One of my husband’s family lines is the Williams family who were settled in Cumberland County, Virginia well before the Revolutionary War. His direct line is actually through Matthias Williams Jr., a Revolutionary War pensioner who eventually migrated to Morgan County, Tennessee. His father was Matthias Williams Sr., who died in Cumberland County before 23 October 1780, when his will was probated. Matthias Sr. had a brother, Thomas, and Thomas had a son, Samuel, born on 18 September 1744.

I spent over twenty years piecing together various branches of this Williams clan, all before the advent of the internet. One of my favorite Virginia websites is the Library of Virginia’s Virginia Memory. One of the ongoing projects is the digitization of Virginia’s chancery court records. The Williams family poured over from Cumberland County into several neighboring counties, one of which was Prince Edward County.

Recently, I decided to search the chancery records for Prince Edward County for Williams matches. Much to my surprise an 1802 court case involving Cumberland County men came up. The defendant had moved to Prince Edward County so the proceedings were held there. Among the many pages of this case was a deposition given by Samuel Williams as to the competency of Samuel Scott to manage his own affairs and estate. The image includes what appears to be Samuel’s signature, as the handwriting is clearly different from that of the person recording his deposition.

Samuel Williams’ 1802 Deposition & Signature

That is a Crestleaf fascinating family find!