Col. (1715‒1755), whose father was a half-brother of our 6 great- grandfather, was the founder of . He had only a rudimentary education when he was young, after which he went to sea and spent some time in England, Spain, and Holland. “In these voyages, and in his intercourse with genteel society, he acquired graceful and polished manners, and accumulated a great amount of useful information, which laid the foundation of his future fame.” Back in Stockbridge, he bought land and was elected a representative of the General Court of Massachusetts. He was known for military talent and participated in the wars between England and France. In 1755, while commanding a regiment near Lake George, New York, he was killed by a shot through the head. Regretting his lack of opportunity for advanced education, he left a will, an extract of which contains the following: It is my will and pleasure that all of the residue of my real estate . . . be sold and put out at interest . . . for the support and maintenance of a free school in the township west of Fort Massachusetts [which he, as Captain Williams, had commanded] forever . . . provided said township fall within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts bay . . . and provided also the Governor . . . shall (when a suitable number of inhabitants are settled there) incorporate the same into a town by the name of Williamstown. Further details of the life and military career of Col. Williams can be found in Williams Family 234‒256.

Hon. William Williams (1731‒1811), whose father was the brother of our 5 great- grandfather Col. Israel Williams, served most of his life as a legislator from Lebanon, Connecticut. He was a representative from Connecticut to the Continental Congress and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Further details on his patriotic and financial support for the War of Independence can be found in Williams Family 180‒186.

William Williams (1772‒1839), our 3 great-grandfather, married Lucy Fitch (1777‒1850). These are the grandparents of Mary Emily Williams who moved from Massachusetts to join their son and grandchildren in Illinois. It is through Lucy Fitch that we trace our ancestry to William Bradford, Mayflower pilgrim who served as governor of the Plymouth Colony for many years.

Bradford

William Bradford (ca. 1589‒1657) was a member of a group of English nonconformists who found the practices of the Church of England too near those of the Roman Catholic Church, both of which they saw as corrupt. They chose to form their own churches following what they felt to be a simpler, more authentic form of life and worship. Their members were sometimes imprisoned, had property confiscated, or were humiliated publicly. Bradford was part of a group that managed, with considerable difficulty, to establish themselves for twelve years in a rural area of the Netherlands near Leyden. As a truce between Spain and the Netherlands was coming to an end, they felt their safety was at risk and determined to relocate as an English settlement somewhere in New England. Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation gives a detailed account of the trials and experiences of these settlers from their leaving for Holland in 1606, to their arrival on the western shore

271