Joseph Lanier Williams (October 23, 1810December 14, 1865) was an American politician that represented Tennessee's third district in the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

Williams was born near Knoxville, Tennessee on October 23, 1810. After completing preparatory studies, he attended the University of

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He studied law, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, and commenced

practice Practice or practise may refer to: Education and learning * Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition * Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing * Practice-based ...

in Knoxville, Tennessee. He married Malinda R. Williams and they had four children.

Career

Williams was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seven Congresses. He served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1842. He engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C. Williams was appointed judge of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court by President Abraham Lincoln, and served in that capacity from 1861 to 1865. Historian

Doane Robinson Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson (October 19, 1856 – November 27, 1946Hoover, Herbert T., & Larry J. Zimmerman (eds.). 1989. ''South Dakota Leaders: From Pierre Chouteau, Jr., to Oscar Howe''. Vermillion: University of South Dakota Press, p. 4 ...

wrote of Williams, and his contemporary

B. P. Williston B is the second letter of the Latin alphabet. B may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Astronomy * Astronomical objects in the Barnard list of dark nebulae (abbreviation B) * Latitude (''b'') in the galactic coordinate syst ...

, that " ither Williston or Williams left a record, or made an impression from which any adequate judgment of their efficiency may be ascertained".Doane Robinson, ''History of South Dakota'', Volume 1 (1904), p. 465.

Death

Williams died in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 14, 1865 (aged 55 years, 52 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

Old Gray Cemetery Old Gray Cemetery is the second-oldest cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1850, the cemetery contains the graves of some of Knoxville's most influential citizens, ranging from politicians and soldiers, to artists an ...

in Knoxville. He was the son of U.S. Senator

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Joseph Lantier 1810 births 1865 deaths Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee United States Military Academy alumni Tennessee lawyers Dakota Territory judges 19th-century American judges Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers