John McKeown Snow Williams (August 13, 1818 – March 19, 1886) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

."J.M.S. Williams. End of a Life Devoted to Religion and Humanity," ''Cambridge Chronicle,'' March 27, 1886, p.3.
/ref>

Biography

Born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, Williams moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He attended the public schools, and engaged in the mercantile and shipping business as a partner in the packet shipping firm

Glidden & Williams Glidden & Williams was a Boston-based clipper ship packet line which ran ships primarily between Boston and California in the 1850s and 1860s. It was a partnership between William T. Glidden and John M. S. Williams, formed in 1849. Over the y ...

, which operated

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

s between Boston and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He later became involved in other business ventures, including the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

. He was a member of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society in 1854. (The Emigrant Aid Society financed the settlement in

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

of farmers opposed to slavery as an attempt to prevent Kansas from being settled by slave owners.) Williams served as member of 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 1856, and the

Massachusetts State Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member sen ...

in 1858. Williams was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875). He was defeated for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress, and resumed his former business pursuits. He died in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, March 19, 1886, and was interred in

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John McKeown Snow 1818 births 1886 deaths Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Republican Party Massachusetts state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American politicians