William Williams (October 12, 1787 – June 10, 1850) was an American printer, publisher and bookseller, originally from Massachusetts. He moved to New Hartford, New York, with his family and soon established himself in the printing and newspaper business in nearby Utica, New York during the early nineteenth century. Williams printed the first directory for Utica and published several Utica newspapers and almanacs. Through his various newspapers he published editorials in support of prominent politicians, canal and railroad proposals, and advocated for the colonization of free Blacks. During the War of 1812, he volunteered for military service, organized a company of militia of young men from Utica, and was present during the Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor, where he advanced to the rank of colonel. When a cholera epidemic broke out in Utica in 1832, Williams volunteered in setting up temporary hospitals and aiding the sick and himself became infected. He was an elder and a devoted member of Utica's First Presbyterian Church, and was strongly opposed to Freemasonry, to which he published a controversial newspaper, The Elucidator. Always civic minded, Williams spent the better part of his adult life involved in several areas of public service. In his latter business years he suffered financial difficulties, forcing him to sell off his bookstore and many of his effects. After receiving a serious head injury in a stagecoach accident he endured the last years of his life with a measure of mental impairment.
Early life and family Williams was born on October 12, 1787, in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was the son of Deacon Thomas Williams of Roxbury, Massachusetts, who was a member of the Minutemen during the American Revolutionary War.Stern, 1950, p. 267 Growing up in a devoted religious family, Williams's strong religious proclivities were developed during his youth. He joined the First Presbyterian Church in Utica, in July 1808, which was at the time operating in conjunction with the New Hartford Church.Williams, J.C., 1906, p. 27 He came with his father's family to New Hartford, New York and then to neighboring Utica in 1803, along with Asahel Seward, from whom he had learned the printing trade.Stern, 1951, p. 2Bagg, 1877, p. 164
Williams was a fifth generation descendant of Robert Williams, who was born in Norwich, England and emigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1637. The Williams family continued to live there until 1782 when they moved to Framingham. In 1790, they moved to New Hartford,Malone, Vol. X, 1931, p. 294 a village established by Jedediah Sanger, a Revolutionary War veteran.Wager, 1896, p. 64
Williams married Sophia Wells, daughter of Samuel Wells, in 1811, in New Hartford. Their marriage brought fourteen children, several of whom died very young. Sophia died November 12, 1831.Bagg, 1877, p. 167 Williams's son, Robert Stanton Williams, was born September 10, 1828, was the youngest surviving child of Sophia.Bagg, 1892, p. 78 His second son, Samuel Wells Williams, named after Williams's father-in-law, was born September 22, 1812, who became a writer doing missionary work in China.Wilson & Fiske, 1899, p. 534 After the death of Sophia, Williams married again in 1833 to Catherine Huntington, the daughter of Hon. Henry Huntington of Rome, New York, a state legislator and the president of the Bank for Savings of the Village of Utica, the present day Bank of Utica.Documents, Assembly, N.Y., 1835, p. 65Williams, J. C, 1906, pp. 100, 148, 159 Williams had fourteen children by his first wife, and two by his second. He lost several children when they were in their infancy or adolescent years; Fredrick in 1814, Laura, in 1820, Julian and Harriet, in 1824, Alfred and Thomas in 1831.Williams, J.C., 1906, p. 106, 170
Printer and publisher
Williams learned the printing trade as an apprentice in the printing shop of William McLean and Ashel Seward from 1800 to July 1807. In 1807 he joined in a partnership with Seward and formed the firm of Seward & Williams. Their firm was next to The Utica Morning Herald. William was said to be a man of great ambition and industry and went on to learn paper-making and woodcut engravings which he used in the various works he printed. Soon he was taken into and managed the Seward bookstore, at which time he printed the first directory for Utica, published in 1817. This was the first work where Williams's name appears in the title page. During his printing career Williams "trained a multitude of lads" as apprentices, often acting in a fatherly capacity,Hamilton, 1936, pp. 36-37, 74 which included notable figures like Thurlow Weed who went on to become a New York newspaper publisher and politician, and Henry Ivison, an apprentice who lived with the Williams family for eight years, and who went on to become the founder of the prominent New York publishing house of Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Company.Williams, J.C., 1906, p. 57
Williams became a partner with Seward about 1808 and operated a bookstore at 60 Genesee Street,American Antiquarian Society, Essay next to the village coffee house.Durant, 1878, p. 279Stern, 1951, pp. 2-3 Williams and Seward printed and published the speeches of Alexander B. Johnson, and John Sherman's description of Trenton Falls, in upstate New York. He also printed a speech by William H. Maynard on the bill for the proposed Chenango Canal, and Beach's Considerations for the canal, to which he appended his own tourist map of the State of New York as well as his Stage Canal and Steamboat Register.Stern, 1951, p. 8
On July 10, 1793, the first newspaper to appear west of Albany, New York, was a weekly publication called the Whitestown Gazette, which was founded in New Hartford.Brigham, 1941, pp. 127, 131 It was first established by Jedediah Sanger, Elijah Risley and Samuel Wells, and printed by Richard Vanderberg. It was later discontinued, but was re-established in May 1796, now with Samuel Wells as the proprietor, and William McLean doing the printing.Wager, 1896, p. 137 After four years McLean moved the newspaper to Utica, changing its name to the Whitestown Gazette and Cato's Patrol. It became the first newspaper to appear in Utica. Mr. McLean, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, sold the Gazette to two of his apprentices, Williams and Seward, and returned to New Hartford.Bagg, 1892, pp. 51-52 Williams and Seward, changed the name of Whitestown Gazette to The Utica Patriot, which later became The Patriot and Patrol up until 1824.Durant, 1878, p. 302 Fours later it was renamed The Utica Sentinel with Williams being the sole owner.Galpin, 1941, Vol. II, p. 325
On August 11, 1814, Williams and Seward established a weekly newspaper, called The Utica Club, which was commonly called The Club. Edited by Henry Goodfellow, Esq. & Company, it ran from 1814 to 1815. Through their newspaper they advertised for "The Philadelphia Edition of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia" ..."just received by A. Seward at his book-store, and subscriptions are to be paid and called for by subscribers."Williams, J.C., 1906, p. 60Brigham, 1941, p. 121 By 1818 Williams and Seward still continued to employ their newspaper in the advertising of the various works they had published.Stern, 1951, p. 20 Their business continued until 1824, when their partnership dissolved with the withdrawal of Seward, but the business in all its aspects continued for several years longer under Williams. Williams also published his Williams's Calendar, and Andrew Beer's Utica Almanac.
From early on religious publications comprised a large portion of the newspapers and journals circulating in central New York. These included, The Christian Monitor and Sunday Morning Repast, issued in Waterville. Among such works was Williams's Utica Christian Repository, a religious journal which he began printing in 1822Galpin, 1941, Vol. II, p. 327 at his shop at 60 Genesee Street, in Utica. It featured "Doctrinal and practical subjects on religion" along with "Religious intelligence."Williams, 1825, Vol. IX, title page, etc It received contributions from various ministers of the Presbyterian Church, including Eev. William R Weeks, who later became the editor.Bagg, 1877, pp. 597-598 The Christian Repository ran for a period of seven years.Cookingham, 1912, p. 282Williams, J.C., 1906, pp. 100, 102, 115 In 1822 Williams also printed the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.Williams, J.C., 1906, p. 101
After Williams's partner Seward withdrew, he was not again actively engaged in business, instead preferring to live a quiet life. Though Williams was strongly opposed to the precepts of the Freemasonry, Seward was, however, considered the very back bone of the Masonic Lodge, and presented its members with a Bible they used for many years following.Bagg, 1877, p. 163 Williams published a weekly newspaper called The Elucidator, founded by its editor B. B. Hotchkin in 1829, which largely featured anti-Masonic essays, but it proved to be a financial failure, and only remained in publication until February 18, 1834.Williams, J.C., 1906, pp. 135, 149Child, 1869, p. 67 In 1829, he also published a work entitled Light on Masonry, which further subjected him to the ill-will of the Masonic community. Williams was subsequently publicly accused by his opponents in The Oneida Observer, February 23, 1830 issue, of "reaping a rich reward from the printing and selling of Anti-masonic books."Stern, 1951, p. 21
Williams also printed, in 1832, an edition of the New Testament; Walter King's Questions on the Gospel Harmony; Proceedings of thee Synod of Dort. Williams wanted to do more with his career than just being a bookseller, printer, and newspaper proprietor, and subsequently learned the art of engraving. In this capacity, he performed work for the firm of Balch and Stiles, who printed maps of New York and banknotes for the city and Bank of Utica and some western banks.Bagg, 1877, p. 165 Williams also established a newspaper called The Farmers' Calendar that featured advice for farming in New York for each year of the month. He had announced that the word NEWS was derived from the four cardinal points of the compass marked with the letters N, E, W, and S.Stern, 1951, p. 15
War of 1812 In 1813, during the War of 1812, a second attack was expected at Sacketts Harbor. When volunteers were summoned, Williams was the first and most active man in Utica to muster and organize a company, of which he was appointed captain.Bagg, 1877, pp. 165 At the time, the young Thurlow Weed was working for Williams in his office, where Williams consented to his leaving Utica to join the company.Weed, 1883, p. 26 Williams' company was attached to the 134th Regiment, under the command of Sir William Pepperill. Other men from this regiment included Nathan Seward, of New Hartford, and Thurlow Weed from Utica.Wager, 1896, p. 293 Prior to the war, Weed worked in the office of Williams, was a resident at his home for a short time, and would later speak of Williams fondly in his autobiography.Bagg, 1892, p. 113 A companion of Williams and a member of the company gave witness:
"So prompt were his movements, that in thirty hours after the requisition was received, we were on our way in sleighs for the Harbor. And here, as in a subsequent campaign when he was on the lines in the staff of General Collins, Colonel Williams was as highly valued as a soldier, as he was through life esteemed as a citizen."
During the campaign, Williams was promoted to brigade major and subsequently advanced to the rank of colonel on the staff of General Oliver Collins. Williams's company advanced to the front lines in a sleigh and was stationed there most of the time until July 1814.Stern, 1951, p. 3 Williams served elsewhere during the war, and remained in service after it ended as colonel of the militia regiment in Utica.
Public service