Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Elisha W. Williams (b. circa 1779 - d. circa 1854)
MSA SC 5496-015030
Slaveholder near Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

Born around 1779, Elisha Washington Williams was the son of Thomas Owen Williams of Prince George's County. Thomas O. Williams owned the land on which the first Rockville Court House was built around 1779.1

Elisha Williams owned property in Georgetown as well as Montgomery County, and sold land for Georgetown's Industrial Home School in 1830.2 Elisha and his brother, Jeremiah, had a business partnership in Georgetown.3 He also had two other brothers, William Berry and Otho, and one sisters, Mary.4

Elisha W. Williams served on the Maryland House of Delegates in 1822 to 1823.5 He married Jane Plater (b. 1799) on January 16, 1826.6 Their children were Martha P., Frances H., Robert M. (b. 1819 in Virginia), and Thomas M.7 The 1840 census showed a third daughter in Williams' household, but her name is currently unknown.8

Williams owned twenty-six slaves in 1820, thirty-six slaves in 1840, and twenty-two slaves in 1850.9 The number of slaves he owned in 1830 is unknown, since Montgomery County census records did not survive for that year. In 1832, the slave John Crompton escaped from Williams' farm near Poolesville, and was still missing in 1834.10 The slaves assessment records for 1853 and 1855 listed the names of Williams' slaves.11

Williams had passed away by 1854.12 In 1865, his son Robert M. Williams appeared on Simon Martenet's map of Montgomery County. He was living next to the Rockville Court House, on land that had once belonged to his grandfather.13
 

1.     "Montgomery County Courthouse Historic District." M: 26-11. Maryland Historical Trust, Inventory of Historic Properties. www.mdihp.net.
        "Red Brick Courthouse (& Montgomery County Courthouse)." M: 26-11-1. Maryland Historical Trust, Inventory of Historic Properties. www.mdihp.net.

2.     Charles Moore, ed. Joint Select Committe to Investigate the Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia. Part 3 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1898) 122.

3.     F. Edward Wright. Western Maryland Newspaper Abstracts, 1806-1810. Vol. 3 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1987) 87.

4.     CHANCERY COURT, (Chancery Papers), [MSA S512-1]. Case No. 6407. Estate of Thomas O. Williams, December 12, 1825, Montgomery County.

5.     Edward C. Papenfuse, et al. Archives of Maryland, Historical List, New Series. Vol. 1. Annapolis, MD: Maryland State Archives, 1990. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/speccol/sc2600/sc2685/house/html/mohouse.html.

6.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Marriage Licenses), [MSA CM724-1, CR 8920]. Elisha W. Williams and Jane Plater, January 16, 1826.
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha W. Williams, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 22, Line 21 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].
        National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Historic Graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia (New York, NY: The Grafton Press, 1908) 172.

7.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills), Liber WTR 2, Folio 264. [MSA CM756-1, CR 43-2]. Elisha W. Williams, July 19, 1852. Probated September 19, 1854.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Marriage Licenses), [MSA CM724-1, CR 8920]. Nicholas Brewer and Martha P. Williams, September 3, 1849.
        Wesley E. Pippenger. Daily National Intelligencer, Washington, District of Columbia, Marriage and Death Notices, 1851-1854 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1999) 217.

8.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha W. Williams, 1840, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 1, 10th line from bottom [MSA SM61-113, M 4722].

9.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha Williams, 1820, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 8, Line 19 [MSA SM61-73, M 2066-3].
         U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha W. Williams, 1840, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 1, 10th line from bottom [MSA SM61-113, M 4722]. Slaves listed on Page 2, 10th line from bottom.
         U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Elisha W. Williams, Slaves, 1850, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 22, Line 21 [MSA SM61-168, M 1505-5].

10.     "$100 Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 1 December 1832: 3.
           "Three Hundred Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligancer 4 January 1834.

11.   MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, (Assessment Record, Slaves), [MSA C1112-1]. Elisha W. Williams, 1853, Page 43.
         MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, (Assessment Record, Slaves), [MSA C1112-1]. Elisha W. Williams, 1855, Page 119.

12.   MONTGOMERY COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills), Liber WTR 2, Folio 264. [MSA CM756-1, CR 43-2]. Elisha W. Williams, July 19, 1852. Probated September 19, 1854.

13.   Ibid.
         Detail of Rockville from Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, [MSA SC 1213-1-464].
 

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