Biography - JOHN CLAY WILLIAMS
Prominent among the foremost citizens of Pocahontas is John Clay
Williams, who is actively identified with the financial prosperity of Bond
county as a banker, and as a man of enterprise, ability and integrity is
closely associated with the advancement of the material interests of town
and county. A son of William Davis Williams, he was born August 8, 1859, in
Saint Jacob, Madison county, Illinois, of brave pioneer stock.
His grandfather, Aaron Williams, a native of Maryland, was a youth of a
daring and venturous spirit, who in his search for fortune made two trips on
horseback to Illinois while it was yet wearing territorial garb, one in 1815
and one in 1816. In 1818, just as Illinois was admitted to statehood, he
came from Baltimore to Fayette county, Illinois, locating in Vera, where he
took up a tract of wild land, from which he improved a farm. He married
Sarah Barton, of Saint Clair county, Illinois, and was thereafter engaged in
tilling the soil until his death.
Born on the parental homestead in Fayette county, William Davis Williams
received a practical training in agriculture while young, remaining beneath
the parental roof -tree until after attaining his majority. In 1849 he
joined a band of gold seekers and made an overland journey to California,
where he followed mining for six years. Returning to Illinois in 1855, he
settled in Saint Jacob, Madison county, where he was engaged in general
farming until 1891. Coming then to Pocahontas, Illinois, he lived retired
until his death, in 1899, making his home with his son. Soon after his
return from the Golden state he married Ellen Virginia Hayes, of Saint
Jacob, who died nearly a quarter of a century before he did, passing away in
1875. He belonged to the Baptist church, and was an active member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, with which he united in 1855, at
the time of his death being one of the oldest and most highly esteemed
members of the lodge. He took great interest in local affairs, and held
various offices of trust, having served as school director, while for many
years he was township supervisor.
The oldest son and second child of his parents, John Clay Williams lived on
the home farm in Madison county until twenty years of age, when he went to
New Mexico on an exploring expedition. Finding nothing to specially interest
him in that unsettled country, he returned to Saint Jacob, where he was
engaged in general mercantile pursuits until 1883, being junior member of
the firm of Karges & Williams. Sell: ing out his interest in the firm in
that year, Mr. Williams became traveling salesman for a wholesale house,
with which he was connected in that capacity for five years. In the
meantime, however, in 1884, he had bought back his interest in the firm of
which he had formerly been a member, and, in company with Mr. Louis Ryan,
continued the business under the firm name of Ryan & Williams. Giving up
traveling in 1889, Mr. Williams was actively engaged in business as a
merchant at Pocahontas, Bond county, until 1905, being quite successful in
his operations. In that year, in company with Mr. P. M. Johnson, of Saint
Elmo, Illinois, he established the Bond County Bank, a private institution,
and has since carried on a substantial business. In 1899 Mr. Williams was
appointed postmaster at Pocahontas, and has held the position since.
Mr. Williams married, in 1893, Naomi Olive Lindley, of Pocahontas, a woman
of culture and refinement, eminently fitted for the duties of wife and
mother. She passed to the life beyond in November, 1908, leaving five
children, namely: John L., Benjamin Oliver, Marie, Ellen Virginia and Joseph
Aaron. Politically Mr. Williams ever supports the principles of the
Republican party, and religiously, there being no church of his own faith,
the Baptist, in Pocahontas he attends the Methodist Church, and is serving
as one of its trustees. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Order of Masons; and the Order of the Eastern Star; of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of the Modern Woodmen of America; and of
the Knights of the Maccabees.
Extracted 10 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, volume 3, pages 1556-1557.
