I have a Williams conundrum that doesn’t seem like it should be difficult to solve on the face of it.

Thomas Williams, the son of Roger Williams and Cassiann Blair, of Cumberland County, Virginia,  was born 22 June 1777, probably in Cumberland Coounty. Thomas died by 23 July 1823 when his estate began probate in Campbell County, Virginia.

Thomas married Elizabeth Woodson, daughter of Anderson Woodson, 13 December 1805, in Campbell County, Virginia.

The 1823 court record stated that Thomas had five children, the last of whom was born a few months after his death. James Jones was named guardian of his two youngest children. No information has been found as to who the guardian/s of the other three children were.

All of Thomas’s children were named by their grandfather, Roger Williams, in his 1835 will. Additionally, William W. Williams and Samuel B. Williams are named in 9 December 1831 final accounting of Thomas’s estate  and apparently are the two youngest children.

Birth years for these children are all guesses, with the exception of William, who would have been born in late 1822 or early 1823. With a marriage date in December 1805 and assuming that the first child arrived at least nine months after the wedding, the proposed birth years seem reasonable.

Children:

i. Thomas, born about 1809
ii. Woodson, born about 1812
iii. John, born about 1815
iv. Samuel B., born about 1820. There is a Samuel B. Williams, born c1820, VA, millwright in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1850. This man is living with the Samuel Linn family. This could possibly be the son of Thomas and Elizabeth, as other family members were millwrights.
v. William W., born about 1823

I have hunted for these five sons off and on for 25 years and, except for the possibility of Samuel B. in Rowan County, I haven’t found any clues about what happened to them after they were named in Roger’s 1835 will. Not only are their names all very common, except for Woodson, but I am afraid they might have had middle names since Samuel and William have middle initials and perhaps they went by those names.

Any Williams descendants out there? If you have Thomas, Woodson, John, Samuel B. or William W. in your family tree and he was born in Virginia between 1806 and 1823, but you can’t find a family for him, please get in touch. Maybe your lost soul is one of mine. Thanks!