Josiah B. Williams

Josiah B. Williams
Member of the New York State Senate from the 25th district
In office 1852–1855
Preceded by	Henry B. Stanton
Succeeded by	James Huntington
Personal details
Born	December 16, 1810 Middletown, Connecticut
Died	September 26, 1883 Ithaca, New York
Political party	Whig
Occupation	Businessman, banker, politician

Josiah Butler Williams (December 16, 1810 – September 26, 1883) was an American businessman, banker and politician from New York.

Life

He was the son of Josiah Williams (1768–1842) and Charity (Shaler) Williams (1775–1865). He married Mary Huggeford Hardy (1824–1911), and they had 12 children, among them geologist Henry Shaler Williams (1847–1918).

He was a Whig member of the New York State Senate (25th D.) from 1852 to 1855, sitting in the 75th, 76th, 77th and 78th New York State Legislatures.

Williams was nominated on the Know Nothing ticket for Canal Commissioner at the 1854 New York state election, but two weeks before the election declined to run. The party managers then substituted Hard Democrat Clark Burnham on the ticket but, due to slow communications, Williams still polled almost 60,000 votes.

He was a presidential elector in 1856, voting for John C. Frémont and William L. Dayton.

He was buried at the Ithaca City Cemetery.

State Senator Timothy S. Williams (1800–1849) was his brother; lumber magnate Henry W. Sage (1814–1897) was his nephew.

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 137, 147, 323 and 332; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
• Short bio at Ancestry.com

External links

• Josiah B. Williams at Find a Grave