Frequently Asked Questions
How do you have all of these documents?
I think the best explanation is that my ancestors collected and saved them, and passed them down in the family.
William Williams (1787-1850) was a printer in Utica, NY and the family inherited a love of books from him.
Robert Stanton Williams (1828-1899), his youngest son, stayed in Utica while two of his brothers went to China and Turkey as missionaries. Robert Stanton Williams assembled one of the most valuable collections of copper-printed books in the United States.
His wife, Abigail Obear Doolittle Williams, was the daughter of Charles Ranney Doolittle and Abigail Pickard Obear Camp. This is how we inherited all of the Doolittle and Obear items.
George Huntington Williams (1856-1894), Robert’s son, was very interested in genealogy and wrote a Williams Family Genealogy when he was a young man. Through his wife, Mary Wood Williams, we inherited the Daniel Phelps Wood (1819-1891), Loomis, Bagg, and Smith items.
Huntington Williams MD (1892-1992), the younger son of George Huntington Williams, inherited most of the Williams family items from his mother, Mary Wood Williams.
His wife, Mary Camilla McKim Williams, was the only daughter of Lydia Hollingsworth Morris and Hollins McKim. Through Lydia, Mary Camilla McKim Williams inherited the Hollingsworth, Cornish, Morris, Johnson and McKim items. They became part of the Huntington Williams MD library when Mary Camilla died in 1960.
My father, Huntington Williams III, was named the family archivist by Huntington Williams MD during the writing of Huntington Williams MD, a family memoir published in the 1980s. My father inherited all of these items when he and my mom, Debra Williams, purchased the family home and library in 1994.
When the pandemic began in March of 2020, I moved back to Baltimore with my parents and started working remotely. In my free time, I unpacked the boxes of archives that have been in my parents storage for over 30 years.
This website is a “living document” as I continue to add family information and documents.
How did you organize the material?
I started by unloading the boxes from our storage and organizing them by individual, surname, and generation.
I made a lot of trips to Staples and bought acid-free plastic and archival folders to hold and group the documents. I used archival boards and acid-free plastic corners to organize the photos that were not already in photo albums.
Why do you like history?
When you have a personal connection to historical figures, it makes researching and diving into the material very fun. Even after two years of living with the documents, I learn something new every time I work on the family archives, which I love. I enjoy the process of discovery.
What do you plan on doing with the documents in the future?
To be determined.
What was the most surprising information that you discovered?
First of all, I had no idea how much material we had. I also came across prominent individuals and families that I had no idea I had a connection to or that they ever existed.
It is really fun to go through and organize hundreds of black and white photos, find Brooks Brothers receipts from the 1800s, and oddly enough, see how people filed their taxes. I came across a large number of love letters from the 1800s written in beautiful cursive script. I have not even begun to dive into this material yet.
What is your goal with uploading the material?
This website is mainly intended for family and friends and anyone who is interested in history.
If you are interested in Medicine, you will find the Huntington Williams MD (1892-1992) documents and notes fascinating.
If you are curious or interested in Geology, then you will want to check out George Huntington Williams (1856-1894).
If you are specifically curious about Women in Education, Law, or Science, then you will want to check out Florence Bascom (1862-1945), who was the first female Geologist in the United States, or Louise Weibel, my maternal great-grandmother, who was in the first class of women graduates in Law at McGill University in Montreal. You will also want to look into Mary Clifton Wood Williams (1859-1954) who was a co-founder of Calvert School and picked the first Headmaster, Virgil Hillyer.
If you are interested in politics, then you will enjoy reading about Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) and Daniel Phelps Wood (1819–1891).
If you are interested in Journalism, I highly recommend you look into Talcott Williams (1849 –1928) who was the first director of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
If you are curious about printing and publishing in the early 1800s, you should read about William Williams, the partner of Asahel Seward in Utica, NY (1787-1850).
If you are curious about Clipper Ships, then look into Isaac McKim (1775-1838) and the Ann McKim, the first clipper ship.
If you find the Boston Tea Party fascinating, you will enjoying reading about Thomas Williams (1754-1812), the father of William Williams, who dressed up as a Mohawk as a member of the Sons of Liberty and threw tea over overboard in Boston Harbor.
If you are curious about the Great Puritan Migration, Robert Williams (1608-1693) arrived in 1637, was one of the founders of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and was the first member of the Williams Family in North America.