Josiah Butler Williams (December 16, 1810 – September 26, 1883) was an American businessman, banker and senator 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 Henry Shaler Williams (6 March 1847 – July 31, 1918) was an American geologist. He was the son of State Senator Josiah B. Williams (1810–1883). He graduated from Yale College and studied with Louis Agassiz at Cornell University. In 1871, he ...

(1847–1918). He was a Whig member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

(25th D.) from 1852 to 1855, sitting in the 75th, 76th, 77th and

78th New York State Legislature The 78th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 14, 1855, during the first year of Myron H. Clark's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provis ...

s. Williams was nominated on the

Know Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock Americans, Old Stock Nativism in United States politics, nativist political movem ...

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 Clark Burnham (May 22, 1802 Windham, Windham County, Connecticut – December 30, 1871 Utica, Oneida County, New York) was an American politician from New York. Life He lived in Sherburne, Chenango County, New York, and was a contractor on the ...

on the ticket but, due to slow communications, Williams still polled almost 60,000 votes. He was 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 ...

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatl ...

, voting for

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

and William L. Dayton. He was buried at the Ithaca City Cemetery. State Senator

Timothy S. Williams Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek name ( Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries. People Given name * Timothy (given name ...

(1800–1849) was his brother; lumber magnate

Henry W. Sage Henry Williams Sage (January 31, 1814 – September 18, 1897) was a wealthy New York State businessman, philanthropist, and early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University.Murray Edward PoolA story historical of Cornell University with biograp ...

(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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Josiah B 1810 births 1883 deaths New York (state) state senators Politicians from Ithaca, New York New York (state) Whigs Politicians from Middletown, Connecticut 1856 United States presidential electors New York (state) Republicans New York (state) Know Nothings 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature