appointed Governor of Mississippi by President Jefferson; (b) Nathaniel, and (c) Elizabeth, married to Baldwin, of Louisiana. Joseph, the fourth and youngest son of Nathaniel Williams, of Hanover, Virginia, when he came to North Carolina was employed to aid his cousin Joseph in mercantile pursuits. He was in the Revolutionary War, and attained the rank of major; was engaged in several severe skirmishes with the Tories, who were desperate and daring in this section, and to whom Major Williams was especially obnoxious. He made many narrow escapes. He raised ten children--eight sons and two daughters. He was elected Clerk of the Court in Surry County, and continued in that position until his death in 1828. He married Rebecca Lanier, of Granville. Issue: (a) Robert, who, Lanman says, was born in Caswell County; he was highly endowed by nature and of a cultivated mind; the friend of education and of every improvement in the welfare of the State. He was the indefatigable Treasurer of the University, and for years one of its most earnest and faithful trustees; during the war he resided in Raleigh, and became the Adjutant-General of the State, and to this day the records of that office, as kept by him, are models of accuracy and neatness; the only perfect copy of all the acts of the General Assembly from 1776 were collected through his labor and industry; he was a Representative in Congress from 1797 to 1803, and in 1805 was appointed Commissioner of Land Titles in Mississippi Territory, and there served for four years; he then removed to Tennessee and thence to Louisiana, where he died; he was a lawyer by profession; married Rebecca Smith, of Granville. (b) Joseph, Clerk of Surry Superior Court; married Susan Taylor; issue: (I) Susan, wife of James R. Dodge, (see page 393,) to them were born (1st) Richard Irwin Dodge, Col. U. S. A.; (2d) Annie, wife of Chalmers L. Glenn, of Rockingham; (3d) Mary H. Dodge, of Winston, Forsythe County, N. C. Col. Richard Irwin Dodge has one son, Frederick P. Dodge, of New York City; Mrs. Chalmers L. Glenn has three children: James D., of Rockingham, in Legislature of 1881-83; Robert B., an attorney in Stokes County, in Legislature of 1881-83; and Edward T. B., of C. F. and Y. V. R. R.
To Joseph and Susan Taylor Williams were also born (II) Rebecca, wife of Frank Dedrick, and (III) Midshipman John T. Williams, of Warrenton.
(c) John, the third son of Joseph Williams, moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he commenced the practice of the law and was very successful. During the Seminole War he raised a troop of volunteers, composed of intelligent and high-toned gentlemen; among them were Hugh L. White, Thomas L. Williams, and others. After a victorious campaign he returned home, where he found a commission appointing him colonel of the 39th Regiment of Infantry, U. S. A. He was ordered to the Creek Nation, and in the engagement of Tohopeka, or the Horse-Shoe, his regiment bore the brunt of the battle. The report of General Jackson on this sanguinary conflict did not, in the opinion of Colonel Williams, do justice to his regiment, and hence the long enmity between them. From 1815 to 1823 he was a Senator in Congress, highly respected for his integrity and ability. In 1825 he was appointed by Mr. Adams, Envoy to the Central American States. He married Melinda, daughter of General James White and sister of Judge Hugh L. White, the candidate against Martin Van Buren for the Presidency of the United States. He was the father of Joseph L. Williams, member of Congress from 1839 to 1843; of Colonel John Williams, of Knoxville, and of Margaret, first wife of Chief Justice Pearson, of North Carolina. He died at Knoxville, August 7, 1837.
(d) William, a successful merchant and farmer, lived at Strawberry Plains, East Tennessee. He married Sarah, daughter of Colonel King, of Virginia; issue: Sarah, married to Rev. Thomas Stringfield.
(e) Lewis, who lived and died in political strife. He was born about 1782, educated at the University, where he graduated in 1808.
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