Norman Williams (October 6, 1791 – January 12, 1868) was a

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

attorney and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as Vermont's Auditor of Accounts and Secretary of State.

Early life

Williams was born October 6, 1791, in

Woodstock, Vermont Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Cha ...

, son of Jesse Willams (1761-1842) and Hannah Palmer (1769-1837) and graduated from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

in 1810. He then studied law, attained admission to the bar in 1814 and established a practice in Woodstock. Williams served in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and afterwards continued his military service as a member of the militia. Following his military service Williams resumed practicing law.

Politics

Williams served as Register of Probate for the

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

district in 1814 and from 1820 to 1822 and 1834 to 1835.University of Vermont Obituary Record
published by University of Vermont Alumni Association, Volume 1, 1895, page 25 In 1819 Williams was elected Auditor of Accounts, serving until 1823. Williams was elected Secretary of State in 1823 and served until 1831. From 1836 to 1840 Williams was Secretary of the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

. Originally a

National Republican The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...

, and later a Whig, Williams was an editor of the ''Vermont Mercury'', a newspaper that advocated Whig policies. Williams succeeded Benjamin Swan as Clerk of the Windsor County Court, and served from 1839 until his death in Woodstock.The Wentworth Genealogy
by John Wentworth, Volume 1, 1878, page 512 In October of 1866 he was included on the "Expedition to the 100th Meridian" of the First Transcontinental Railroad. His son Edward H. Williams was unable to participate having been recently selected to Superintend the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Business career

From 1831 to 1834 Williams lived in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and pursued a business career with his

brother in law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

. In 1834 Williams returned to Woodstock and resumed practicing law.

College administrator

Williams was an incorporator of the Vermont Medical College and served for many years as dean of the faculty. In addition, he served as a member of the University of Vermont's

Board of Trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

from 1849 to 1853.

Personal life

In 1817, Williams married Mary Ann Wentworth Brown, a member of the Appleton and Wentworth families. They had seven children, Henry Brown Williams, Mary Ann Wentworth Williams, Edward H. Williams, Charles Storrow Williams, Louisa Jane Williams, Norman Williams Jr., and Susan Arnold Williams. In 1883, Edward H. Williams led an effort to remove from the Williams homestead the main house and surrounding outbuildings, which had fallen into disuse, and erect a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. The facility, named the Norman Williams Public Library, is still in existence and continues to serve the citizens of Woodstock.Home page, Norman Williams Public Library web site
accessed November 19, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Norman 1791 births 1868 deaths American military personnel of the War of 1812 University of Vermont alumni Vermont National Republicans Vermont Whigs State auditors of Vermont Secretaries of state of Vermont Vermont lawyers People from Woodstock, Vermont Politicians from Windsor County, Vermont