James M. Williams (22 July 1850 – 22 May 1909) was a politician from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

, and was President of the Senate for two years.

Early life

James M. Williams was born in Plainfield, Coshocton County, Ohio on July 22, 1850. He was the son of Heslip Williams, a leading physician of the county and Ohio native, and Charlotte Miskimen Williams, also from Ohio. He left school at age thirteen to enlist as a private in Company C, 3rd United States Cavalry during the American Civil War. He served in the campaigns in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. After the war, Williams attended

Newcomerstown Newcomerstown is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, east-northeast of Columbus. In the late 1770s, this was the largest Delaware Indian village on the Tuscarawas River, with 700 residents. Chief Newcomer (''Netawatwes'') was ...

High School and Allegheny College of

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

, where he graduated in 1873.

Legal career

Williams studied law in the office of Judge J.C. Pomerene of Coshocton, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He practiced law in Coshocton until 1888, when he moved to Cleveland. He edited the three-volume "Revised Statutes of Ohio" in 1883, which was adopted by the General Assembly, and distributed about the state. He was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1885, and served a single two-year term. He drafted the 1885 constitutional amendment that was adopted by the public that changed state elections from October to November. Williams was nominated for Judge of the Commons Pleas Court in 1888 and 1894, but not elected. He was successful in 1905 in election to the

, and was chosen president pro tem. of that body. He was chairman of the Committees on Commercial Corporations and Rules, and member of the Judiciary, Taxation, County Affairs and Fees and Salaries committees.

Personal

James M. Williams married Mary S. Brockway of

Chautauqua County, New York Chautauqua County is the westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 127,657. Its county seat is Mayville, New York, Mayville, an ...

in 1879. She had one daughter, and died in 1897. Williams died in 1909 in Cleveland of a heart ailment, and he is buried in Chautauqua County, New York alongside his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, James M. Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Presidents of the Ohio Senate Democratic Party Ohio state senators People of Ohio in the American Civil War People from Coshocton County, Ohio Politicians from Cleveland 1850 births Allegheny College alumni Union Army soldiers Ohio lawyers 1909 deaths 19th-century American politicians