Display Patriot - P-320778 - James Henderson WILLIAMS
James Henderson WILLIAMS
SAR Patriot #:
P-320778
The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: SC
Qualifying Service: Colonel / Patriotic Service
Photo by permission: Fred Weyler, Tennessee Society SAR
Front of Cherokee County Building, Limestone Str
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Marker is on North Limestone Street, State Highway 150, on the right when traveling north, in front of Carnegie Library Building (County Admin. Bldg.). Marker is in this post office area: Gaffney SC 29340, United States of America
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: Fredrick Arnold Weyler
James Williams was born in Hanover County VA 10Nov1740. He moved with his father to Granville County NC where his father died in 1759. His father left him an 800 acre farm in Halifax County Virginia. Williams married Mary Wallace in 1762 and moved his family to the area of South Carolina now the boundary line between Laurens and Newberry Counties. There he acquired a 3,600 acre tract which he called "Mount Pleasant." Elected to the early South Carolina legislative assemblies, he was appointed to the committee to regulate the newly formed militia in support of the Whig government. James Williams served as a Captain of a local militia company in the first battle fought in the South Carolina backcountry at Ninety Six and in the "Snow Campaign" shortly thereafter. Being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the militia he assumed command of the Little River Regiment of Whig militia in the summer of 1776 and was in the Cherokee campaign launched in the late summer and early fall of that year. As a full Colonel commanding the Little River Regiment, Williams and his men participated in most of the notable engagements in Georgia and the South Carolina backcountry against the British, Tories and Indians. Upon the fall of Charleston in May 1780 and the occupation of all of SC by the British Army, Williams, like many other backcountry SC militia unwilling to take protection from the British, took refuge in North Carolina. There he raised troops he commanded at the Battle of Musgrove Mill (19Aug1780) and at the battle of Kings Mountain (07Oct1780), where he was mortally wounded. He died the next day and was buried on a Tory plantation as the Whigs retreated from Kings Mountain back towards Cowpens.
Not only did Williams make the ultimate sacrifice for the liberty of his Country but his two eldest sons also died in the American Revolution, being murdered after surrendering to Tory forces at Hayes Station in November 1781. James Williams' remains were later exhumed and are now buried in Gaffney South Carolina at a memorial dedicated to his honor in 1917 by the DAR.
ADDITIONAL BIO provided by: Rev Robert Mark Alves 180916 NC
James Williams was born in Hanover County, Virginia on November 10, 1740.
He lived with his brother John in Granville County, North Carolina as a teenager before moving to Ninety-Six District on the Little River in South Carolina.
He served in the Provisional Congress in South Carolina in 1775 and again in 1776 and on the local Committee on Safety. He rose to the rank of Col. before his death at Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780.
It is said that the South Carolina Governor had sent him a commission as Brigadier General in the South Carolina Militia soon before his death.
A slightly more detailed James Williams bio sketch with help from his descendant Will Graves:
James Williams was born in Hanover County VA 10Nov1740. He moved with his father to Granville County NC where his father died in 1759. His father left him an 800 acre farm in Halifax County Virginia. Williams married Mary Wallace in 1762 and moved his family to the area of South Carolina now the boundary line between Laurens and Newberry Counties. There he acquired a 3,600 acre tract which he called "Mount Pleasant." Elected to the early South Carolina legislative assemblies, he was appointed to the committee to regulate the newly formed militia in support of the Whig government. James Williams served as a Captain of a local militia company in the first battle fought in the South Carolina backcountry at Ninety Six and in the "Snow Campaign" shortly thereafter. Being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the militia he assumed command of the Little River Regiment of Whig militia in the summer of 1776 and was in the Cherokee campaign launched in the late summer and early fall of that year. As a full Colonel commanding the Little River Regiment, Williams and his men participated in most of the notable engagements in Georgia and the South Carolina backcountry against the British, Tories and Indians. Upon the fall of Charleston in May 1780 and the occupation of all of SC by the British Army, Williams, like many other backcountry SC militia unwilling to take protection from the British, took refuge in North Carolina. There he raised troops he commanded at the Battle of Musgrove Mill (19Aug1780) and at the battle of Kings Mountain (07Oct1780), where he was mortally wounded. He died the next day and was buried on a Tory plantation as the Whigs retreated from Kings Mountain back towards Cowpens. Not only did Williams make the ultimate sacrifice for the liberty of his Country but his two eldest sons also died in the American Revolution, being murdered after surrendering to Tory forces at Hayes Station in November 1781. James Williams' remains were later exhumed and are now buried in Gaffney South Carolina at a memorial dedicated to his honor in 1917 by the DAR.
Index: Death: Sunday 08Oct1780 Deathplace: s/b York Dist, SC Citation: "Backcountry Revolutionary" W T Graves, 2012, Southern Campaigns of America Synopsis: Various civil and militia services in South Carolina. Gathered fresh NC militia and scattered SC militia who joined to defeat Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain. Mortally wounded at the end of the battle. Remark: Burial near Colonel William Graham's Fort overlooking Broad River and Buffalo Creek with full military honors. Re-interred in Gaffney SC.
Author: Fredrick Arnold Weyler // Rev Robert M. Alves
James Williams was born in Hanover County VA 10Nov1740. He moved with his father to Granville County NC where his father died in 1759. His father left him an 800 acre farm in Halifax County Virginia. Williams married Mary Wallace in 1762 and moved his family to the area of South Carolina now the boundary line between Laurens and Newberry Counties. There he acquired a 3,600 acre tract which he called "Mount Pleasant." Elected to the early South Carolina legislative assemblies, he was appointed to the committee to regulate the newly formed militia in support of the Whig government. James Williams served as a Captain of a local militia company in the first battle fought in the South Carolina backcountry at Ninety Six and in the "Snow Campaign" shortly thereafter. Being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the militia he assumed command of the Little River Regiment of Whig militia in the summer of 1776 and was in the Cherokee campaign launched in the late summer and early fall of that year. As a full Colonel commanding the Little River Regiment, Williams and his men participated in most of the notable engagements in Georgia and the South Carolina backcountry against the British, Tories and Indians. Upon the fall of Charleston in May 1780 and the occupation of all of SC by the British Army, Williams, like many other backcountry SC militia unwilling to take protection from the British, took refuge in North Carolina. There he raised troops he commanded at the Battle of Musgrove Mill (19Aug1780) and at the battle of Kings Mountain (07Oct1780), where he was mortally wounded. He died the next day and was buried on a Tory plantation as the Whigs retreated from Kings Mountain back towards Cowpens.
Not only did Williams make the ultimate sacrifice for the liberty of his Country but his two eldest sons also died in the American Revolution, being murdered after surrendering to Tory forces at Hayes Station in November 1781. James Williams' remains were later exhumed and are now buried in Gaffney South Carolina at a memorial dedicated to his honor in 1917 by the DAR.
ADDITIONAL BIO provided by: Rev Robert Mark Alves 180916 NC
James Williams was born in Hanover County, Virginia on November 10, 1740.
He lived with his brother John in Granville County, North Carolina as a teenager before moving to Ninety-Six District on the Little River in South Carolina.
He served in the Provisional Congress in South Carolina in 1775 and again in 1776 and on the local Committee on Safety. He rose to the rank of Col. before his death at Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780.
It is said that the South Carolina Governor had sent him a commission as Brigadier General in the South Carolina Militia soon before his death.
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