USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II > Part 69
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126
SAMUEL TAFT WOOD. Thomas Wood (1), the immigrant ancestor of Samttel Taft Wood, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was born in England in 1635. He settled at Rowley, Massachusetts, and married, April 7, 1654, Ann Hunt, of Ipswich. He was a man of good social position and was in- fluential in the church. He was conspicuous in the difficulty between the town and the minister, Rev. Samuel Phillips. Thomas Wood was buried at Rowley, September 12, 1687, and his widow Ann died December 29, 1714. All their children, born at Rowley, were: Mary, born January 15, 1655: John,. born September 2, 1656, married Isabel Hazen; Thomas, born August 10, 1658, married Mary Hunt, probably of Ipswich; he was buried December I, 1702; had nine children; Ann or Mariann, born August 8, 1660, married Benjamin Plummer ; Ruth, born May 21, 1662, married Captain Joseph Jewett and (second) John Lunt; Josiah (twin), born Sep- tember 5, 1664, married (first) Sarah Ellithorp and (second) Mary Felt; Elizabeth (twin), born Sep- tember 5, 1664; Samuel, born December 26, 1666, married Mary Ellithorp; Solomon, born May 17, 1669, see forward; Ebenezer, born December 29, 1671, married Rachel Nichols; James, born June 22, 1674, died October 18, 1694.
(II) Solomon Wood, son of Thomas Wood ( 1), was born at Bradford, Massachusetts, May 17, 1669, and settled there. He removed to Mendon in the part now Uxbridge, and died there January 13, 1752, aged eighty-three years. He married Mary Hazel- tine, who died February 21, 1749. Their children : David, born July 31, 1691 ; Dorcas, born October 3, 1693; Joshua, born October 4, 1698, married Eliza- betli -; Mary, born September 11, 1700; Solomon, born July 14, 1702, married Faithful Keith; James, born December 20, 1704, died August 19, 1794: married Esther -: died August 14, 1793, aged eighty-seven years: Ezekiel, born November II. 1706, see forward; Obadiah, born 1707-08, married Esther (second) Experience, and (third) Mary Wheaton Hayward, sisters; he died August 16. 1792; (See sketch of Westboro Wood family) : Daniel, married, May 18, 1736, Sarah Peabody ; Betsey, mar- ried Obadiah Wood.
(III) Ezekiel Wood. son of Solomon Wood (2), was born at Mendon, Massachusetts, November II, 1706. died at Uxbridge, May 16, 1772. He was a leading citizen of Uxbridge and held important pub- lic offices. His will was dated March 19, 1772. He married. March 25, 1732. Mary Brown, whose will is dated October 10, 1777. The inventory of her estate is dated 1778. The children, mentioned in their wills, are: 1. Joshua. 2. Ezekiel, Jr., the father of children-Ezekiel, Jr .; Lois, married Lieutenant Joel Sibley ; Martha. married William Hull: Patience, married Captain Amory Wood; Lucinda, married Joseph Ellison: Rhoda, married Silas Stow; Abigail, married Captain Esek Pitts; Sally, married Oliver Hayden. 3. Dexter, see for-
0
BL. PUB LIBR
WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS
245
WORCESTER COUNTY
ward. 4. Susanna, married Amariah Penniman. 5. Abigail, married Nicholas Baylies. 6. Lois, mar- ried Jesse Penniman.
(IV) Dexter Wood, son of Ezekiel Wood (3), was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, about 1740. He died there in 1811. The inventory of his estate was dated September 27, ISII. He married Deborah Wood, whose will was dated August 14. 1816, and was filled in the probate court, May 24, 1831. Their children named in the will, born at Uxbridge, were: Samuel, see forward; Ezekiel, had only son Charles E., who married Eunice S. - , left bequests to the children of his brother Samuel, naming them, and made Amariah A. Wood, his nephew, one of the trustees of his estate: Deborah, married Lyman Taft; Mary, married Caleb Murdock, who died in 1816 or before; Cynthia.
(V) Samuel Wood, son of Dexter Wood (4), was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, about 1770. He lived at Uxbridge and was a man of property and influence in that town. His will was dated February 8, 1841. The children: Amariah A., see forward; Amos; Sarah, married Elias Wheelock : Mary, married Adolphus Baylies; Abby, married Luther Spring ; Rachel.
(VI) Amariah A. Wood, son of Samuel Wood (5), was born in Uxbridge, November 2, 1802. He resided on the old homestead at
Ux- bridge. He married, September 10, 1834, Sarah Taft, born January 15. died Decem- ber 24, 1898. 1815,
He
died at Uxbridge, June 14. 1871. Their children Sarah A., born June, 1837, died September 26, 1837; Mary B., born June, 1847, died September 9. 1847; Anna I., born August 18, 1848: Samuel Taft, born October 4, 1841, see for- ward.
(VII) Samuel Taft Wood, son of Amariah A. Wood (6), was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, October 4, 1841. He was educated in the public schools there and worked on the farm with his father. He remained on the farm until his father's death and then the property came to him. Like most other farmers in the vicinity he used to work in the straw shops in Upton and Milford during the winter. He has an excellent dairy farm and for many years has had a milk route in Uxbridge. He is known personally to all his customers, many of whom have dealt with him for several decades. No man in Uxbridge is better known or more gen- erally liked. He is best known doubtless in his capacity of choir director, having been connected at various times with most of the churches of the town. He is gifted musically and his voice and management have always been in demand. Simple and straightforward in his manner, kind, courteous and considerate in speech and of high character, he ranks among the best citizens of the town. He is a Congregationalist in religion and a Republican in politics.
He married (first) Olive D. Seagrave, daughter of Lawson Seagrave, February 13, 1861. She was killed in a railway accident soon after the marriage. She was born in 1842 and died 1862. He married (second), December 16, 1863, Mary E. Rawson, daughter of Augustus Rawson. She was born 1815 and died 1904. He married (third), June 27, 1906, Etta T. Legge. Children of Samuel Taft and Mary E. Wood were: Eva, born May 29, 1865, married Henry Wilcox, son of Mrs. A. P. Wilcox; she married (second) LeRoy Farnum, son of Henry Farnum. Merritt, born September 2, 1873.
COLONEL WILLIAM AUSTIN WILLIAMS. William Williams ( 1), of Great Yarmouth, England, who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1637, was the emigrant ancestor of Colonel William Austin
Williams, of Worcester, Massachusetts. According to his statement when he emigrated he was born in Great Yarmouth, 1597, and therefore was forty years old in 1637. His wife Elizabeth, aged thirty-eight years, their two children, and Elizabeth Williams, of Great Yarmouth, a single woman, aged thirty-one years, also passed the examination to go to New England, April 11, 1637. Elizabeth Williams may have been his sister; she settled at Dorchester with her brother, Richard Williams, and joined the church there. Richard and Elizabeth were legatees in the will of their sister, Jane Williams, of Whetenhurste, Gloucester county, dated May 31, 1650, proved June 30, 1655. Richard Williams died at Dorchester, July 13. 1688. He lived in the Plymouth colony for many years. Elizabeth died unmarried, October 13, 1688, her death being caused by drowning. William Will- iams settled at Watertown and was a proprietor of the town in 1642.
(II) Abraham Williams, son of William (I) and Elizabeth Williams, was born in England, 1628. He was admitted a freeman at Watertown, Massa- chusetts, 1652. He married in 1659. Joanna Ward, daughter of William and Elizabeth Ward. William Ward was born in 1603; he was in Sudbury in 1639 and was admitted a freeman there, May Io, 1643- He was deputy to the general court, town officer, and commissioner to end small causes. Later he removed to Marlboro. He died August 10, 1687. His will dated April 6, 1686, mentions his wife Eliza- heth. children and grandchildren. also Abraham Williams, his son-in-law. The widow of William Ward died December 9, 1700, in her eighty-seventh year. Abraham Williams resided about eight years in Cambridge Village and then removed to Marl- boro, Massachusetts, where he settled at a place now called Williams Tavern, near the pond. He was admitted a freeman there in 1656. He was deputy to the general court in 1670-80-81. He died December 29, 1712. His wife died December 8, 1718. His children were: Elizabeth, born in Marl- boro, married Thomas Beaman; William, born 1667; Lydia, born 1669; and John.
(III) William Williams, son of Abraham (2) and Joanna ( Ward) Williams, was born at Marl- horo, Massachusetts. 1667. He married prior to 1692 Elizabeth Larkin, daughter of Thomas Larkin and Hannah Remington, his wife. William Williams resided in the vicinity of his birthplace all his life, and died in 1702. Their children were: Thomas, born 1692, died same year; Abraham, born 1695.
(IV) Abraham Williams, son of William (3) and Elizabeth (Larkin) Williams, was born at Marl- horo, Massachusetts, 1695. He married (first), 1715, Prudence Howe, daughter of Thomas and Sarah ( Hosmer) Howe. She died January 16, 1725. He married (second). December 22, 1725, Elizabeth Breck, daughter of the Rev. Rohert Breek and his wife. Elizabeth Wainright, of Marlboro, and grand- daughter of Captain John Breck. of Dorchester. Elizabeth (Breck) Williams died January 13. 1729. He married (third), February 18, 1730, Elizabeth Boardman or Bordman. She died August 9, 1775- Abraham Williams was a prominent citizen and filled many important offices. He attained the rank of colonel. and in 1775 commanded the third regiment of militia from Middlesex and Worcester counties. He was a justice of the peace. Ile died July 10, 1781. aged eighty-six years.
The children of Abraham Williams were: Isaac, born 1716. died July. 1716; Elizabeth, born June 18, 1723. died July 14. 1723: Zepheniah, born January 16, 1725: Abraham, born February 25. 1727 (H. C. 1741) was a clergyman: Larkin. born December 20 1728, married. October 26, 1767, Anna Warren; William, horn August 22, 1731, married. November
246
WORCESTER COUNTY
19, 1761, Betty MePherson; Moses, born August 5, 1732, died June 26, 1802, aged sixty-nine years ; Elizabeth, born August 23, 1733, married, May 3, 1759. Daniel Payne; Breck, born August 23, 1734, died September 3, 1734: Abigail, born January 10, 1736, died young; George, born December 27, 1736, married, August 30. 1759, Mary McPherson; Mary, born May 27, 1739, married, February 6, 1766, Cyprian Howe; she was his second wife; William, born March, 1740, married, January 5, 1763. Phebe Rice, and had Phebe, 1764; Catherine, born De- cember 17, 1741, married, May 25, 1769. William Smith : Ephraim, born November 12, 1743; Paul, born October 12, 1744; Lucy, born March 22, 1747; Boardman, born January 12, 1754, died May 3. 1777.
(V) Zepheniah Williams, son of Abraham Will- iams (4), was born at Marlboro. January 16, 1725. He married Damaris -, and they settled in Lan- caster,. Massachusetts. He was a saddler by trade. He removed to Holden in 1779. Both owned the covenant at Marlboro. Their children were: Abi- gail, baptized May 24, 1747, married Nathan Green, at Northboro, July 1768; Leafy, baptized June 17, 1750, married Elijah Rice in 1772, resided in Holden ; John, baptized January 19, 1752, died April 20, 1754: Mary, born April 24, baptized April 27, 1755; David, born July II, 1757; John, baptized Novem- ber 12, 1758; Jude, baptized December 6, 1761 ; Anna, born October 28, baptized November 4, 1770, died September 7. 1778.
(VI) John Williams, son of Zepheniah (5) and Damaris Williams, was born in Lancaster, Massa- chusetts, 1758. He married, September 2. 1782, Sarah Davis, daughter of Eleazer and Sarah (Ward) Davis, and sister of Dorothy Davis, whom Jude Williams, brother of John Williams, married Au- g11st 14, 1782. Both couples removed from Holden to Hubbardston, and the section in which they settled has since been named for the family, Will- iamsville. The farm on which he settled passed down by inheritance to his son George and his grandson, William A. Williams, the present owner, whose name heads this sketch. John and his brother David were both revolutionary soldiers. enlisting from their home in Holden. Massachusetts, and serv- ing all through the war. David Williams was one of the captors of Major Andre, who offered him and companions large sums of money for freedom. They refused and the execution of Andre followed. The children of John Williams were: John, born January 21, 1784. died September 9, 1804: Parley. born March 7. 1786, married Alice Stearns. of Hard- wick, who died September 11, 1847, aged sixty-three years; he died July 26, 1861: Sarah, born June 6, 1788, married Dana R. Parker: George. born May 20. 1701, married Susan Waite, May 6, 1816, who died September 27. 1856; he died November II, 1860; Luke. born August 16. 1794. married Betsey Stone, of Petershoro, New Hampshire, died April 29, 1871 ; she died March 30. 1873: Henry, born Sep- tember 19. 1796. married Keziah Newton, February 12, 1822, who died January 9, 1837; he died April 30, 1830.
(VII) George Williams, son of John (6) and Saralı (Davis) Williams, was born in Hubbards- ton, Massachusetts, May 20, 1701. The village of Williamsville in Hubbardston was named for George Williams, who was by all odds the most important man of the western part of the town. The village of Williamsville is in the narrow Burnshirt valley, between steep hills, four miles west of Hubbardston, six miles south from Templeton. six miles east from Petersham, and four miles north from Barre. The two Indian paths from Lancaster to Nichewang
pond, one going north, the other south of Wachu- sett mountain, converged here. The first road built by the English settlers was along the trail to Lan- caster and Petersham. The Ware River Railroad be- gan operations through the village in 1873. The first store was opened in 1816 by George Williams and his brother Luke, nearly opposite the E. W. Sheldon house. In 1842 the store was moved to new quarters in the Felton house at the corner, where business was carried on by the successors of Mr. Williams. A chapel was dedicated in 1889, and is used in turn by the preachers of various denominations for services, while it serves a useful purpose as well for social gatherings and meetings. The village also has the telegraph and telephone stations. The only factory is an extensive wax making concern owned and operated by William H. Bowdlear, of Boston. George Williams served as a justice of the peace and. town magistrate in the early days, was assessor of the town of Hubbardston, also selectman, and was representative to the general court in 1839 and 1840. The homestead buildings were all destroyed by fire December 26, 1904. The mansion was built about forty years before by John D. Williams, a son of George Williams, and was for many years the fin- est residence in the town. The house was occupied by Avaline Williams, daughter of George Williams, who taught school in Worcester for many years.
A sketch of this picturesque village, which George Williams helped to developed in his capacity of store keeper, land owner and business man, would be in- complete without mention of a famous character of a century ago, "Old Grimes," who has been immor- talized in verse. of which the following is familiar to all Americans :
Old Grimes is dead, That good old man, We ne'er shall see him more He used to wear a long blue coat All buttoned up before.
Grimes was born and brought up in Hubbardston. His many eccentricities, some of which amounted to erimes, to escape punishment for which he fled to Canada, would fill a book. He returned to Hub- bardston a pauper and died there. A historian has called liim weak-minded, made so by hobgoblin stories related to him when he was a child. Colonel Williams, of Worcester, who remembers him, be- lieves that if his abilities has been turned in a dif- ferent direction he would have been a man of inarked influence, instead of a mischievous rascal. He had the appearance of a man of great intellectual power.
George Williams married Susan Waite, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Sherman) Waite (see Sher- man Family elsewhere in this work). She was born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts. November 26, 1791, died February 27, 1847. Their children were: George, born August 19, 1816, married Mary S. Heald, September 10, 1839, removed to Iowa, died 1878: Christopher Larkin, born October 1, 1818, married Mary Bigelow, of Barre, died February 28, 1847: William Austin, born August 29, 1820. men- tioned hereinafter : Caroline Amelia, born February 8. 1822, married Nathan H. Felton; Avaline, born April 25, 1827. resided in Worcester, Massachusetts ; Susan M., born October 11, 1831, resided in Worces- ter; John Davis, born July 11, 1833, married Ellen Murdock, October 23, 1856. died October 28. 1879. (VIII) William Austin Williams, son of George (7) and Susan ( Waite) Williams, was born at Will- iamsville, in the town of Hubbardston, Massachu- setts, August 29, 1820. He spent his boyhood in Hubbardston and attended the district school. He
247
WORCESTER COUNTY
prepared for college at Ashby, New Salem and Lei- cester Academies, but his health failed him at the time, and he abandoned the idea of an academic course at Harvard. He attended the Law School and graduated in 1847 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was soon afterward admitted to the Wor- cester bar, and began immediately to practice his profession in Worcester. He opened his office in the old Central Exchange building on Main street. In 1848-49 he had a law partner, Otis L. Bridges, formerly attorney general of the state of Maine, the firm name being Bridges & Williams, After a year the firm was dissolved, Mr. Bridges going to New York and later removing to California. Mr. Will- iams continued for a number of years alone. When the Chapin block was built on Pearl street, Mr. Williams moved thereto; it was occupied by the post- office downstairs and lawyers' offices on the second floor, United States Senator Hoar and Congressman Rice being included among the number. While Mr. Williams occupied this office he admitted
John R. Thayer as
a student, and later, when he had been admitted to the bar and served for a time as clerk, a partnership was formed under the naine of Williams & Thayer, and this connection continued for about ten years. Mr. Thayer has since been congressman from the Worcester distriet for three sueeessive terms, and has at present for his law partner Arthur P. Rugg. (See sketch of Hon. John R. Thayer.) Mr. Will- iams removed to the Walker building and for a time had George R. Warfield as a partner, the firm name being Williams & Warfield. They remained in that building until the completion of the State Mutual building, when Mr. Williams took an office adjoin- ing that of Thayer & Rugg, and after Henry H. Thayer entered the office of Thayer & Rugg he re- linquished his office to allow that firm larger quar- ters, moving to 726 State Mutual and sharing offices with Representative Elmer C. Potter. Here at the age of eighty-five years he still attends to his law practice. The death of his son just as the young man had been qualified for admission to the bar caused the father such grief and disappointment that for a time he completely gave up active practice and has never since resumed his former activity and ambi- tion. But today, the oldest lawyer practicing in Worcester, he presents a picture of sturdy and hand- some manhood. His eye is bright and youthful ; his features ruddy and healthful; and he gives promise of many more years of activity and use- fulness.
Colonel Williams was one of the best known men in the commonwealth fifty years ago. He was prom- inent in politics during the exciting decade before the civil war. While he has made a reputation as a lawyer such as few can equal in his almost sixty years of practice in the courts, his career in the po- litical world is perhaps more widely known. Colonel Williams at one time had a very large practice in the criminal courts. He was admitted to practice in the United States circuit court at Boston, Massa- chusetts, in 1872. In the fifties he was actively en- gaged in the political contests of the day. He was a Democrat and has always been a Democrat, except for a period during the anti-slavery agitation when he voted for the Free Soil candidate, John C. Fre- mont, for president. While a young man he became a party leader in Worcester and represented the party in the state councils. He had a wide acquaint- ance among the political leaders and statesmen of Massachusetts, and was chosen by the Democratic state central committee when he was only thirty- three years of age to conduct one of the most im- portant and warmly contested campaigns ever waged
in the commonwealth. As chairman of the Demo- cratic state organization in 1852 he had the diffi- cult task of fusing the forces of Free Soil and Dem- ocratie parties into a unit. General Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, was the candidate against Gen- eral Scott, the Whig candidate, and so thoroughly was the movement successful all over the country that Pierce carried all but four states. In Massachu- setts George S. Boutwell was elected governor in 1850. He was the leader of the Democratic party. Mr. Williams, only two years his junior, was an able lieutenant both before and after he became chair- man of the organization. In 1852, when Pierce was elected president, Boutwell was again elected gov- ernor of Massachusetts. The victory won under Mr. Williams in the famous campaign of '52 resulted in the appointment of Caleb Cushing to Pierce's cabinet as attorney general. At the time of his ap- pointment Cushing was justice of the Massachusetts supreme court, securing the position by the coali- tion movement. The southern wing of the party, the old Hunker Democrats, were greatly opposed to the appointment and gave their support to one of their faction, and while Pierce did appoint the man he wanted for attorney general, the federal patron- age was not given to the reform wing of the party to which Cushing belonged. In the county the coali- tion was also successful, where the offices were divided between Free Soilers and Democrats. Mr. Adams, of Grafton, was chairman of the county commissioners, a Democrat. James Estabrook, a Democrat, became the sheriff by appointment of Gevernor Boutwell, and Mr. Williams was perhaps the most influential man in the county. He was ap- pointed an aide on the staff of Governor Boutwell with the title of colonel, and became a close adviser and confidential friend of the governor, and their friendship continued until the recent death of Gov- ernor Boutwell.
In the division of offices in 1853 Mr. Williams supported for postmaster of Worcester Hon. J. S. C. Knowlton, of Worcester, editor of the Palla- dium, and spent two weeks in Washington, D. C., urging his appointment and attending to other busi- ness. James Whitney, of the same faction, wanted the position of United States marshal of Massa- chusetts. . which was represented in Washington by the late Oliver Stevens, of Boston Neither was sue- cessful, because of the apparent trade made when Cushing gave to Charles G. Green, of the Boston Ports, the control of the executive appointments emanat- ing from the cabinet. The Hunker Democrats se- eured the places, and the reform party got none of the offices expected. Caleb Cushing had a long and honorable career in federal life afterward.
Governor Boutwell was the first governor under the state organization to require his staff to appear in full uniform. Colonel Williams still has in his possession the gorgeous military headgear with which he was adorned when in uniform. In Gov- ernor's Boutwell's first administration, while Colonel Williams was on the staff, the president of the United States paid a visit to the state and was en- tertained at the state house. The secretary of state, Daniel Webster, then in declining health but still the most
imposing and impressive figure in public life. was the
state. Colonel
of Webster on
guest of the Williams describes the speech that occasion with enthusiasm years has not dulled. Though
that over fifty in poor health and bitterly disappointed by the failure to win the presidential prize, Webster retained his majestic bearing, his magnetic personality and his unmatched oratorical powers.
Another great visitor during Governor Boutwell's
248
WORCESTER COUNTY
administration was the great Hungarian patriot, Gen- eral Kossuth. It was the duty of Colonel Williams with Colonel Needham, of the governor's staff, to meet General Kossuth and his party at Springfield and escort them to the capital. General Kossuth was a guest of Rev. Dr. Hopkins, father of the late Colonel W. S. B. Hopkins, of Worcester, at his home in Northampton, Massachusetts, the night be- fore. The part met with an extraordinary popular welcome all along the route. . \ stop was made in Wor- cester, and the mayor of the city, Hon. Peter C. Bacon, welcomed the guests. There was a reception and spetches at the City Hall, and Colonel Will- iams represented the governor. When the party reached Boston a magnificent welcome was given General Kossuth. During his stay Colonel Will- iams was his escort to Cambridge and the other places of interest he visited, and at the close of his visit accompanied him to Albany and introduced him to the governor of New York. The visit of General Kossuth was as remarkable in many ways as that of General Lafayette a generation before. Colonel Williams says of him, "Hle certainly was the most accomplished man that I ever met. He was a fine scholar and linguist. He spoke English as well as I have ever heard it spoken. His style was good too."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.