) representative from Mississippi, 1803-1905, was his grandson. He died in Lexing- ton, Tenn., Nov. 22, 1857.

WILLIAMS, Ephraim, soldier, was born in Newton, Mass., Feb. 24, 1715 ; sou of Col. Ephraim W'illiams (1691-1754) ; grandson of Isaac Williams (1638-1708), and great-grandson of Robert Williams. He was a sailor by trade, but in 1740, at the outbreak of the French and Indian war, joined the American army and served in Canada, attaining the rank of captain. In 1750 he erected Fort Massachusetts, on a tract of land granted him by the crown, and in 1751 he was appointed commander of the forts in the Hoosac "Valley. In 1755 he commanded a regiment of Massachusetts troops to take part in the expedi- tion against Crown Point under Sir W^illiam Johnson, and while making a reconnoisance of Baron Dieskau's force he w;is surprised by the enemy, and mortally wounded. His brother Thomas (1718-1775) was a surgeon in the army,


in the invasion of Canada ; was promoted lieu- tenant-colonel, and on the close of the campaign practised medicine in Deerfield, Mass. Ephraim bequeathed his property to found a free school at Wil- liamstown, Mass., and in 1785 a school building (now known as West college) was erected. In 1793 the state of Massachu- setts granted the school a charter as Williams college, and donated $4,000 for the purchase of books and philosopliical

apparatus. Ephraim Williams died near Lake George. N.Y.. Sept. 8, 1755.

WILLIAflS, George Henry, cabinet officer, was born in New Lebanon, Columbia county, N.Y., March 23, 1823 ; son of Taber D. and Lyd"ia (Goodrich) W^illiams ; grandson of Edward R. Williams of New London, Conn., and maternal great-grandson of Foster of Lenox, Mass. He attended an academy in Onondaga county ; was admitted to the bar in 1844, and established him- self in practice in Iowa. He was married in 1850 to Kate, daughter of Gen. VerPlanck Van Ant- werp of Iowa, wlio died in 1862 ; and he was married secondlj' to Mrs. Kate George, daughter of Ross B. Hughes of Iowa. He was judge of the first judicial district of Iowa, 1847-52 ; was pres- idential elector in 1854 ; was appointed chief justice of the territorj' of Oregon by President Pierce in 1853, and declined a reappointment by Pi-esident Buchanan in 1857. He was a member of the Oregon constitutional convention of 1858 ; was elected U.S. senator on the Union Repub- lican ticket in 1865. and served till 1871. He was a member of the joint high commission that in 1871 arranged the treaty for the adjustment of difiiculties between the United States and Eng- land, growing out of the Alabama claims. He served by appointment from President Grant as attorney -general of the United States, in 1871-75. He engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C., 1875-81. and subsequently in Portland, Ore- gon, where he was mayor of the city, 1892-1905, and on Dec. 1, 1873, was nominated by President Grant, chief-justice of the U.S. supreme court, but his nomination was at his own Instance withdrawn by the President.

WILLIAflS, George Huntington, geologist, was born in Utica. N.Y., Jan. 28, 1856. He was graduated from Amherst in 1878 ; studied in Brunswick and Gottingen, Germany, and under