Olivia's Letter to Niece Barbara

595 Matadero Rd.,
Palo Alto, Calif.
February 5th, 1956,

Dear B.J.:

Received your letter and was thrilled with the thought that you are working to become a writer. Have pounded out the enclosed and hope it is readable, mistakes and all, but as I am only equal to one page at a time I shall not go looking for the many blunders as I am sure you will be able to get from it the information you are in need of.

I am going to make a suggestion that you do not bring into your book in what way your Grandfather met his death. It was I remember any thing but a pleasant court room scene at the time the trial was on. Your father was at that time with me in Spokane going to school. I believe Blair Business School. Not being able to give you details what I might give you might not be just exactly right and should any one in that part of the country read it, it would not be nice, to find that there were discrepancies. Any way it has been over so many years leave out the unpleasant sections. Did I know ever detail I still would not like to see it in print. Your Grandfather was never Sheriff.

Friend called up a short time ago asking that we all go out to dinner. To morrow I will go to Germanic class in the morning then on for some shopping but no more. I expect it is mostly due to having to watch the pennies. But ones wardrobe reaches a place where pride demands that something be done about it, and that is where I am at the present time.

I expect to go to Buttonwillow some time the later part of next week and will stay a week or ten days. I let Doctor Worden see if he can put me right.

I am so glad for your sake that you have found such a nice companion for Molly. It won't be long before she will find him most interesting. They do grow so fast.

The two stories about your grandfather crossing the plains I had written out expecting to include them in my reminiscence, but be sure you use them as I shall never be able to have mine edited as it is too expensive for me. So include them without any thought except that they are good stories. Your Grandfather had two beautiful scars where the snakes flangs went into his leg. I can not remember the type of snake any way it was very large as it looked to him almost as large as his leg. If my ship comes in which I am now hoping for (if the congress will remember me) then I might ask you to be my ghost write, who knows.

I think this will do for today, so off they will go tomorrow morning and hope they will be of assistance to you.

Love to the family, Nelson, Molly and the wee one, included.

Love,

ss/ Olivia

P.S. This was sealed and ready for the Post when I remembered that Ralph middle name David was for his Great Grandfather, your Great Great Grandfather that died in England.

to David Williams page

Olivia Mae Williams' History of the David Williams Family

Sent to niece, Barbara, in February 1956:

William Henry Williams, your Great Grandfather. Born in England; Father Welsh.
        
Came to America accompanied by his older brother who settled in South Carolina. While Wm. H. went on the Georgia married a girl from Scotland. About 9 years later we find him with his family headed West. In Arkansas financial difficulties caused him to stop near Little Rock. A letter from his brother informed him their father (David) had died and one of them should go to England to settle the estate. It was decided that the brother being the older should go as soon as possible. That trip was never made as Civil War was declared and both entered the Confederate Army. Your Great Grandfather joined the Mississippi Army. When peace came he returned to his family never having received a scratch and died a few months later. He left three sons (your grandfather being the oldest) and three daughters.

William Henry Williams, your Grandfather.

During the Civil War the guerilla's would come down from the north raiding the southern homes both large and small. At one time they took all the corn meal there was in the house and dribbled it along the road. All their supplies except a very small amount had to be kept hidden, but not in the house. Their one and only Cow was staked out in a field of sugar cane. Grass or hay and water had to be taken to her every day. When it was know that gureallia's were in the vicinity one of the children were sent into the field to remain with the cow so that she would not get excited and begin bawling.

When your grandfather was 14 the gureallia's hung him from an apple tree. With his hands tied behind his back and a rope around his neck and over a limb of the tree, he was pulled slowly up but when his face began to turn blue he was lowered and allowed a breathing spell. Then was again pulled up. This was repeated three times, continually asking him where his father was. That he could not answer as he had not seen or heard from him for almost two years.

After his fathers death your Great Grandmother with her six children and two young sisters both in their early teens, continued the preparations that were then in progress and joined a large train of oxen drawn covered wagons bound for the Far West. When they began their journey your Grandfather had just passed his 16th birthday. (1870)

Many of the incidents in the picture "Covered Wagon" were familiar to me as I had heard your Grandfather tell them many times. I was seeing a long winter evening when we as children would ask him for a story, and always I would insist before the evening was over to hear my favorite which was about the Indians. Camp has been made with the wagons drawn up tongue under the next wagon and so on until they had a complete circle. The stock were being herded close by when shortly after sundown Indians appeared on the low hills surrounding their camp. The stock were brought within the circle and the men with their guns and ammunition crawled under the wagons where they lay all night watching the Indians as they could be seen, it being a moonlit night, and all night long they rode around and around on the hills. When daylight came they rode away. There was never an explanation unless it was that they were a friendly tribe and knew there was a warring tribe in the vicinity, and in this way threw an arm of protection around the white emigrants.

Another of the stories I enjoyed was the evening when camp had been made and your Grandfather with two men went hunting. They were moving along a ledge on the side of a cliff when a snake from a crevice struck and buried his flangs into his leg just below the knee. He raised his gun in both hands and brought it down across the snake. It let go and he went over backward off the cliff, down about 30 feet into a very large bunch of brush that saved him from injuries, aside from scratches. The men rushed down and tore off the tail of his shirt, used it for a tourniquet above the knee and with him between them took him back to camp, about a mile as fast as they could. At once a man was sent off on horseback to the nearest Army post about 50 miles away. In the meantime they started their own snake bite cure by handing him one cup after another of whiskey. And told him to look at a tree that was close by and when he saw two trees to stop drinking. He must have seen a clump of trees as the following day when the doctor arrived he said there was nothing for him to do except give him something to help sober him up.

Most of the wagons in the train continued on until they reached Portland, Oregon. Your Great Grandmother arrived there with her family intact.

Later he went down to Salem, Oregon and worked in the textile mills as a weaver. He gained a reputation as a fast weaver as he received a prize for weaving the greater number of yards in one day.

It was at Salem he met and married Jane Smith, your Grandmother. They were married on September 9, 1873 and she became 15 on 12th 1873. Your Grandfather was 20 (1874) on the following 10th of January. Three children were born in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Then they moved on to The Dalles. It was there that I was born. Nine months later they again took to the road and were off for Idaho, by covered wagon, but this time horse drawn. They passed through Lewiston and over the mountains to a small settlement a short distance from Grangeville where the people were still living in cabins surrounded with a stockade, altho its protection was no longer necessary.

Shortly after their arrival your Grandfather built a cabin a few miles away in the mountains and it was there that Everett came into the world. I do not know what there was that interlude in the mountains and it was only a short time afterwards a few years that we were living on a homesteaded piece of land four and one half miles from Grangeville. The first building erected was a log house fairly good size.

Ralph David Williams, your Father. It was on this farm that your father Ralph David Williams was born, on June 1st, 1889. On July the Fourth we all went off to Grangeville for the celebration. The baby kept crying all morning and at about 11 o'clock a man that had READ medicine told mother he had some medicine that would ease the babie pain and it would sleep. Off he went to his home and he gave him three drops of what we later learned was laudumn. Ralph slept on and on, attended by either his wife or his Mother. At 4 o'clock Your grandfather was sent for and he gathered up their brood and we went home. Before we reached the farm every one became worried as he could not be awakened. Our oldest brother Willie was sent back to Grangeville for doctor Bidde. When they returned Willie's horse was in a lather and doctor Bidde was standing up in his buggy using his whip. Willie's instructions that it was an emergency had had its effect both on him and the doctor. I was only 7 years old but I can still see big fat doctor Bidde with his large stomache shaking as he with the baby's back against his chest running round the house with the wind blowing in the baby's face trying to awaken him. Eventually he was awakened but how I do not know. Ralph was sickly and frail until he was about 9 or 10, and then he was strong enough to throw a shake as I came around the corner of a building which slit my eye lid open and your Grandfather put in two stitches.

When Ralph was 14 I wrote a speech for him that was listed on the program as "Fourth of July Oration, by Ralph D. Williams." It was considered a very fine speech for which he received many congratulations, and always the question, "Who wrote it for you?" The answer was a little evasive, usually "Sis helped me with it." I got a kick out of it as I had collected every speech that had been delivered by men of importance from and before we gained our independence. I took a little here and a little there and then tied them together with my own thoughts, and Mother and Father did the criticizing. I had won a medal for speaking a few years before and I gave Ralph all the instructions I had received and all together he did marvelously well making us all very proud of him.

Your Father was always rather fleet of foot and when in High School a Football team was thrown together by Prof. Greenwald and Ralph was the outstanding player. In order that they could have a real game the young men about town formed a team and the day they played was a red letter day for the town. I almost lost my voice when Ralph made a touchdown. Altho Everett and Loveless were on the team, and Loveless was at that time my boy friend, my cheers were for the High School team. I think Loveless was a little disappointed with me that day.

PS: This is to be inserted on page 4 before Ralph David Williams and after "house of fairly good size.

William Henry Williams your Grandfather. During the Cleveland administration there was an awful depression and your Grandfather with thousands and thousands of sheep which had to be sheared, the wool taken by freight wagons to Lewiston ran into a heavy indebtedness, as the depression continued year after year. Others took advantage of the bankruptcy laws but your Grandfather refused and sold his sheep for approximately 50 cent per head, and the wool only brought a few cents like 4 or 5, but he managed to pay all debts but was completely broke financially and his life as well as he never managed to try for a come back, and life was afterwards a make shift.

At the time of his death he was acting as a deputy Marshall in Grangeville, with a population of something over 2,000.

to David Williams page

William Henry Williams Family

William Henry (1852-1908) and Jane (Jennie)(Smith) Williams (1855-1941) Family

William Henry Williams

Olivia Mae Williams (William Henry and Jennie Williams' daughter) wrote a history of the Williams family and cover letter to her niece Barbara (daughter of her brother, Ralph David Williams). It has some great stories about her childhood and what life was like in the William Henry and Jennie Williams family.

Jane (Jennie) Smith

William Henry Williams was the first born son of David and Nancy Emaline (Green) Williams. He was born in January, 1852, in Georgia.

William Henry Williams married Jane (Jennie) Smith in Salem, Marion County, Oregon, on September 10th, 1873, at the house of James Tomlinson. Presiding was Congregational minister P. S. Knight. Sarah
Smith, Jennie's mother, assented, and A. I. Ramsey and D. M. Drake were witnesses. 

Jennie was older sister to Martha, who William Henry's brother Marion later married.

By June, 1900, the couple had three sons all born in Salem where William Henry Sr. worked as a weaver. William Henry Jr. was born June, 1874; Walter Frank was born July, 1876; and Ora M. was born in 1879. The young family also cared for William Henry's youngest sister (Sophronia Etta, born 1870). They moved to The Dalles, in Wasco County, and William Henry Sr. took up farming there.

1880 Oregon census Wasco County, p. 270b, June 8, 1880

While living in The Dalles their only daughter, Mae Olivia, was born in November, 1881.

About 1884 they left The Dalles on a covered wagon for Grangeville, Idaho County, Idaho. There they built a log cabin near the foothills and raised sheep.

On January 28, 1895, William Henry made the final payment of $6.00 on his homestead. It was successful for awhile, but in 1897 a severe depression hit the country. William Henry Williams was financially ruined.

During the time in Grangeville three more sons were added to the family: Everett Edson (born January, 1885), Ralph David (born June, 1888), and Loren Orville (born June 26, 1892). Sadly, son Ora M. died sometime between 1880 and 1900.

1900 Idaho census, Idaho County, Grangeville, p. 240b, June 27, 1900

During the ten years following the depression one of William Henry Sr.'s jobs was as a substitute police officer in Grangeville. It was while doing his duty as an officer of the law that he was shot and killed by blacksmith Joe Sorrow on August 11, 1908. (account of death)

Five of William Henry's living siblings wrote a note of thanks to the Grangeville newspaper on September 16, 1908: Mrs. E. H. Hall (Elizabeth also known as Laura), Mrs. Ettie Reading (Sophronia Etta), Mrs. George Jackson (Eliza also known as Della), Mrs. May (Mary) Kinnaman and Lafe (Lafayette) A. Williams (wrongly listed as "Lope"). Brother Marion wasn't listed because he lived in Grangeville at the time. Published note of thanks:

William Henry Jr. married Margaret (Birdie) Jane Ames June 16 1895, in Grangeville, Idaho.  They had two daughters: Hester and Mora. William Henry Jr. died November 8, 1962 in Calfornia.

Walter died July 10, 1924, in Lewiston, Idaho.

Olivia died September 14, 1964, in Oildale, California.

Everett married Freda Porvis April 11, 1925, in Mullan, Idaho.  He died May 1, 1934, in Grangeville, Idaho.

Ralph married Ruth Sullivan September 9, 1912, in Butte, Montana.  They had four children: Barbara J., Arva H., William Henry and Jerry Ralph.  Ralph David died March 15, 1955, in Spokane, Washington.

Loren married Lela about 1915.  They had two daughters: Margaret and Dorothy.  The family lost contact with the Loren and Lela in the late 1920's.

Jennie died May 1, 1941, in Caldwell, Canyon County, Idaho.

William Henry Williams Family c. 1906:

Ralph David, William Henry, Mae Olivia, Loren (seated), Jane ("Jennie"), Everett

William Henry Williams

Jane (Jennie) (Smith) William

William Henry Williams and Jane "Jennie" (Smith) Williams children:

William "Willie" Henry Jr. (1874 - 1962)

Walter Frank (1876 - 1924)

Ora M. (1879 - ?) (no photo)

Mae Olivia (1882 - 1963)

Everett Edson (1885 - 1934)

Ralph David (1888 - 1955)

Loren Orville (1893 - ?)

to David Williams page

David and Nancy Emaline (Green) Williams Family

David and Nancy Emaline (Green) Williams Family

Nancy Emaline "Emily" Williams - c. 1870*

picture back inscription by Laura (Williams) Kirkwood to oldest brother, William Henry Williams before 1908:

“Henry” 

I gave Marion one
of these pictures of mama’s
had them taken from tintype

Laura K.


David Williams was born about 1823 in Georgia. We do not know his father’s name**, but his grandparents, great-grandfather and great-great-grandparents are known by ydna analysis. His great-great-grandparents were Edward Williams, born between 1680 and 1683 in Glamorgan, Wales and died September 8, 1761 in Hampshire County, West Virginia, and Mary Ann Pugh, born about 1688 and died about 1750 in Hampshire County, West Virginia. David's great-grandfather was James Williams, born between 1710 and 1718 and died before August 3, 1784 in Rowan County, North Carolina. David’s grandparents were Francis Williams born in 1749 in Rowan Co., North Carolina, and died August 30, 1821, in Farmington, Davie County, North Carolina, and Jean Phelps, born about 1762 in North Carolina, and died before 1850 in North Carolina.

Nancy Emaline (Emily) Green, fifth child of Don Felix Green and Nancy Ann Drummonds, was born in 1829 (or 1831) in Tennessee.

David and Emily were married in Murray County, Georgia, on June 10, 1847. The ceremony was performed by minister Britain Williams--a first cousin of David's. Britain was the son of David’s uncle Alexander Williams (born in 1789 in North Carolina and died after 1860 in Illinois) and aunt Phoebe (Pickett) Williams (born 1789 in Indiana and died before 1843).

Though married in June of 1847, in June of 1850 when the census was taken, Emily was living with her family and listed with her maiden name. Perhaps David was away in Arkansas looking at prospects for homesteading.

1850 Georgia census: Murray County, p. 203, October 9, 1850

David and Emily Williams started their family in Georgia.

- William Henry was born in Georgia, in January of 1852. He married Jane (Jennie) Smith on September 10, 1873, in Salem, Oregon.  They had seven children:  William Henry, Walter Frank, Ora M., Mae Olivia, Everett Edson, Ralph David and Loren Orville.  William Henry was murdered October 8, 1908, in Grangeville, Idaho.

In 1852 or 1853 David and Emily, Emily's brother Marcus (Marquis) Lafayette Green, and other Green family members moved their families to Arkansas.

David and Emily had seven children in Arkansas:

- Lafayette A. was born on February 13, 1853, in Little Rock, Arkansas.  On September 19, 1878, he married Elizabeth A. Enyart in Centerville, Oregon.  They had two sons: Ira H. and Pearl.  Later Lafayette married Mary Alice (Cline) Rivers on April 12, 1886, in Skamania County, Washington.  They had one son: Harvey Jackson.  Lafayette died May 28, 1931, in Grangeville, Idaho.

- Marion Warden was born March 5, 1855, in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He married Martha Belle Smith October 10, 1875, in Portland, Oregon.  They had eleven children: Allie Larzno, Maud Blanche, Minnie Belina, Albert Marion, Leonard David, an infant, Kate B., Esther Elvira, Charles Cuba Sylvester, Lance Earl and Ressie May.  Marion died March 10, 1925, in Lewiston, Idaho.

- Eliza (Della) Palestine was born February 24, 1857, in Arkansas.  She married Allen Ramsey July 21, 1872, in Salem, Oregon.  They had one daughter: Allan S. Ramsey.  Della married George Jackson November 29, 1897, in Walla Walla, Washington.  She married J. W. Wilmot in 1919 in Marion County, Oregon. She died April 23, 1942, in Santa Rosa, California.

- James H. was born about 1858 in Arkansas.

- Elizabeth (Laura) was born March 23, 1861, in Van Buren, Arkansas.  She married Jay William Kirkwood on July 23, 1881, in Cheney, Washington.  They had two daughters: Pearl and Myrtle Venus.  After Jay's death in 1897, Laura married Edward H. Hall about 1901.  Laura died July 11, 1911, in Walla Walla, Washington.

- Sarah was born about 1862 in Arkansas.

- Mary D. was born March 2, 1865 in Arkansas.  She married John R. Price on July 7, 1882, in Cheney, Washington.  Later she married John Kinnaman on January 18, 1886, in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.  They had three daughters: Mary Margaret, Madlyn (Pat) P. and Maybelle Dorothy.  Mary died January 14, 1944, in Napa, California.

David started homesteading January 1, 1854, at Cedar Creek in Crawford County.

His brother-in-law, Marcus L. Green signed an affidavit on David's behalf.

[Marcus] Lafayette and Permelia lived in the next farm over from David and Emily's. They also expanded their family. Mary E. (Tina) (about 1853) and Henry F. (about 1858) joined sister Martha J. in Arkansas.

1860 Arkansas census: Crawford County, Cedar Creek Township, p.755b, July 25, 1860

Modern photos of the area where David and Emily and Lafayette and Permelia lived show it as pretty country.

On April 12, 1861, the Civil War began. May 1, 1861, David's land application was granted by President Abraham Lincoln. But, on May 6, 1861, Arkansas voted itself out of the Union.

David apparently served in the Arkansas contingents of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department army. Brother-in-law, Marcus L. Green, served with Company H of the 25th Arkansas Infantry, Confederate Army.

During the war David and Emily's family grew. Elizabeth was born the year the Civil War started (1861), Sarah was born during the Civil War (1862), and Mary was born the year the war ended (1865).

At the close of the Civil War marauding guerrillas terrorized the countryside in Arkansas looking for food. A group of them came upon 14 year old William Henry and demanded to know where his father was. He couldn't give them an answer because his father, David, was with the Confederate Army, and no one knew where they were. The guerrillas tied young William Henry's hands behind him and put a rope around his neck. They threw the rope over the limb of an apple tree and pulled him up until his face turned blue. They brought him down and asked again--and again. Finally they left.***

David decided to move his family out of war torn Arkansas. In 1870, along with Emily's sisters Sarah and Sophia, brother Marcus and mother Nancy Rose, David and Emily crossed the plains to Oregon by ox team. David died in 1870 either on the journey or after having arrived in Salem. He didn't live to see the birth of his last daughter:

- Sophronia E. (Etta) was born December 16, 1870, in Salem, Oregon.  She married John William Reading on August 17, 1888, in Omaha, Nebraska.  They had one son: George Howard.  Etta died October 21, 1938, in Vallejo, California.

The family had a hard time after their arrival in Salem. A newspaper announcement says:

A Case of Destitution.–Mrs. Cline tells us of a case of extreme destitution in North Salem, that should commend the sympathy of the community. A widow woman and her eight children, have crossed the plains this summer. Her husband was murdered by bushwhackers during the war, and she has been assisted by a friend to come to Oregon. Mrs. Williams, the mother, is quite sick, and by her side is a little girl with a broken leg–hurt on the plains–and two boys are at work but they are unable to earn enough for all. The family are in great need, and we hope Mrs. Cline will find a favorable response to her efforts to obtain relief for them. We are so favored that the poor seldom appeal to us for help, but we lose no time in helping those who need. The object is to afford the family temporary relief until the mother regains her health.
Weekly Oregon Statesman (Salem, Oregon) 8 Oct 1869, Fri, p. 3

Some of the information in this article is not accurate. Emily’s brother-in-law John J. Boen was killed during the war by bushwackers, not David. But the troubles of the entire Green/Williams families were probably conflated by Mrs. Cline.

Emily’s mother Nancy Rose with Emily’s family in Salem after David's death. Probably to help care for the younger children.

1870 Oregon census: Marion County, North Salem Pct., p. 31b, June 18, 1970

On June 15, 1873, widow Nancy Emaline (N.E.) Williams married widower James Tomlinson, at Emily's home in Salem, Marion Co., Oregon. She was about 42 and he was about 64. Witnesses to the marriage were Thomas and Sarah Brown, Emily's sister and brother-in-law.

James Tomlinson

In September of 1873, Emily's son William Henry married Jane Smith at the home of James Tomlinson in Salem, Oregon.

The three older boys (William Henry, Marion Warden and Lafayette A.) married. William Henry and Lafayette moved to Wasco County, Oregon. Marion moved to Astoria in Clatsop County, Oregon. William Henry took his youngest sister, Sophronia E. (Etta) to live with his family, and Marion took the second youngest sister, Mary to live with his.

There is no clear evidence of when Emily (Green) Williams/Tomlinson died. Since her two youngest daughters (Mary and Sophronia/Etta) are living with their married brothers' families in the 1880 census, it is probable that Emily died before 1880. Though James Tomlinson lived until 1899, there is no indication of either him or Emily in the 1880 census records.
____________________________________

David and Emily's children:

1. William Henry


2. Lafayette A. (no photo)

3. Marion Warden

4. Eliza (Della) Palestine


5. James H. (no photo)

6. Elizabeth (Laura)


7. Sarah (no photo)

8. Mary D.

9. Sophronia E. (Etta)


_______________
*colorization of photo by C. Arima
**dna analysis indicates that David’s sister was probably Allie Lucretia Williams, born July 29, 1820 in Alabama, and died. September 25, 1898, in Weatherford, Parker County, Texas. She married Baily Reed Leverton about 1841 in Arkansas. The Leverton family records indicates that Allie’s parents were probably named Jackie Williams and Martha.
***Olivia Mae Williams (William Henry and Jennie Williams' daughter) wrote a history of the Williams family and cover letter to her niece Barbara (daughter of her brother, Ralph David Williams). It has some great stories and details of the family history going back to the Civil War period in Arkansas and the family's journey to Oregon, including this story.

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Williams-Green-Smith-Thomas Family Histories

FAMILIES 

Nancy Emaline (Green) Williams*

David Williams (1823 GA - c 1870) and Nancy Emaline (Green) (1832 TN - c1879)












possibly Nancy Ann (Drummond) Green

Don Felix Green (c 1796 VA - aft 1850) and Nancy Ann (Drummond) (1805 VA - 1893 OR)

Sarah E. (Thomas) Lauray/Smith

Peter Smith (1801-1802 NY - 1870 OR) and Sarah E. (Thomas) (1819 MO - aft 1880)












Frederick Thomas (1792 TN - 1863 OR) and Rebecca Smith (between 1795 - 1801 NC - after 1870 OR)