Marmaduke Williams | |
|---|---|
 Marmaduke Williams House | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 6, 1774 |
| Died | October 29, 1850 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | politician |
Marmaduke Williams (April 6, 1774 – October 29, 1850)[1] was aDemocratic-RepublicanU.S. Congressman fromNorth Carolina from 1803 to 1809.
Williams was born inCaswell County, North Carolina. He was a brother of Mississippi Territorial GovernorRobert Williams (1766–1836). He was first cousin of the brothers:Robert Williams (1773–1821),John Williams (Tennessee politician) (1778–1837) andLewis Williams (1786–1842).
He studied law and was admitted to the North Carolina bar. He was elected to theNorth Carolina State Senate, serving 1802, and then was elected that same year to the8th United States Congress. Williams was re-elected twice, serving in the9th and10th Congresses (March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1809). He declined to run for a fourth term and moved to theMississippi Territory in 1810, then toHuntsville, Alabama, and by 1819, toTuscaloosa, Alabama.
He was part of the people who pleaded in favor of the "zeal and patriotic spirit" of the people "west of the Allegany", at a time when US Easterners doubted the right-standing faith of Western settlers.[2]
Williams was a delegate to the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1819 and ran unsuccessfully that year for the post ofGovernor of Alabama againstWilliam Wyatt Bibb. He was the first Tuscaloosan to run for governor, and wanted to make Tuscaloosa the State's capital.[3]
He served in theAlabama House of Representatives from 1821 to 1839, was the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of TheUniversity of Alabama from 1835 to 1841[4] and was a judge of theTuscaloosa County court from 1832 to 1842.
On October 26, 1798, in Caswell County, North Carolina, Williams married Agnes Payne (1775–1850), a first cousin ofDolley Madison. They raised 9 children. He was the grandfather ofLafayette Guild (1825–1870).
He died in Tuscaloosa in 1850 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
Williams built (with slave labor) the Greek Revival three-story house (today the Foster-Murfee-Caples House) in Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Historic District. He then gave it to his daughter Agnes Payne Williams and her husband Hopson Owen.[5] His Tuscaloosa home has been completely renovated.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 9th congressional district 1803–1809 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
