Ephraim Williams Jr. (Wyllis Eaton Wright,
Colonel Ephraim Williams, a documentary life
' (1970), p. 4.Correct date of birth of February 24, 1714 is obtained from primary source: Massachusetts Vital Records "Newton Births 1674-1801 Book 1 Vol 106" – September 8, 1755) was a soldier and land owner from the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

who was killed in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

. He was the benefactor of

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

, located in northwestern Massachusetts. The school's athletic programs, the Ephs (rhymes with "chiefs"), are named after Williams.

Life

Early life

Ephraim Jr. was the eldest son of Ephraim Williams Sr. and Elizabeth Jackson Williams (d. 1718). He was born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of ...

on February 24, 1714, and was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died giving birth to a second son, Thomas, in 1718. His family was influential in western Massachusetts; they were preeminent in a group of families then called the "River Gods" (referencing the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...

, the major waterway in the area). A cousin, Israel Williams, was known as the "monarch of Hampshire" due to his singular influence along the river. Last Will and Testament (1755)

] In his youth, Ephraim Jr. was a sailor and travelled several times to Europe, visiting England, Holland and Spain.

Military service

In 1742, at age 27, he moved to

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is ...

, where his father had relocated on land purchased from the Mahican tribe, and purchased large tracts of land in the young settlement. He joined the militia and was commissioned

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In 1745 during

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

(1745–1748), he was put in charge of building and defending Fort Massachusetts and the line of defences in western Connecticut and Massachusetts. He was absent when the fort was taken and destroyed by the French in August 1746. After the war ended, Williams spent considerable effort urging the settlement of new townships in the western portion of Massachusetts along the

Hoosac River The Hoosic River, also known as the Hoosac, the Hoosick (primarily in New York) and the Hoosuck (mostly archaic), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 3, 2011 tri ...

at the end of the 1740s. Many of the early settlers in this region were soldiers stationed at Fort Massachusetts during the war, including Williams himself. However, within just a few years, Williams was again called into service as part of the

(1754–1763). Williams, now a colonel, took part in William Johnson's expedition against

Crown Point, New York Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, located on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 2,024 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, . The town is on t ...

, leading a regiment of ten companies. Among those companies were Burke's Rangers and

Rogers' Rangers Rogers' Rangers was a company of soldiers from the Province of New Hampshire raised by Major Robert Rogers and attached to the British Army during the Seven Years' War ( French and Indian War). The unit was quickly adopted into the British arm ...

. Among his aides was William Williams from Connecticut, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

. Williams was shot in the head and killed during an ambush by the French and their Indian allies in the Battle of Lake George on September 8, 1755 at the age of 40. Members of his regiment hid his body after the battle to prevent it from being desecrated. They later buried Williams nearby. His body was disinterred in the early 20th century and moved to the chapel at Williams College. A stone etched with Williams' initials on it and the year of his death still stands at the original Lake George gravesite just across the street from a monument erected by Williams College alumni. The monument marks the site of the ambush, which was called the Bloody Morning Scout.

Legacy

Ephraim left his sizeable estate to support the founding of a free school on his land in western Massachusetts, on the conditions that the town be renamed after him (

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropol ...

, formerly West Hoosac), that the town be part of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...

, and that the free school be built on the land which he donated. He previously intended to found the school as an academy for "the Promoting & propogating icChristian knowledge amongst the Indians at Stockbridge" but was deterred by the potential of the project being manipulated by his political rivals after his death. The school was founded in 1791 and converted to

by action of the state legislature in 1793.

Ebenezer Fitch Ebenezer Fitch (September 26, 1756 – March 21, 1833) was an American Calvinist clergyman and educator. He was the first president of Williams College. Born in Norwich, Connecticut,George Ripley And Charles A. Dana,Ebenezer Fitch, ''The Amer ...

, the first president of

, wrote a biographical sketch of Ephraim Jr. in 1802. He described the college's benefactor as follows: "In his person, he was large and fleshy...His address was easy, and his manners pleasing and conciliating. Affable and facetious, he could make himself agreeable in all companies; and was very generally esteemed, respected, and beloved." There is some internet based commentary that suggests Ephraim Williams appears in an early version of "

Yankee Doodle "Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolution. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state anthem of Connecticut. Its ...

": :Brother Ephraim sold his Cow :And bought him a Commission; :And then he went to Canada :To fight for the Nation; :But when Ephraim he came home :He proved an arrant Coward, :He wouldn't fight the Frenchmen there :For fear of being devour'd. However, this suggestion comes mostly from on-line commentators, who "just repeat earlier questionable, undocumented interpretations" without citation, and no reputable scholars "connect this 'arrant Coward' to the French and Indian War hero."Dolle, Raymond F.
"Yankee Doodle and the Country Dance from Lexington to Yorktown"
''The Early America Review'' 9.4, Winter/Spring 2011, accessed on June 1, 2022. See the section on "Dr. Schuckburgh, ''The Lexington March'', and Ephraim Williams". The song "Yankee Doodle" was re-appropriated by the British colonists from the derisive version of the Dutch settlers and turned into a rousing marching tune eventually making Yankee another name for American known world wide, with the first known version of the song apparently about Ephraim Williams, who fought the French at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of the Bloody Morning Scout.

References

*Wright, Wyllis (1970). ''Colonel Ephraim Williams, A Documentary Life''. Berkshire County Historical Society. Pittsfield, MA. *
Colonel Ephraim Williams, an appreciation
'. 1919 *
A History of Williams College
'. 1860

External links

Ephraim Jr.'s willWilliams College archive Ephraim Williams BiographyRichard Henry Winslow Dwight Collection (Vol. 50)
at Williams College Special Collections and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ephraim Philanthropists from Massachusetts W001 People of Massachusetts in the French and Indian War People from Newton, Massachusetts People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts 1715 births 1755 deaths Military personnel killed in the French and Indian War Deaths by firearm in New York (state) Burials in Massachusetts People of colonial Massachusetts 18th-century philanthropists American slave owners