(1838 – 1905)
Private Robert Lee Williams was born in TN on January 27, 1838. He was one of seven children of John H. Williams, who was born in NC about 1808, and Martha “Mattie” Green, born about 1809 in Virginia.
According to information found on Martha’s Declaration for Widow’s Pension, dated August 4, 1898, Robert Lee Williams and Martha Elizabeth Flowers were married in Dyer County, TN “at her father’s house, on the fourteenth day of December, 1857 by George Hawkins, J. P.” Martha died in 1922, and is buried beside her husband in the Young-Williams Family Cemetery.
A resident of Stokes, Dyer County, TN, Robert Lee Williams enrolled at Union City, TN on Feb 4, 1864, joining the Union forces as a private in Capt. Smith’s Co. E 6th Tenn Volunteer Cavalry.
On April 12, 1864, at the Battle of Fort Pillow, Rebel forces lead by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest overran a detachment of Col. Bradford’s Battalion of the 13th Tenn Cavalry. The “Memorandum From Prisoner of War Records,” states: “Robert Williams, Private 13th Regiment Tenn Cavalry Co. E was captured at Ft. Pillow, TN April 12, 1864, by Gen’l Forrest.”
We have been unable to locate the records that would tell us the exact location of Private Williams’s subsequent imprisonment. It is suggested that it was probably somewhere in the Wilmington, NC area, – based on the following Civil War records:
A document from the Record and Pension Office of the War Dept, Washington, D. C., dated Feb. 19, 1896, refers to Prisoner of War records, dated July 1865, showing that Private Robert Lee Williams was “Paroled at Wilmington, N. C. Mch 1/65.”
It is stated in the “Memorandum From Prisoner of War Records” that he was “paroled at N. E. Ferry, NC on March 3, 1865 and admitted to Hospital Div 1 Annapolis MD, Mch 14 -15. sent to Baltimore MD Mch 22 1865.”
He was honorably discharged at Pulaski, TN on July 25,1865, and returned home to his family in Dyer County, TN.
Private Williams managed somehow to survive the miserable months of his imprisonment, but returned home in very poor physical condition. During the years that followed his discharge, he suffered greatly from his war-related illness and injury. His disabilities finally rendered him unable to earn a living from manual labor. On September 3, 1890, he applied for, and received, an Invalid Pension.
His frail health notwithstanding, Robert Lee Williams continued to serve his Church and Community for the next 15 years of his life. He participated in local politics in the Friendship, TN area, and kept track of the family business. He died on August 22, 1905 at his home near Stokes, TN. and is buried in the Young-Williams Family Cemetery, in the Elizabeth Community, in District 15 of Crockett County, TN. A Civil War Memorial Stone, placed there Oct 15, 2001 by his gr-gr-grandson, Jerry Williams, marks his final resting-place.
Robert Lee Willliams and Martha Flowers Williams had the following children:
John J. Williams was born Oct the 15 1858
Martha A. Williams was born August 5th, 1861
LieuEmma B. Williams was born January the 15, 1864
Julia F. Williams was born October 29, 1866.
Departed this life December the 3, 1867
Luly V M. T. Williams was born February the 28, 1868. In another entry found in his notebook, Robert Lee Williams writes Luly V M T’s full name as “Luly Virginia Missouri Tennessee Williams.”
(Robert Lee Williams recorded the above births in his notebook.)
The descendants of Robert Lee Williams and Martha Flowers Williams were numerous. Some of these folks live in the Friendship, TN area today.
I would like to personally thank Shelly and Jerry Williams for furnishing me with copies of the Civil War documents that substantiate the above information.
2001 – Sue Hall