HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol. III,
pp. 1206-07-08. [Full page photograph of Mr. Williams included with bio.]
[Boyd County]

MORDECAI WILLIAMS--Popular and well known in political affairs as well as
in the business world, Mordecai Williams, who is now living in virtual
retirement at Normal, Kentucky, is a man of unusual vigor and keen business
acumen.  He is widely known and respected both on account of his ability
and genial kindliness of spirit and as a citizen his loyalty and public
spirit have ever been of the most insistent order.
     Mordecai Williams was born in Greenup county, now Boyd county,
Kentucky, on the 20th of December, 1835, a son of Marcus Lindsey and
Elizabeth (Kring) Williams, both of whom were born and reared in the state
of Pennsylvania.  The Williams family is of Scotch-Irish descent and prior
to the war of the Revolution three brothers of the name came to America,
locating respectively in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.  He whose
name introduces this paragraph is a representative of the Pennsylvania
branch.  Marcus Williams, father of Mordecai, was born in 1813, in the old
Keystone state of the Union, whence he accompanied his parents as an
infant to Lawrence county, Ohio.  He was a son of Mordecai and Elizabeth
(Davidson) Williams, who removed from Ohio to Kentucky about the year 1815.
Location was made on Williams creek, which took their name as they were the
first settlers in what is now Boyd county.  The father engaged in farming
and built the first log cabin in that section, his nearest neighbor being
at Catlettsburg, some fourteen miles distant.  He reclaimed a fine farm
from the wilderness.  He was summoned to the life eternal in 1833, his
wife having survived until 1860.  Mr. and Mrs. Mordecai Williams became
the parents of seven children, of whom Marcus was the fourth in order of
birth.  He was reared to the invigorating discipline of the home farm,
with whose work he continued to be identified until the time of his
marriage, at which time he located near Clinton Furnace, where the family
home was maintained for the ensuing ten years, at the expiration of which
he purchased six hundred acres of land adjoining Catlettsburg.  There he
passed the residue of his life, his death having occurred in 1887.  He was
prominent and influential in local affairs and in his political
convictions he was a staunch adherent of the principles of the Democratic
party.  In the early '50s he was honored by his fellow citizens with
membership in the state legislature.  During the Civil war he was an ardent
sympathizer with the cause of Secession and owing to their out-spoken
manner he and his son, James L., were taken to Camp Chase by the Federal
soldiers and there held in duress for several months.
     Mrs. Marcus Williams survived her honored husband for many years and
was summoned to eternal rest in 1898.  She accompanied her parents from
Pennsylvania to Kentucky when a mere child.  The Kring family same [sic]
down the Ohio river from their native state by keel boat and stopped at
Maysville, Kentucky.  Henry Kring, the father, was a practical furnace man
and had come to Kentucky to take charge of Beaver Furnace, in Bath county,
one of the earliest furnaces in the state.  The family continued to reside
in Bath county for a number of years and subsequently Mr. Kring had charge
of other furnaces in other sections of Kentucky.  He died in Bath county,
his wife having preceded him to the life eternal, dying at Oakland furnace.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church
and they were prominent and well beloved citizens during their lifetime.
They became the parents of two children--Mordecai and James L., the latter
of whom died in 1868.
     Mordecai Williams was reared in Boyd county, Kentucky, to whose public
schools he is indebted for his early educational training, later
supplementing his discipline by a course of one year in the Center College,
at Danville, Kentucky.  He remained under the parental roof until he had
reached the age of twenty-three years, when he engaged in the clay
business, shipping his product by river to parties in Cincinnati, Ohio. He
carried on an extensive business in this line for several years and in
1861 he turned his attention to the lumber industry, shipping logs by
river to cities on the lower Ohio river.  In the latter business he was
associated with David D. Geiger for a period of thirteen years and he also
operated a saw mill for a few years.  He is still interested in the
lumber industry, owning a log boom on the Mud river in West Virginia,
about seven miles from the Ohio river.  In all his ventures Mr. Williams
has met with most gratifying success and he is now living practically
retired at his beautiful home in Normal, Kentucky.
     In politics Mr. Williams endorses the cause of the Democratic party
and his citizenship has ever been characterized by those qualities which
foster progress and development and which tend to promote the general
welfare.  In 1871 he was elected to represent the district comprising Boyd,
Carter, and a portion of Elliott counties in the Kentucky state
legislature, in which he served with efficiency one term of three sessions.
While in the legislature he was a member of several important committees
connected with the revision of statues and he introduced a number of bills,
some of which became laws.  In 1898 he was a candidate for congress from
the Ninth district and in the ensuing election, while he received the
largest number of votes ever awarded a Democrat for that position in Boyd
county, he was defeated in the district by ten votes.  Later errors were
discovered in connection with the count which would have given him his
seat by a good majority.  However, no contest was made.
     Mr. Williams is one of the most prominent Masons in this section of
the state, having passed through the circle of York Rite Masonry.  He was
first affiliated with the order at Catlettsburg in 1862, and holds
membership in the lodge, chapter and commandery.  Mr. and Mrs. Williams
are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and in the
same have won distinction for extensive charity and many good works.  A
few years ago Mr. Williams had a narrow escape from losing his life.  Two
burglars entered his home at an early hour in the morning and their
prowlings awakened him.  Getting out of bed he took his Masonic sword and
in the exciting encounter which followed he was shot twice, one of the
bullets entering the stomach and proving quite serious.  The burglars
escaped but later was captured and are now serving out terms in the
state penitentiary.
     Mr. Williams has been twice married.  In 1859 was celebrated his
marriage to Miss Nancy J. Cox, a native of Bath county, Kentucky.  She was
a daughter of Joshua and Rosanna Cox and her death occurred in 1871. Of the
two children born to this union one died in infancy and the other, Anna
Dickenson, passed away at the age of thirty years.  In 1875 Mr. Williams
was united in marriage to Mrs. Neppie (Savage) Roberts, widow of Luman
Roberts, who was a native of Vermont and former professor in the
Millersburg schools.  No children have been born to this latter marriage
but Mr. and Mrs. Williams have reared and educated one of Mr. Williams'
granddaughters, Annie Williams Haney, who was left an orphan at the age of
seven years.
     Mrs. Williams is a daughter of John P. Savage, a son of James Savage,
of Revolutionary fame, he having served throughout the entire struggle for
independence.  After the close of the war, in 1791, James Savage removed
from Virginia to Kentucky, with his wife and children.  Settlement was made
at Poplar Flat, Lewis county, Kentucky, some fourteen miles above
Maysville. There Mr. Savage improved a fine farm from the virgin wilderness
and in those early pioneer days it was necessary to barricade the doors
against the attacks of Indians.  The old homestead is now owned by the
fifth generation of his descendants and the old log cabin built by him in
the early days is still a part of the family residence.  A fact worthy of
record here is that during the many years which have elapsed since the time
of the immigration of James Savage to Kentucky not a single death
occurred in the house from disease until a few years ago.  James Savage
continued to reside on his homestead during the remainder of his life, and
prior to his death, through thrift and industry, he had accumulated a large
property, owning at one time a great number of slaves.  His wife, whose
maiden name was Mary Phillips, was a native Virginian and was descended
from King Philip, of England.  To Mr. and Mrs. James Savage were born eight
children--six sons and two daughters.
     John P. Savage, father of Mrs. Williams, passed his life on the old
homestead and he there reared and educated a family of fifteen children.
He was one of the leading planters in that section and he married Margaret
Frizell, whose birth occurred in Lewis county, Kentucky, she being a
direct descendant of Lord Baltimore.  She was summoned to the life eternal
in 1891, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Williams.  Mrs. Williams was
reared in Lewis county, where she attended the country schools in her
girlhood.  Subsequently she was a student in the seminary at Maysville and
also at the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, graduating in the
latter institution in three different courses.  After leaving school she
taught at Millersburg for several years and later was a teacher in
mathematics and Latin at the National Normal School for five years.  In
1867 she established the Eastern Kentucky Normal School, at Catlettsburg,
this being the first school of reputation in the eastern section of the
state.  After conducting the same for some six years she left the
institution in charge of others to go abroad to study German and French.
Her stay in Europe, however, was suddenly curtailed by the financial
troubles of the day and she returned to Catlettsburg in 1874, at which time
she closed the Normal school and turned her attention to pedagogic work
again.  In 1878 she reorganized the Eastern Kentucky Normal School at
her home at Normal and she continued head of the same for the ensuing
eleven years.  Mrs. Williams is one of the best known educators in eastern
Kentucky and is a woman of brilliant mind and most gracious personality.
She is a representative of a fine old military family, members of the same
having served in the Revolution, the Civil war and the Spanish-American
war.  Three of her brothers were dashing and gallant soldiers in the
Confederate army in the sanguinary struggle between the states.  Mr. and
Mrs. Williams are universally esteemed and are deeply beloved by all with
whom they have come in contact.  Their contribution to progress and
education in the Blue Grass state has been of most important order and
their lives have been characterized by good deeds and kindly consideration
for others.

Williams Kring Davidson Cox Savage Roberts Phillips Frizell
Geiger Haney
=
Greenup-KY Maysville-Mason-KY Bath-KY Danville-Boyle-KY Lewis-KY
Lawrence-OH MD VA PA England Europe

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/boyd/williams.m.txt