William A. Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Williams (1836-05-26)May 26, 1836 |
| Died | May 21, 1901(1901-05-21) (aged 64) New York City |
| Burial place | Calvary Cemetery (Queens) |
| Other names | Gullielmus Williams William Augustine Willyams/Willyms |
| Education | Pontifical Urban University |
| Occupation(s) | Barber, educator, sacristan, and librarian |
| Known for | First openly Black Catholic seminarian from the United States |
William Augustine Williams (alsoWilliam Augustine Willyams/Willyms orGullielmus Williams; May 26, 1836 – May 21, 1901) was anAfrican-American linguist, librarian,Catholicseminarian, and public figure. He was the first openly African-American Catholic seminarian—precedingAugustus Tolton—but was never ordained, having leftRome'sPontifical Urban University in 1862 after facingracist opposition to his prospective ministry in theUnited States.[1]
Born in 1836, Williams became abarber, a Catholic, and a seminarian in quick succession, moving to Rome for priesthood studies in 1855. He remained there for the better part of a decade before returning toBaltimore in 1862, where he briefly attempted a number of religious projects (including a continued aspiration for the priesthood) before turning to secular work.[1]
He would become a prolific teacher, writer, speaker, pioneer in Blacklibrarianship atEnoch Pratt Free Library and theCatholic University of America, and was at one point recommended to PresidentUlysses S. Grant as theUS ambassador to Liberia.[2]
Later in life he moved toNew York City (in 1899), where he served assacristan at the historicSt. Benedict the Moor Church. He was published in theNew York Times shortly before his death in 1901 at the age of 65. In an obituary, he was termed "the best-knownNegro in New York".[3]
Williams was born on May 26, 1836, in theDC area, though records differ on exactly where (some sources sayVirginia, whereas others sayDC itself).
Sources also differ on the nature of his upbringing, with some saying his father was aslave on theMount Vernon plantation belonging to the family ofGeorge Washington, while another says his father was the owner.[4][5][6]
Williams was raisedBaptist, but at some point became connected to theCatholic religion and the local priests—Fr. Thaddeus Anwander,CSsR, in particular—who took an interest in him for his keen schoolwork and interest in the priesthood.[1]
During this time, Williams worked as a barber and is thought to have been involved with theOblate Sisters of Providence, who were also associated with Fr. Anwander; Williams received the sacrament ofConfirmation inBaltimore at the Oblates' chapel on May 28, 1852.[7]
In 1853, on the recommendation of Fr. Anwander, Williams obtained sponsorship for the seminary from BishopsLouis Rappe ofCleveland andPeter Richard Kenrick of Baltimore, himself a slaveholder.[8]
Even as early as this point Williams faced opposition, with ArchbishopJohn Hughes of New York speaking against Williams being sent to seminary if it meant he might end up actually serving as a priest in the United States. (Hughes felt theracist dictums of the day were not worth combating in this fashion, asWhite Catholics stateside would likely take umbrage to the idea of a Black priest.)[1]
Nevertheless, theVatican'sPropaganda office accepted Williams for studies—U.S. seminaries did not admit Blacks at this time—and Williams arrived inRome in 1855 (having been refused lodging at the Redemptorist seminary inParis along the way). He spent eight years in Rome at theUrban College, and two inFrance,England, andIreland. He became known during this time as "the pope's little Black".[4] His classmates included the future archbishopMichael Corrigan and Fr.Edward McGlynn.[6]
While overseas, Williams was repeatedly coached by his stateside sponsors to not give any indication that he wished to be a priest in the U.S.; instead, they instructed, he was to volunteer suggestions such asHaiti (the bishops themselves were directly recommending similar options to the Propaganda, one beingLiberia).[1]
By August 1862, shortly after the outbreak of theCivil War, Williams had submitted a letter of resignation to the Propaganda, saying that he had decided "after mature deliberation and on the advice of his teachers" that he had no calling to thepriesthood and would return home.[1] His obituary would cite the war itself as the reason for his decision to drop out, implying that the prevailing tensions would have hindered his ability to minister in theSouth.[4]
Upon his return to Baltimore, Williams requested citizenship in thePapal States and informed the Propaganda that he still intended to someday become a priest. This idea had faded by 1867, the beginning ofReconstruction.[1]
While there, Williams took on a number of businesses and ministries, including two Black schools and a freedmen's newspaper calledClear Communicator, one of the first of its kind. After giving up on the priesthood, he attempted unsuccessfully in 1868 to start areligious order for Black males.[1] During this time, he was associated with historicSt. Francis Xavier Church in Baltimore.
While teaching, Williams began receiving a number of accolades, and was in 1876 recommended to PresidentUlysses S. Grant by Bishop Alexander Walker Wayman (of theAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church) to—ironically enough—serve asU.S. ambassador to Liberia.[2]
Williams also received an award from a literary association in January 1878 (at an event attended by SenatorAmbrose Burnside) for an essay he wrote, "The Future of the Negro in America", that included a proposal for a monument toBenjamin Banneker.[9]
Having gained a unique amount of education for African Americans in his era, Williams also took on a number of other jobs, including as a foreign language tutor (being fluent inLatin,Italian, andFrench). He taught French toDavid Dickson, a janitor-turned-lawyer associated with theEnoch Pratt Free Library—where Williams would later become the second Black employee (as a librarian) in the early- to mid-1880s.[10][11]
Williams would later becomesacristan and librarian at theCatholic University of America, where he also was once referred to inThe New York Age as a professor.[1][12]
In 1886, Venerable Fr.Augustus Tolton had been ordained in Rome, becoming the first openly African-American Catholic priest in history; his first Mass in the US was celebrated that July atSt. Benedict the Moor Church inNew York City. Having a devotion toSt Benedict, Williams would visit the church, conversing with the sacristan in Italian.[5]
Williams moved from DC toManhattan in 1899, joining the parish and becoming sacristan himself.[1] There he would reunite geographically with his former classmate Archbishop Corrigan, who had headed the New York archdiocese since 1885.
Williams was a prolific writer by this time, and had an essay entitled "The Polite West Indian Negro" published inThe New York Times in the year of his arrival to the city.[13] He also began a translation of the biography ofSt. Benedict into English from Italian.[6]
Williams died on May 21, 1901, five days shy of his 66th birthday. His funeral was held at St Benedict the Moor and he was buried on June 2 in Section 4, Range 14, Plot W, Grave 12, atCalvary Cemetery inQueens.[4][6]
Williams is not known to have ever married, and the only family listed at the time of his death was a sister in Cleveland.[6]
