“I seemed to have to learn everything the hard way…”
Two days ago, I posted a list of WILLIAMS families with children enrolled in public schools in Ottawa County, Oklahoma between 1912 and 1915. Yesterday I reviewed some information about the three men known to have been born in Kansas. Today, I am reviewing information found about the four men born in Kentucky. Those men are John A. WILLIAMS (aka J. A.), Green WILLIAMS (aka Greenville Vogel WILLIAMS), and Sebastian Cabot WILLIAMS ( aka S. C.). The fourth family was headed by Dora WILLIAMS but since her husband is the WILLIAMS family member, we will discuss him. His name was Charles Wesley WILLIAMS (or C. W. or Charlie/Charley).
After doing some basic research about the families, I discovered that Greenville WILLIAMS was the father of Sebastian Cabot WILLIAMS. I suspect there are other familial relationships among the men but none that I have been able to prove so far.
Greenville and Sebastian came from Breathitt County, Kentucky, to Ottawa County, Oklahoma, between 1900 and 1910. Both men came to Oklahoma with at least one school-aged child each.
Charley W. was in Missouri by the late 1800’s where his daughter, Della, was born and in Indian Territory by 1900. He was back in Missouri in 1906 when his daughter, Nettie, was born. However by 1912-1915, his wife and kids were back in Oklahoma with the kids enrolled in school in Ottawa County. In 1920 the entire family was enumerated in Oregon. This was a very mobile family. There are large gaps between the birthdates of the children so there are possibly other children that have not been found on records.
John A. WILLIAMS and his mother Mary were both born in Kentucky. They were living in Missouri by 1900 along with John’s wife, Amiasettia (DIXON) WILLIAMS. In 1909, Amiasettia was in Missouri for the birth of the couple’s daughter, Francis. In 1910 they were enumerated in Ottawa County, Oklahoma where they remained through at least 1920. In 1930 they were enumerated in Missouri. Information found online indicates that John died in Nevada and was buried in Missouri.
Yesterday, I started off my blog post by saying that yesterday’s raw data becomes today’s relationships and tomorrow’s family stories. So, I couldn’t end this post without a story of sorts. If you are related to this family, there is a wonderful family history given by Oleta WILLIAMS SKINNER, daughter of Charley W. and Dora WILLIAMS. She narrates her family’s history from her earliest memories to her 83rd year of life which is when she narrated the story. Oleta talked about her family’s molasses business, the different places they moved and how they ended up out West. She talks about her siblings and their families as well. It’s a wonderful story about all aspects of the family’s life. You can find the story on Ancestry.com or you can email me and I will try to send you a copy. My favorite quote from her narrative is, “I seemed to have to learn everything the hard way…” I sure know how she felt!
Enjoy the weekend! I look forward to doing more research and presenting it next week!
Lisa W. ~ Days of Our Lives blog