Marmaduke Williams (April 6, 1774 – October 29, 1850) was a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

from 1803 to 1809. Born in

Caswell County, North Carolina Caswell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state. At the 2020 census, the population was 22,736. Its county seat is Yanceyville. Partially bordering the state of Virginia, ...

, Williams studied law and was admitted to the North Carolina bar. He was elected to the

North Carolina State Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

, serving 1802, and then was elected that same year to the 8th United States Congress. Williams was re-elected twice, serving in the

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

and 10th Congresses (March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1809). He declined to run for a fourth term and moved to the

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Mississippi. T ...

in 1810, then to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

, and by 1819, to

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

. Williams was a delegate to the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1819 and ran unsuccessfully that year for the post of

Governor of Alabama A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. He served in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

from 1821 to 1839, was the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of The

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

from 1835 to 1841 and was a judge of the

Tuscaloosa County Tuscaloosa County is a county in the northwest-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama and is the center of commerce, education, industry, health care, and entertainment for the region. The county's population was 227,036 as of the 2020 c ...

court from 1832 to 1842. He was a brother of Mississippi Territorial Governor Robert Williams (1766–1836). On October 26, 1798, in Caswell County, North Carolina, he married Agnes Payne (1775–1850), a first cousin of

Dolley Madison Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of bo ...

, and they raised 9 children. He was first cousin of the brothers: Robert Williams (1773–1821),

John Williams (Tennessee politician) John Williams (January 29, 1778 – August 10, 1837) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman, operating primarily out of Knoxville, Tennessee, in the first part of the 19th century. He represented Tennessee in the United States Senate fro ...

(1778–1837) and

Lewis Williams Lewis Williams (February 1, 1782 – February 23, 1842) was a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1815 and 1842. Born in Surry County, North Carolina (present-day Forsyth County), Williams attended the University of North Carolina ...

(1786–1842). He was the grandfather of Lafayette Guild (1825–1870). He died in Tuscaloosa in 1850 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. His Tuscaloosa home has been completely renovated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Marmaduke 1774 births 1850 deaths Members of the Alabama House of Representatives North Carolina state senators Alabama Democratic-Republicans People from Caswell County, North Carolina Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina