Isn’t serendipity wonderful when it happens? In my early years of untangling the many branches of the Williams family tree, I had worked my way forward to the area of Hempstead and Lafayette Counties, Arkansas, which is where William Alexander Williams, wife Hepsabeth L. Davidson and their six children settled after they left eastern Tennessee in the early 1840’s.

Many of the males and females with the same given names in various branches had been identified and sorted into parental families and I had traced these cousins back to Roger, Thomas and Matthias Williams in Cumberland County, Virginia long before the Revolutionary War.

My next goal was to track the family into the future at least to the close of the Civil War.

The 1850 census helped me with names and approximate birth years for William’s and Hepsabeth’s, but not exact dates. I decided to write to the Hempstead County Genealogical Society in the hopes that they might have something on my husband’s Williams family and what became of them after 1850.

About the same time I wrote to them, as luck would have it, distant cousin Marcy also wrote to them. She was hoping to find a cousin who could help trace the family back from 1850 to their earlier homes and origins. All she had was the FAMILY BIBLE!!!!

The genealogical society put us in touch with each other.

Thanks to cousin Marcy and the Bible, here are the children of William and Hepsy Williams:

1. Judith Woodward, born 15 October 1829, probably Marion County, TN; died 18 June 1912, Hempstead County, Arkansas. She married Benjamin Powell, 31 December 1844, Lafayette County, Arkansas.
2. James Henry, born 11 December 1830, probably Marion County, TN: died 16 January 1880, Hempstead County, Arkansas. He married Parthenia S. Williams, 20 March 1853, Lafayette County, Arkansas. I have never been able to determine whether Parthenia was a cousin to this family or not.
3. William Washington, born 21 April 1835, probably Marion County, TN; died 7 February 1865, Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas during the Civil War. He married Susan F.C. Hart, 24 December 1860, Hempstead County, Arkansas. No known children.
4. Christopher C.F., born 27 February 1839, probably Marion County, TN; died 5 October 1842, probably Lafayette County, Arkansas. Twin to Sally Anderson Williams.
5. Sally Anderson, born 27 February 1839, probably Marion County, TN; died 20 November 1867, Hempstead County, Arkansas. She married Elijah P. Jones, 22 March 1856, Lafayette County, Arkansas. Twin to Christopher C.F. Williams.
6. Martha Jane, born 14 December 1840, probably Marion County, TN; died 22 June 1918, Lafayette County, Arkansas. She married (1) Jackson T. Lackey, 31 August 1858, Lafayette County, Arkansas (2) John Forrest, 17 March 1861, Bradley County, Arkansas.
7. John Alexander, born 10 January 1844, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died 1 March 1847, Lafayette County, Arkansas.
8. Mary Elizabeth, born 23 February 1847, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died 23 July 1932, Patmos, Hempstead, Arkansas. She married Robert Cosby McLellan. No marriage record has been found and they apparently had no children.
9. John Christopher, born 25 August 1848, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died 14 March 1926, Dike, Hopkins, Texas. He married (1) Louisa Miller, 13 September 1871, Nevada County, Arkansas and (2) Ellen Connor, about 1883 in Hopkins County, Texas.
10. Harriet Virginia, born 9 October 1850, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died 24 December 1938, Hempstead County, Arkansas. She married David Henderson (Hint) Jones, about 1869.
11. Thomas Jefferson, born 7 February 1852, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died 10 July 1918, probably in Hempstead County, Arkansas. He married Martha Ellen Jones, 17 December 1876, Hempstead County, Arkansas.
12. Hepsabeth L., born 10 November 1853, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died 14 November 1853, Lafayette County, Arkansas.
13. Francis Davidson, born 13 April 1855, Lafayette County, Arkansas; died after 1880, possibly in Nevada County, Arkansas. He married M.E. Ham, 16 December 1877, Lafayette County, Arkansas.

It has been a number of years since I’ve made contact with any new Williams cousins in this branch of the family, but I know there are many descendants out there. If you recognize any of William’s and Hepsabeth’s children, please leave a comment.