William Williams was born August 10, 1834 in Marrs Township, Posey County at the southwest tip of the state of Indiana. William Williams’s father was John Williams who was also born in Marrs Township of Posey County, Indiana in about 1810. He was a contemporary of Abe Lincoln being just about one year older. John also lived near the areas in Indiana and Illinois in which Lincoln grew up. John was the son of Elkanah Williams who was born in 1784 in North Carolina we believe. Elkanah came to Southern Indiana and Marrs Township in about 1805 when it was an open frontier and the Ohio River was the connection to the civilized world. William Williams mother was born Winna Martin in about 1812, daughter of Revolutionary War soldier John Martin and Druscilla Williams, both of South Carolina in the area of Newberry near the capital of Columbia. William Williams had one sister and five brothers. We think he was one of the oldest. His mother Winna had three sisters and three brothers and was probably born I Kentucky in or near Hendersonville where her parents came after the Revolution.

John Martin’s father, of the same name, is reported as being a soldier in the French and Indian Wars under George Washington. At least as reported in family literature in the National Archives. He is supposed to be one of the several hundred South Carolinians who joined up to fight for Washington and was promised bounty lands. So William Williams was from a line of soldiers on his mothers side and pioneer farmers on his fathers side. All must have been good with a rifle.

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