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.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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James H. was born about 1858 in Arkansas.
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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.
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Sarah was born about 1862 in Arkansas.
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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:
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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.
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| 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.
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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)
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*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.
