Martha (Ready) Williamson (1840 - 1887)

Born 21 Jun 1840 in Readyville, Cannon, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Wife of John Hunt Morgan — married 13 Dec 1862 in Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

Wife of William Henry Williamson — married 31 Jan 1873 in Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died 16 Nov 1887 at age 47 in Lebanon, Wilson, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Martha "Mattie" Ready Morgan Williamson. 1840-1887

"Mattie" grew up in the lap of luxury and attended Soule College in Murfreesboro and later the Nashville Female Academy.

Her father was a U. S. Congressman, so she spent time in Washington D.C. participating in all the social whirl of the city.

At the onset of the Civil War, her father moved the family back to Tennesse. It was in Nashville that John Hunt Morgan set up his headquarters and there met Mattie's father, who invited him home to dinner. Thus ensued the romance between General John Hunt Morgan and Mattie Ready. They married on December 14, 1862. ^[1] Her husband would go on to make great contribution to the Confederate cause and would make the raid which would cause him to be captured and in a POW prison in the north. He would excape on 27 November 1863, the same day that Mattie gave birth to their first daughter. She struggled to survive, but did not live long. He would be home by Christmas with Mattie, where he vowed he would never be captured again. However, though never captured he would be killed and leave a grieving Mattie pregnant. She returned to Agusuta Georgia to be with friend and give birth to their daughter Johnnie Hunt Morgan., who was born 2 days after Lee's surrender.

She would be instrumental in the development of the Ladies Aid Society the forerunner to the Confederate Daughters of the Confederacy.

It would be a number of years before she would remarry, that marriage being to William Henry Williamson.

She would have the following children by Williamson William Henry married Mary Ready Weaver Martha Ready married Winstead Raine Bone Charles Ready married Mary Owen Campbell Allice Martin married Amzi Weddell Hooker Nannie died at 2 years

She was only 47 when she died of T.B. ^[2]

Census

1880: Dist 10, Wilson, TN ^[3]

• William H. Williamson age 51
• Martha R age 39
• Henn age 6
• Martha age 5
• Charles R age 3
• Alice Martha age 1
• Johnie H. Morgan age 15

Sources

1. ↑ "Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH3-W7ZT : 22 December 2016), John H Morgan and Mattie Ready, 13 Dec 1862; citing Rutherford, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. , Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 435,053.
2. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10722978/martha-williamson : accessed 07 September 2021), memorial page for Martha “Mattie” Ready Williamson (21 Jun 1840–16 Nov 1887), Find A Grave: Memorial #10722978, citing Cedar Grove Cemetery, Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by CMWJR (contributor 50059520) .
3. ↑ Year: 1880; Census Place: District 10, Wilson, Tennessee; Roll: 1286; Family History Film: 1255286; Page: 410C; Enumeration District: 254

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDWL-FSG : 15 July 2017), Martha R Williamson in household of William H Williamson, District 10, Wilson, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district ED 254, sheet 410C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1286; FHL microfilm 1,255,286
• Ancestry.com. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

• Cedar Grove Cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10722978