Isaac Burson Williams - 1794 - 1869

Isaac was my 3rd great grandfather, and the first to leave the East Coast and head West.

ISAAC BURSON WILLIAMS (23 Apr 1794 - 1869)

Isaac Burson Williams was the 7th child of Jeremiah and Mercy Williams. Isaac was born in Tinicum Township, Bucks County, PA. He married Martha Shelton White (11 Nov 1788 – 12 Sept 1856) on 25 Jul 1818. Isaac’s granddaughter, Ella Jane Williams Green, writes this about Isaac in her book about her life;

“My grandfather, Isaac B. Williams, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in a stone house on the Delaware River. (I had the pleasure of visiting this house one hundred and ten years later.) He was a Quaker, though a very liberal one, and he refused to be married in Quaker meeting because he would not have the banns published two months in advance, and have them debated about, considered, and approved or otherwise, as the case might be. As he refused to apologize, as Grandmother did, he was dropped from the membership. Grandfather always used the Quaker language and it seemed perfectly natural for us children to say “thee” and “thou” in addressing him.”

Isaac was a farmer, just like his father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He and Martha originally lived in Richland Township in Bucks County, PA. While living in Pennsylvania, they had at four sons and one daughter who died in infancy:

Clayton (), Richland, Bucks, PA
Jeremiah (17 March 1824), Richland, Bucks, PA
Joseph (1828), Richland, Bucks, PA
Charles (1831), Richland, Bucks, PA

Sometime prior to 1840, Isaac and family moved to Jefferson Township, Coshocton County, Ohio. Isaac moved West with his brothers Jeremiah and Benjamin, as well as his sisters Susan and Margaret, who was married to Abel Lester. Isaac farmed in the area until just before 1853, when he and his family moved to Jackson Township, Jay County, Indiana. This is where his wife, Martha, died on 12 Sept 1856. Martha is buried in the Westchester Cemetery just north of Portland, IN.

All four of Isaac’s sons lived in Jay County, IN. His middle son Joseph, married Mary E. Boyd while living in Coshocton County, OH. Joseph had two children with his first wife; Oliver Goldsmith (1850) and Ella Jane (1853). After the death of his first wife, Joseph married the widow Nancy J. Stephens in Jay County, IN.

Isaac’s youngest son, Charles, married Amanda E. Samuels in Jay County, IN. They had 4 sons; William Thadeus (1856), Jesse Elsworth (1861), John Edgar (1871), and Charles B (1881).

Isaac’s oldest son, Jeremiah, married Rebecca L. Lindsay, daughter of Dr. William R. Lindsay of Preble County, OH. Jeremiah is the subject of the next generation and will be discussed further in the next section.

Isaac lived on the Bear Creek in Jay County, along with his son Charles. Isaac owned other land on the “Loblolly”, an area of quicksand and sinking holes of the Limberlost forest. This land he rented to his son Jeremiah.

Ella Green describes Isaac as “a portly man, well over six feet tall, and weighed around two hundred and twenty-five pounds. He was always smooth shaven and had a jovial expression. He used to take me on his knee and tell me stories or sing songs.”

In 1863, Isaac moved to Caldwell County, MO, along with Charles and his family. His son Jeremiah had moved there with his family prior to 1860. Together they lived in the Kingston area, in both Kingston and Grant townships.

Isaac died 27 Mar 1869 in Kingston, Caldwell County, Missouri. He is buried in the Kingston Cemetery.