Roxbury's Williams Family

Amos, George, Cumberland and Nathaniel Williams were born in Roxbury, Massachusetts one of the original towns, along with Boston, that was established in 1630 by the Massachusetts Bay colony.  

This colony intruded upon the Neponset Band of the Indigenous Massachusett people and Chickataubut, their Sac’hem. An agreement between the Massachusett and the colonists allowed then to live on the land but it was never sold to them. In 1633, Chickataubut died. 

As more English colonists arrived, they fought to take the Massachusetts land leaving the Neponset by 1650  to abandon their fertile lands and easy access to the sea for smaller and less productive inland freshwater areas. Today, a fragment of what was remains.

Please see the The Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag Tribal website for more information (https://massachusetttribe.org/). 

Roxbury was a farming community much larger than Boston in area but not in population.  Once a thriving community, it was annexed by Boston in 1868 and today it is one of the central neighborhoods of Boston.

The first Williams to arrive in Roxbury, Massachusetts was Robert Williams in 1638.  He was a founder of the town and “was one of the most influential men in town affairs.” (Charles M. Ellis, History of Roxbury 1847, p. 135). The descendants of Robert’s second oldest son, Isaac, founded Williams College (p. 29 and 155). His third oldest son, Stephen, bore the line of Williams that settled in Baltimore, including Nathaniel Williams (often confused with his Baltimore cousin, Nathaniel F. Williams, and are the subject of this story (p. 29 and 287).

Stephen’s grandson, Joseph Williams (1708-1798) who was a Colonel in the Mohawk battles of the French and Indian War in 1755 and elder statesman of Roxbury during the revolution, had 15 children, his 4th being Joseph Williams (1738-1822) who was Sergeant in the 2nd Company from Roxbury during the Battle of Lexington during the revolution as well as a member of the “Committee of Correspondence and Safety” which organized resistance to the British.

Joseph’s first wife, Susannah May, had 11 children, eight of whom made their way to Baltimore following their uncle Cumberland Dugan.  Susannah’s step-sister was Abigail May, the first wife of Cumberland Dugan who became a wealthy Baltimore merchant after his years supporting the revolutionary war and early shipping in Baltimore.

Coat of Arms

The shield is a Argent, a lion rampant sable (A black lion on a silver/white field). 

The crest is a cock, a symbol of valor, vigilance, and readiness to act. It is one of the few birds that will fight until death.

COGNOSCE OCCASIONEM

"Recognize Opportunity"

Y FYNO DWY Y FYDD

The archaic formal Welsh translates this as "What God Willeth, Will Be"  and in modern Welsh is "I will be there".

(from the Geneaology and History of the Williams Family by Stephen W. Williams (1847)