Elisha Scott Williams (1757 - 1845)

Born 7 Oct 1757 in East Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Livermore) Williams — married 30 Aug 1780 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Rebecca Bridge — married 19 Feb 1821 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 3 Feb 1845 at age 87 in Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Birth

Elisha Scott Williams was born as Elisha Williams at East Hartford, Conn., on 7 Oct 1757, the son of Eliphalet Williams and Mary (Williams) Williams.^[1][2][3] His middle name, Scott, was added by the authority of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1823 to distnguish him from another Elisha Williams.^[3]

Revolutionary War Service

Staff Officer Elisha Williams served with Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution.

Elisha Williams is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A126062.

If his biography in the 1903 Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College can be believed, he had a distinguished record during the Revolutionary War, although it has the flavor of some legend mixed in with the history:

In July 1776, he joined the Revolutionary army with youthful enthusiasm in Colonel Andrew Ward's Connecticut regiment, and when only nineteen years of age was present at the battle of White Plains. In December 1776, he crossed the Delaware River in the same boat with General Washington, and is so depicted by Trumbull in his picture of the event. He participated in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and in the hardships of Valley Forge. He remained through life an outspoken patriot, with strong love for his country.

After leaving the army he entered the naval service on board the General Hancock, a private armed cruiser, and was one of her crew in September, 1778, when she encountered a sank the British cruiser Levant, off the coast of Bermuda.^[4]

Marriages

1. Elisha Williams of Hartford, Connecticut, married Abigail Livermore of Roxbury, Massachusetts, at Roxbury on 30 Aug 1780.^[5][6]
2. Rev. Elisha Williams married Miss Rebecca Bridge at Boston on 19 Feb 1821.^[7][8]

Residences

In 1782, Elisha and Abigail Williams were living at Springfield, Massachusetts, when they recorded a daughter there in March.^[9] His whereabouts are then uinknown until about 1790, when he moved to Livermore, Maine (then in Massachusetts).^[6][10] He moved to Brunswick, Maine (then in Massachusetts), in January 1800, and to Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1803^[6] He moved to Boston in 1812, and then retired to Beverly about 1837.^[7]

Death

Rev. Elisha Scott Williams died at Beverly, Massachusetts, on 3 Feb 1845, with his age reported as 87 years and 4 months.^[7][11]

Research Note

Considerable detail on the career of Rev. Elisha Scott Williams are included in the Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College and in the Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore (both linked above). The former also includes a list of sources for information on his life.

Sources

1. ↑ Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906, database, FamilySearch, : Elisha Williams, 07 Oct 1757; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown
2. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, East Hartford, Page 91 (From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928), citing East Hartford vital record 1:9
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the College History (New York, 1903), Volume 3, page 592
4. ↑ Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the College History (New York, 1903), Volume 3, pages 592-593
5. ↑ Vital records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (two volumes, 1925-1926), volume 2, page 434
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the College History (New York, 1903), Volume 3, page 593
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the College History (New York, 1903), Volume 3, page 594
8. ↑ "Marriage Records of the Rev. Thomas Baldwin," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 126:143 (1972)
9. ↑ Birth record of Sally Potter Williams, in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, online database: AmericanAncestors.org, Springfield, Volume 1, Page 618
10. ↑ Israel Washburn, Notes, Historical, Descriptive, and Personal of Livermore, in Androscoggin (Formerly in Oxford) County, Maine (Portland, Me., 1874), page 16
11. ↑ Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, (two volumes, Topsfield, Mass., 1907), volume 2, page 602