George Fred Williams (July 10, 1852 – July 11, 1932) was a U.S. Representative from

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and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to both Greece and Montenegro.

Early life and career

Born in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest ...

, Williams attended private schools, graduated from the

Dedham High School Dedham High School is a public high school in Dedham, Massachusetts, United States, and a part of the Dedham Public Schools district. The school was founded in 1851 by the oldest public school system in the country. It earned a silver medal from ...

in 1868, and from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1872. His parents were Captain and Henrietta ( Williams. His mother was a Sunday School teacher at the

Allin Congregational Church Allin Congregational Church is a historic United Church of Christ church in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was built in 1818 by conservative breakaway members of Dedham's First Church and Parish in the Greek Revival style. History The preaching of ...

. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin. He also studied law at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

, Boston, Massachusetts. He taught school in West Brewster, Massachusetts in 1872 and 1873. He was also a reporter for the ''Boston Globe''. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1875 and practiced in Boston. He edited Williams' ''Citations of Massachusetts Cases'' in 1878 and volumes 10 to 17 of the Annual Digest of the United States 1880 to 1887.

Public life

Initially a Republican, Williams bolted the party in the

Mugwump The Mugwumps were Republican political activists in the United States who were intensely opposed to political corruption. They were never formally organized. Typically they switched parties from the Republican Party by supporting Democratic ...

revolt of 1884, and eventually joined the Democratic Party. He served as member of the Dedham School Committee before being elected to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1890. Williams was elected to the Fifty-second Congress (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893) but lost a bid for reelection in 1892 to the Fifty-third Congress. He resumed the practice of law in Boston, Massachusetts and was an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor in 1895, 1896, and 1897. He served as delegate to several state Democratic conventions and to the Democratic National Conventions in 1896, 1900, 1904 and 1908. In the 1896 convention, he bucked the state party establishment by abandoning the gold plank supported by the rest of the delegation, and supported

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

for president. This action did tremendous damage to his future elective prospects within the party. Williams was appointed Minister to Greece and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, serving in 1914. He resigned this position after a visit to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

witnessing the tragic Albanian civilians being murdered and left to die of hunger by the current Greek regime.

Later life

He resumed the practice of law until his retirement in 1930 and died in

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

, near Boston, July 11, 1932. He was interred in Dedham's Old Village Cemetery.

References

Works cited

Sources

External links

politicalgraveyard.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, George Fred 1852 births 1932 deaths Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Ambassadors of the United States to Montenegro Dartmouth College alumni Politicians from Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham High School alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Diplomats from Dedham, Massachusetts Lawyers from Dedham, Massachusetts Boston University School of Law alumni Burials at Old Village Cemetery