Roy Hughes Williams (September 1, 1874 – December 18, 1946) was a lawyer from the

U.S. State In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

who served as a prosecutor, local and appellate judge, and was a justice of the

Supreme Court of Ohio The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

from 1934 until his death.

Biography

Roy Hughes Williams was born September 1, 1874, in

Milan, Ohio Milan ( ) is a village in Erie and Huron counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 1,371 at the 2020 census. It is best known as the birthplace and childhood home of Thomas Edison. The Erie County portion of Milan is part of th ...

, son of Charles Ronald and Helen Hortense (Hughes) Williams. He graduated from Milan High School in 1890, attended the Western Reserve Normal School in Milan, and graduated from Oberlin Preparatory School in 1891. He attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

for one or two years, and graduated from

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1897. He was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1897. Williams was married to L. Verna Lockwood on December 7, 1898. They had no children. Williams won his first election for

Erie County, Ohio Erie County is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,622. Its county seat and largest city is Sandusky. The county is named for the Erie tribe, whose name was their word for ...

prosecuting attorney in 1900 for a three-year term, and won re-election in 1903. He served January 1901 to January 1907, opting not to run for a third term. He prosecuted bridge contractors under the state's Anti-trust act for bid rigging. Williams was in private practice in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

until he won election to the Erie County Common Pleas court in 1914, with term beginning January 1, 1915. He took a leave of absence as a 44-year-old to enlist in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He served at

Camp Zachary Taylor Camp Zachary Taylor was a military training camp in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened in 1917, to train soldiers for U.S. involvement in World War I, and was closed three years later. It was initially commanded by Guy Carleton and after the war it ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Williams returned to the bench after his discharge, and was the first judge in Ohio to impanel a jury of twelve women on August 26, 1920. Williams was elected to the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals in 1924, and was re-elected in 1930. He ran for the

in November 1934 as a Republican, to fill an un-expired term, and defeated

Howard Landis Bevis Howard Landis Bevis (November 19, 1885 – April 24, 1968) was the 7th President of Ohio State University. Bevis received a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1908, a degree from University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1910. ...

, who had been appointed after Justice Reynolds R. Kinkade resigned. He won a full six-year term in 1936, defeating Will P. Stephenson. He would be re-elected on November 3, 1942. Williams missed much of the 1945 session of the court due to ill health, but recovered enough to work in the fall 1946 term. He died of a heart attack, while drafting an opinion, on December 18, 1946, and had a funeral at the Old First Presbyterian Church in Sandusky, with burial in Milan Cemetery in Milan, Ohio. Williams was a member of the Masons, B.P.O.E.,

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

, Beneficial Union of Sandusky, and

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Roy Hughes 1874 births 1946 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I County district attorneys in Ohio Judges of the Ohio District Courts of Appeals Oberlin College alumni Ohio Republicans Ohio state court judges Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio People from Milan, Ohio United States Army soldiers University of Michigan Law School alumni