My Genealogy Hound

OREN WILLIAMS, one of the old and respected residents of the beautiful college town of Amherst, was born in South Amherst, September 16, 1812, and comes of a race of independent farmers. His parents were Justice and Sally (Warner) Williams. His paternal grandfather, Justice Williams, Sr., who was one of the first settlers of South Amherst, owning and tilling a large farm there, was an industrious and thrifty man, whose labors were crowned with success. He and his wife, Sarah Pomeroy Williams, both lived to be quite old. They were church members, attending what is now the Second Congregational Church. They had a family of seven children, all of whom attained maturity.

Justice Williams, the younger, was a hard-working and successful man. At one time he owned what is now the town farm in South Amherst; and during his whole lifetime he was a large property owner, winning from the soil a comfortable livelihood. In politics he was a Whig, and was a leading man in the district, serving as Sheriff for a number of years. He died on his farm at the age of fifty-six, his wife living to be sixty-three. They had six children — five sons and a daughter — only one of whom, the subject of this sketch, is living to-day.

Oren Williams grew to manhood on the old farm. He attended the district schools of South Amherst, and studied one term at Amherst Academy, then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and up to 1882 was successfully engaged in general farming, being industrious and painstaking, shirking no task, however difficult, and a good business man. At one time he owned three hundred acres of land; but in 1882 he sold his farm, and purchased a pretty home in Amherst, where he now resides retired from active work.

On May 29, 1839, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Eliza J., daughter of Sylvanus and Sukey (Joslyn) Howe, who was born in Enfield, Mass., November 17, 1812. Sylvanus Howe also was a farmer; and his life was passed far from the noise of city traffic, in the open country, where

“Mother Nature laughs around,
Where even the deep blue heavens look glad,
And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground.”

Mr. Howe was a good citizen, he and his wife both being members of the Congregational church, and was universally regretted when he passed from earth, at the age of seventy-two. Mrs. Howe, long surviving her husband, attained the advanced age of eighty-seven. Four of their six children are now living.

Politically, Mr. Williams is a Republican. He and his wife are Congregationalists, attending the church at South Amherst. They have no children. Deservedly esteemed by all who know them, this venerable couple are ending their days in the peace and comfort which are the fitting rewards of early and long-continued useful toil. A portrait of Mr. Oren Williams is appropriately placed in this collection of Hampshire County worthies.