My Genealogy Hound

Col. McH. Williams, a prominent planter and one of the men who have done much toward advancing the interests of Jefferson County, was born in Nashville, Tenn., on August 28, 1831, and is a son of Wiloughby and Nancy D. (Nichols) Williams, natives of Davidson County, Tenn. In early days the father was a merchant, and as an example of the primitive state of affairs at that period, he was the only business man who could boast of an entire hogshead of sugar in that section, his trade allowing him to keep a larger stock than his competitors. He was noted as an influential politician during his life, but would never accept any public office except that of sheriff, which position he filled for several years. During the earlier years of his life he was a colonel of State militia, and at one time president of the State Bank. In 1846 he purchased large land interests in the State of Arkansas and commenced farming on an extensive scale, and was also a large slave owner before the war. On that occasion he removed with all his slaves to Texas, and after the war was over he brought them back, giving them the liberty of his plantation and acting in a noble manner. When he first started in life his financial condition was somewhat at a low ebb, but his wonderful ability and business tact placed him among the foremost men of the day. Before the war he went on the security of other people to the extent of $125,000, and as is usual in such cases, was never repaid, but in a magnanimous spirit he turned aside the question of their ungratefulness and never once protested against such contemptible conduct. He was a son of Wiloughby Williams, a native of Virginia, who was a commissioned officer in the American army during the Revolution. This famous general, Andrew Jackson, and the junior Wiloughby were warm personal friends and Jackson was his ideal of a man, and it was to him that Mr. Williams owed a great deal of his success. Col. McH. Williams’ father died in 1882 at the age of eighty-six years, and the mother’s death occurred July 4, 1844, at the age of thirty-six years. The Williams family originally came from England and settled in Virginia a number of years before the Revolution, while the Nichols family were natives of Tennessee. Capt. John Nichols, the father of young Williams’ mother, was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and later in life a prosperous farmer in his native State and a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church. Col. Williams’ father was an aid to Gen. Dowdson during the Civil War, and was with Gen. Lee at Cheat Mountain during the same period. After the war he turned over his agricultural interests to his son Mack, who has conducted them in an enterprising manner ever since. The father died in Louisville, Ky., and the mother in Nashville, Tenn., and of eight children born to them, two are also dead. Those living are John H. (a farmer near Nashville, Tenn.), Mary J. (widow of R. C. McNary, who was during his life a wealthy merchant of Nashville), Mack H. (principal in this sketch), Wiloughby (a prominent attorney and planter in Jefferson County, residing at Pine Bluff), Mrs. Ellen W. Lewis, (wife of Marion W. Lewis, a well-known financier of Louisville, Ky.), Nannie W. (wife of Col. C. A. Nichols, of Pine Bluff). Those deceased are Dr. R. N. Williams (who was during his life an eminent physician), and Andrew J. (a commissioned officer under Gen. Forrest, and killed in battle near Franklin, Tenn.) Mack H. Williams was educated at the University of Tennessee, and after graduating in 1847 immediately turned his attention to planting. Being endowed like his father with fine business tact, quick perception and shrewdness, he also accumulated considerable wealth, and is now one of the most prosperous as well as highly respected citizens of Jefferson County. In June, 1850, he was married to Miss Jane Bogy, a daughter of Mr. Enos Bogy, a brilliant politician and representative of his county in the legislature. This lady died a year after her marriage, leaving one son, John B., now a well-known planter of Jefferson County. In 1852 Capt. Williams was married to Miss Sarah J. Young, a daughter of Col. R. H. Young, of Trimble County, Ky., but this wife died in 1866, again leaving him a widower. Four children were born to the second marriage, of whom three are now living: Alice J. (wife of Virginius Murdaugh, a prominent merchant of Bankhead, Ark.), Richard Y. and Robert H. (both well-known planters of Jefferson County). The one dead is Nancy M., who was the wife of Lanier Tanner, residing near New Orleans, La. This daughter was born in 1855 and died in 1881. In June, 1886, Capt. Williams was married to Mrs. Samuella K. Young, formerly of Pulaski, Tenn., who has been a devoted wife. The Colonel is prominent in Masonic circles and a member of the Knights of Honor. In politics he is a Democrat, but is honest and liberal in his political views. Before the war he owned over 100 slaves, all of whom he lost after that event. The Colonel was a heavy loser by that struggle, but his unbounded energy and grit soon placed him on his former level, and he is today one of Jefferson County’s most prosperous men as well as enjoying a flattering popularity with its citizens. He now owns about 7,000 acres of fertile land and has placed 2,400 acres under cultivation, his plantations being among the largest and most productive in the State as also the most beautiful. Col. Williams has few equals as far as enterprise is concerned, and was one of the projectors of the railroad from Pine Bluff to Swan Lake and Bankhead.