Williams Family Photos
The following short biography was written by my Great Granduncle, Harry S Williams, in a letter to my Grandmother, his niece, Naomi Francis, dated 28 December 1961.
Father, or his (Dave Francis) great grandfather was a student at Alleghany College in Meadville Pa. when the civil war broke out and the students started enlisting in the northern army. There is a brass nameplate on a stone on the campus at Alleghany that shows that father was the second man to enlist in the company formed by the students. I have a story written by Father telling all his experiences in the army from enlistment to the time he was wounded and had to be discharged. He was trained and started service near Washington, D.C. but his first real fighting took place in Virginia at the place called Gains Mills. Here a Rebel bullet pierced his right elbow and made it impossible for him to continue. He worked his way to th rear and wound up in a hospital in Baltimore, Md. His father who by this time had joined the army as chaplain, found him in the hospital and saw to it that he had better care. From the hospital Father was sent to Washington where he was given his discharge and sent home. Meantime, Father's brother, Uncle Albert had joined the army and served out his time there.
Octavius L. Williams passed away suddenly at the Hannah M. Rutledge Home for the Aged, on Sunday morning at 1:30 o'clock, from a stroke of apoplexy. He was apparently in good health on Christmas Day and recieved abd entertained friends in his room until late in the evening. His demise was therefore a shock to all. Mr. and Mrs. Williams came to the Rutledge Home, June 1, 1914. The have made numerous friends in this city and were members of the local M. E. Church. Mr. Williams was born at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, May 15, 1841. Before coming to this city he made his home with a son at Madison, Wis., previous to which time he resided at Buffalo, N. Y. He served in the Civil War in the 10th Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps and received wounds during the first year from which he never fully recovered. Deceased is survived by his wife and four sons. Two sons, Albert L., of Madison, and Harry S., of Detroit, Mich., came to attend the funeral. Services were held at 6:30 p. m. yesterday from the Home, and the body was shipped to Meadville, Pennsylvania for interment. - The Daily Independant, 26 Dec 1915