Untitled - citizen hylbom blog

586 SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Bathsheba King, daughter of Philip and Abigail
(Williams) King, of Raynham. (5) Anna,
bom in 1747, died Nov. 2, 1833, at Taunton.
She married (first) Sept. 16, 1763. Elisha
Codding, and (second) July 19, 1788, Jonathan
French, of Berkley, Mass.^ son of Ebenezer
and Keziah French, of Berkley. (6) Ebenezer,
born in 1751, died April 30, 1814. He married
March 7, 1769, at Raynham, Sarah Ellis, of
Raynham, daughter of Philip Ellis. (7) Lydia,
born in 1753, died March 5, 1773. She married
Aug. 6, 1772, Isaac Tobey, of Berkley, son
of Rev. Samuel and Batljsheba (Crocker)
Tobey, of Berkley. (8) Richard, born in 1755
or 1757, died in Taunton in 1814. He married
Hannah Padelford, of Taunton, daughter
of Edward and Sarah (Briggs) Padelford. ,(9)
Abiather, born June 4, 1759, died Oct. 4, 1760,
at Taunton.
Col. George Williams lived in Taunton, on
the east side of the Taunton river, on what is
now Williams street. He was a man of property,
owning a large landed estate. From the
soldierly qualities which he evidently possessed
it seems that he served in the war with the
French in 1744-45; and perhaps in the first
year of the French and Indian war. But the
record thus far found of his military service
begins in 1757. He was then ensign of a company
stationed 'at Fort William Henry, when
the French and Indians under Montcalm invested
the place Aug. 3, 1757. He was sent
out at the beginning of the siege under Captain
Saltonstall, but his party was driven back, and
he himself taken prisoner. He was released not
long after, and returned to Taunton. He rose
to the rank of captain of the 3d Taunton Company,
and in 1772 was major of the 3d Bristol
County regiment. On Feb. 8, 1776. he was
elected colonel of this regiment by the Legislature,
and commissioned Feb. 7th, and did
good service during the Revolution. His principal
military operations were in Rhode Island,
which State was constantly harried and threatened
by the British navy. He was a prominent
member of the Taunton committee of Correspondence,
Inspection and Safety for several
years, beginning in 1775, and was selectman of
"Taunton in 1780. His son, Richard Williams,
was one of the minute-men of the company of
Capt. James Williams, Jr., wbo marched to
Roxbury at the news of the battle of Lexington.
During the lasl six months of 1776 he was
serving at the defense of Boston, being sergeant
under Capt. Joshua Wilbore. He very likely
served at other times, but the Revolutionary
rolls are not sufficiently explicit for his identification
among the (XII) George Williams, son of Col. George
and Sarah (Hodges), was born in Taunton
Aug. 18, 1745, and died in Raynham Feb. 23,
1814. He married, Oct. 2, 1766, Bathsheba
King, daughter
many soldiers of this name.
of Philip and Abigail King.
She was born in Raynham March 31, 1744,
and died in Taunton May 26, 1839. Their
children, all born in Raynham, were: Sarah,
born July 27, 1767; George, Feb. 26, 1769; a
son. May 6, 1771; Abiathar, Jan. 8, 1773;
Bathsheba, Jan. 25, 1775; Melancy, Feb. 28,
1777; Francis, Oct. 13, 1779; Narcissus, Sept.
13, 1781; Enoch, Dec. 29, 1783; and Samuel
K., Nov. 17, 1785. George Williams was a man
of fine personal appearance, according to the
accounts handed down in the family. He was
a farmer, and owned a fine property. While
it is certain he served in the Revolution, it is
difBcult to pick out his record from the many
of the same name. Possibly he served in New
York State from about the beginning of 1776
until December, being or becoming a sergeant
in Capt. James Allen's company. Col. Simeon
Carey's regiment. He certainly was quartermaster
of his father's regii^ent in Rhode Island,
December, 1776, and January, 1777.
(XIII) Abiathar Williams, son of George
and Bathsheba, was bom in Raynham Jan. 8,
1773. He married Anna Dean, daughter of
Joseph and Anna (Strowbridge) Dean, and
they had eleven children, as follows: Anna,
born Jan. 19, 1803; Maria, Nov. 1, 1804; Elizabeth
Jane, Sept. 1, 1806 ; Bathsheba, Sept. 11,
1808; Harriet Dean, Nov. 17, 1810; Frances
Amelia, Jan. 30, 1813; Abiathar K., March
11. 1815 ; Helen Melancy, July 6, 1817 ; George
Bradford, Nov. 7, 1819 ; Keziah, Nov. 28, 1821;
and George Bradford (2), Nov. 12, 1824.
Abiathar Williams was known as "Capt." Williams.
He ran a sloop from Taunton to New
York from the time he was fifteen years of
age till he was fifty-five. He made his sons
Abiathar K. and George B. his partners. A
successful and influential citizen, he represented
his town in the General Court, and held various
local offices. He died in June, 1856, and
his wife in 1858.
(XIV) Geohge B. Williams, son of Abiathar
and Anna, was born Nov. 12, 1824. He
was educated in tlie Taunton public schools and
always prided himself on being an old academy
boy. He became one of the stanch monied
men of Taunton. Starting early in life with
a goodly inheritance, he constantly added to it
by thrift and good management until gradually
he became the largest real estate owner in
Taunton. Like his father, he was engaged in
the lumber business. In the early days lum-