Clarence E. Williams Biography
As published in
"The City of Kenosha and Kenosha County Wisconsin: A Record of Settlement,
Organization, Progress and Achievement"
by Frank H. Lyman Vol. 2, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1916.
A resident farmer of Kenosha County is Clarence E. Williams, who lives on
Section 18, Bristol Township. His entire life has been spent in this locality,
and diligence and determination have brought him to a gratifying measure of
success. He was born in Bristol on the 25th of June 1860, a son of Cornelius and
Catherine S. (Trafford) Williams, who were natives of New York and on leaving
the Empire state came to Kenosha County. The history of the Williams family has
been traced back to William Williams, who was born in Wales, but came to America
before the breaking out of the last French and Indian War in 1755. He enlisted
in the colonial army and marched with Braddock's ill-starred troops to attack
Fort Duquesne. He never returned and is supposed to have been killed in the
bloody defeat suffered by Braddock's forces. He was accompanied to this country
by his two sons, Aaron and William, then young men, the former of whom settled
in Schohaire County, New York while the latter married a sister of Peter Lampman
and leased and cleared a farm east of Copake Lake, Columbia County, New York.
There he built a log house with one room and loft and with no floor save the
ground. He and his wife reared twelve children, as follows: William, Elizabeth,
Casparus, David, Peter, Nelly, Cornelius, Henry, Lanah, Clara, Hannah and John.
The sons all lived near Copake, Cornelius residing upon a farm in the eastern
part of the town. His children were: Elizabeth, John C., Aaron, Mary, Rhoda,
Calvin, Lewis, Moncrief, Seymour, and Clara. John C., who was born on the 16th
of October 1791, passed his entire life in Columbia County, New York, dying
there on the 28th of January, 1876. He married Charity Smith, who was born on
the 5th of April 1797, and was the only child of John Smith. Her demise occurred
on the 26th of April 1864. She was the mother of the following children:
Sylvester, lived and died in Copake, New York. Sally was married on the 25th of
May 1833 to Abraham Snyder, and in 1867 they removed to Illinois, where Mr.
Snyder passed away on the 28th of January 1882. Mrs. Snyder, however, survived
for many years, dying on the 8th of November 1900, when eighty-five years old.
Clara married Ira Williams, and died on the 24th of March 1883. Cornelius, the
father of our subject, was the next in order of birth. The two youngest children
were Eliza and John.
Cornelius Williams was born in Columbia County, New York, on the 16th of
September 1819, and in early manhood took up the profession of teaching, but
subsequently turned his attention to farming. In 1842, in New York, he wedded
Catherine S. Trafford, a native of Columbia County and a daughter of Robert
Trafford. The year 1854 witnessed their arrival in Kenosha County, and the
father invested in the farm that constitutes the home place of their son
Clarence. He made many improvements, converting the place into one of the
valuable farm properties of Bristol Township, and from time to time he extended
the boundaries of his land until he owned three hundred and fifty acres, all
highly cultivated. The farm, too, was splendidly improved with a commodious
residence and substantial barns and outbuildings, while the best farm machinery
was used to promote the work of the fields. Mr. Williams did not concentrate his
energies upon his farm work to the extent of leaving him no time for public
duties. He always recognized and met his obligations in public affairs and
rendered faithful service when his fellow townsmen called upon him to fill a
number of offices. For several years he was a member of the Board of
Supervisors, and in 1880 the Republican party nominated and elected him to
represent Kenosha County in the thirty-third Wisconsin General Assembly, where
he did splendid work in behalf of many projects having to do with the welfare of
the state. He was equally loyal as a champion of the cause of education while
serving for a number of years on the school board. He and his wife were devoted
members of the Methodist church and their lives were in harmony with its
teachings. The death of Mr. Williams occurred March 27, 1891, while his wife
passed away January 26, 1889. They had a daughter, Etta, who became the wife of
Milton R. Hubbard, a Kenosha County farmer, and passed away April 18, 1877.
Another daughter, Esther, died September 26, 1849, when but two years of age,
and a son, Franklin, on the 30th of September 1849, at the age of five years.
The only surviving member of the family is Clarence E. Williams, who is now
classed with the representative farmers and valued citizens of Bristol Township.
Liberal educational opportunities were accorded him. He supplemented his
district school training by a year of study in the Kenosha High School, and for
two years was a student in Lawrence University at Appleton, Wisconsin. He then
resumed the occupation of farming upon the old homestead, where he had been
previously trained in all branches of farm work, and he is today the owner of a
valuable property, having assumed entire management of the place upon his
father's death. He has carried on both general farming and dairying with
success.
On the 19th of October, 1882 in Kenosha, Mr. Williams was joined in wedlock to
Miss Mary R. Lane, a daughter of John P. and Mary (Bovee-Edison) Lane, who were
natives of New Hampshire and Canada, respectively. They had eight children, five
sons and three daughters, namely: Stephen B., who was born on the 15th of
January 1847 and died on the 26th of November 1868; Frank H., who was born on
the 24th of November 1848, and died on the 31st of March 1909; David E., who was
born on the 22nd of June 1850 and whose death occurred on the 2d of November
1861; John F., born November 24, 1856; Carlton J., who was born May 22d, 1857;
Bertha F., who was born on the 24th of August, 1859 and died on the 27th of
October, 1896; Mary R., born January 31, 1861; and Daisy A., born November 23d,
1867. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have become the parents of four children of whom
Frankie C., died on the 5th of November 1885, and Arthur on the 13th of May
1893. Brosia Mary became the wife of Frederick W. Murdoch, of Kenosha, her
marriage occurring on the 21st of March, 1907, and she has two children:
Clarence Frederick, born on the 27th of October, 1910, and Mary Edith, born on
the 29th of December 1912. Wesley Trafford was married on the 2d of December,
1914 to Miss Olive Emily Parkin and they live upon the home place.
Mr. Williams is identified with the Modern Woodmen camp at Bristol and with the
Elks lodge at Kenosha. When age conferred upon him the right of franchise he
espoused the cause of the Republican party and has since been one of its
stalwart champions. For three years he served as Chairman of the town board, and
for a quarter of a century has been Treasurer of the School Board. He and his
wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, and its teachings have been the
guiding force of their lives. He has never deviated from a course which he
believed to be right between himself and his fellowmen and his entire record is
in harmony with the history of the Williams family, a family that for more than
six decades has occupied an enviable position in public regard in Kenosha
County.
Typed by: Michelle Laycock