Charles Grandison Williams (October 18, 1829March 30, 1892) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He represented the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

for ten years in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, from 1873 to 1883, and was chairman of the

House Foreign Affairs Committee The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

Biography

Born in Royalton, New York, Williams pursued an academic course and studied law in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. He moved to Wisconsin in 1856, after the death of his first wife, and settled in Janesville, in Rock County. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Janesville, where he would form a law partnership with David Noggle and Henry A. Patterson. He was elected to the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

in 1868 and re-elected in 1870. He was chosen as President pro tempore of the Senate for the 1871 and 1872 sessions. He was also a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

for

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in the

1868 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1868. In the first election of the Reconstruction Era, Republican nominee Ulysses S. Grant defeated Horatio Seymour of the Democratic Party. It was the first presidential ele ...

. In 1872, Williams was elected to represent

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Wisconsin's 1st congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southeastern Wisconsin, covering Kenosha County, Wisconsin, Kenosha County, Racine County, Wisconsin, Racine County, and most of ...

, and was subsequently re-elected four times, serving from March 4, 1873, until March 3, 1883. In the 47th Congress (1881-1883), he served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was defeated in the 1882 election while seeking a sixth term in Congress. After his defeat, he was appointed register of the land office for the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, and moved to Watertown, Dakota Territory, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died there on March 30, 1892. He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Personal life and family

His first wife, Harriet Gregg, died in 1856. His second wife was Mary M. Noggle, daughter Judge David Noggle, his early law partner and one of the founding fathers of Janesville. They had a daughter, Kate Anna Williams (born 1861), and a son, Ward David Williams (born September 4, 1864, and died March 28, 1926, in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1868, 1870)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1870

U.S. House of Representatives (1872, 1874, 1876)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1872 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1874 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1876

U.S. House of Representatives (1878, 1880, 1882)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1878 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1880 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1882

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Charles Grandison 1829 births 1892 deaths People from Royalton, New York Politicians from Janesville, Wisconsin Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives