Samuel Williams (abt. 1788 - bef. 1839)

Born about 1788 in Charles, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Susanna (Hackleman) Williams — married about 1809 in Ohio

Descendants

Died before 20 Mar 1839 before about age 51 in Warren, Indiana, United States

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Biography

Samuel was born about 1788, and he passed away in 1839.

He lived during the time (1816) of the "year without a summer" due to the cold summer weather caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora volcano the previous year. "On June 25, 1816, The Franklin Repository in Pennsylvania reported that snow blanketed the area. Around the same time, The Evening Post in New York described freezing temperatures and nearly a foot of snow. Farm animals in Vermont succumbed to the freezing temperatures as long-time residents said they’d never seen anything like it!" "As fall approached, the Hartford Courant noted that 1816 would go down in history because there had been frost every month of the year. European papers complained that constant rains had ruined crops and created a famine."

He appears in the 1820 and 1830 Census in Harrison Township, Fayette Co., Indiana. His brother John Wesley Williams also lived in Fayette County in that time period.

They would presumably have awakened to witness the great Leonid Meteor Storm of 12 November 1833 (https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/09/how-newspapers-helped-crowdsource-a-scientific-discovery-the-1833-leonid-meteor-storm/)

Samuel Williams of Fayette County, Indiana, bought three pieces of land (200 acres) on 08 June 1833 in Warren County, Indiana, and moved there soon after, and another land purchase of 38 acres occurred on 18 March 1837 (in Section 6, Twp. 23, Range 8).

He died there before 20 March 1839, as is shown by an estate record: "Inventory of personal property of the estate of Samuel Williams late of Warren County. The undersigned Admin. of said Estate charges himself with one Bond on Mortgage on Personal property given by George Owens to said Dec. in his life time but never recorded nor has the personal property therin described come into the hands of said Administrator nor was in the possession of said deceased at his death. Dated March 20, 1839- the consideration in said Mortgage is expected to be Forty Dollars and eighteen cents. John Jones Administrator."

Sources

• U.S. Federal Census 1820 and 1830 (Fayette County, Indiana): 1820: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHG4-NDL 1830: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPC-WPJ

• Estate records (Warren County, Indiana).

• Land Patent images from BLM GLO Records: https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent|st=IN|cty=171|ln=Williams|fn=Samuel|sp=true|sw=true|sadv=false

• Y-DNA: Y-DNA results 1412 and 1413 for "Q-Group 136" on page 5 of: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/WilliamsDNA?iframe=ycolorized