Hugh Richard Williams' Naturalization November 4, 1851

Declaration of Intention
State of Wisconsin, County of Waukesha, Hugh Williams personally appeared before the subscriber, the Clerk of the Circuit Court for the said County, being a Court of Record and made oath that he was born in Wales on or about the year Eighteen hundred and twenty one that he emigrated to the United States and landed at the port of New York on or about the month of May in the year eighteen hundred and fifty that it is bona-fide his intention to become a citizen of the US and renounce all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign Prince, Potentate, State of Sovereign whatever and particularly to Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.  Subscribed and Sworn to the fourth day of November A.D. 1851     Hugh Williams


Declaration of Intent: Waukesha County, Wisconsin  V 1 B P 167 # 1333  Sworn 4/11/1851, born 1821, landed in New York in May 1850

This record is important because it reinforced the date of Hugh's birth and lists his birthplace as Wales.

Hugh's naturalization papers have not been located.

Hugh Richard Williams Arrival in New York May 18, 1850

According to the family lore in the first account,  the relatives Hugh R. and his brother William were living with owned a pub or inn.  One day the two boys were in the cellar fighting, tipped over a barrel of beer or ale.  Frightened, they ran away and came to America.  

 In the second account, it reports that Hugh married Margaret Jones in 1846 and they left Cardiff, Wales in 1849 on the ship "City of Glasglow" and sailed to New York.

Based on the following record, Hugh Williams, age 28, miner, and his wife Margaret Williams, age 24, arrived in the  US on 18 May 1850 aboard "Barque Higgenson" from Caernarfonshire,Wales, with 141 other Welsh passengers mainly from Merionethshire and the County of Anglesey.  The ship left Caernarfon on April 9th and arrived in New York with the same number of people.

The passenger list for the ship 'Higginson' follows:  Hugh and Margaret are in bold.

John WILLIAMS 46 Farmer; Catherine 40 wife: Mary 13; John 9 ; Elizabeth 7;Catharine 5.
John MORGAN 25 Quarryman; Elizabeth 21 wife
Robert JONES 22 Quarryman
David DAVIES 41 Labourer; Catherine 43 Wife; Edward E. 13; William 6; Elizabeth 3.
Thomas L. WILLIAMS 19 Quarryman.
Richard THOMAS 34 Labourer; Catherine 32 Wife; Richard 10; William 7; John 3; Catherine infant.
Owen ROBERTS 23 Labourer; Catherine 28 Wife; Humphrey 2; Jane WILLIAMS infant.
Owen THOMAS 20 Joiner
Henry PARRY 27 Labourer
John OWEN 25 Labourer; Ann 27 Wife
William PRICHARD 40 Quarryman; Jane 42 Wife; Ellenor 9; Elizabeth 7; Moses 5.
John JONES 25 Labourer.
William W. PRICHARD 23 Quarryman; Jane 19 (?sister)
Samuel HUGHES 20 Miller
William THOMAS 20 Labourer
Owen JONES 28 Labourer.
Robert WILLIAMS 36 Smith; Mary 25 Wife; Ellenor 4; Jane infant.
David Robert JONES 18 Labourer
Elizabeth ROBERTS 14 Spinster.
John WILLIAMS 41 Quarryman; Ellenor 39 Wife; Robert 16; Catherine 13; William 11; John 10; David 8; Daniel 5; Ebenezer 2.
William LLOYD 20 Quarryman.
David CADWALADER 43 Quarryman; Ellenor 47 Wife; William 19; John 15; Anne 11; David 9; Cadwalader 7; Margaret 3.
Samuel JONES 33 Quarryman; Catherine 31 Wife; Catherine jnr 4; Elizabeth 2
Evan JONES 23 Quarryman.
Robert ROBERTS Quarryman.
Morris JONES 21 Quarryman.
Richard GRIFFITH 28 Quarry-man.
Henry JONES 32 Quarryman
David MORRIS 22 Quarryman.
Catherine WILLIAMS 23 Spinster.
Richard THOMAS 21 Quarryman.

Hugh WILLIAMS 28 Miner; Margaret 24 Wife.

Owen THOMAS 34 Quarryman; Ellenor 33 Wife; Jane 7; John 3; Robert Infant.
Richard WILLIAMS 21 Labourer
William PUGH 21 Sawyer
Benjamin JONES 20 Labourer.
Hugh OWEN 19 Labourer
William JONES 28 Labourer; Mary 25 Wife; John 5; Catharine infant.
Hugh ROBERTS 38 Smith; Grace 38 Wife; John 4; William 2;.
Hugh GRIFFITH 22 Quarryman; Margaret EVANS 20 Wife; Jannet infant.
John JONES 37 Farmer; Dorothy 40 Wife; Anne 16; William 15; Catharine 13; Ellenor 7.
Thomas W. JONES 24 Farmer.
Evan PRICHARD 21 Labourer.
John WILLIAMS 28 Labourer.
Richard WILLIAMS 57 Farmer.
Owen MORRIS 19 Labourer
David WILLIAMS 18 Quarryman.
Griffith JONES 18 Quarryman.
Morris JONES 24 Farmer.
John JONES 19 Farmer.
James GRESHAM 12 (English)
Thomas WILLIAMS 30 Quarryman; Anne 30 Wife.
Margaret TREVOR 29 Spinster.
John KEMP 35 Hatter; Esther 29 Wife; Jane infant (English).
Robert JONES 26 Stone Mason.
Lewis ROBERTS 18 Stone Mason.
Robert L. JONES 25 Labourer.
William L. JONES 23 Labourer.
John PRICHARD 20 Labourer.
Mary JONES 19 Spinster.
John JONES 16 Labourer.
John WILLIAMS 22 Labourer.
William GREEN 25 Wheelwright; Jane 22 Wife (English).
Ellenor WILLIAMS 28 Spinster.
William THOMAS 33 Miner; Mary 35 Wife; Sidney (Male)7; Jane 5; William 3; Margaret Infant.
William THOMAS 19 Labourer.
Jane WILLIAMS 26 Spinster.
Griffith DAVIES 22 Quarryman

          FHL 175444 or on the web at  members.tripod.com/~caryl_wlliams/passenger.html.

Several things can be learned from this record. Most people on board were from Merioneth or Angelsey which gives greater credence to his not being born in Craig Y Nois in southern Wales.   Hugh gave his age as 28 which would put his birth somewhere between 1821 and 1822;  his occupation was listed as a miner. Margaret gave her age as 24.  They were married at the time, and that marriage must have taken place in Wales.  There were no children listed with them.

Though there are several other Williams on this boat, there is no William Williams  that could have been Hugh's brother. Either that wasn't his name or he didn't sail on the same ship as Hugh and Margaret.

There was no immigrant processing center when the Hugh and Margaret arrived in New York City. The shipping company presented a passenger list to the Collector of Customs, and the immigrants made whatever customs declaration was necessary and went on their way. Hugh and Margaret must have left immediately for Delafield, Wisconsin, because they were listed there on the census that was taken on August 6, 1850.

In that census, Margaret was 25.  Could she have had a birthday between June and August? 

Hugh Richard Williams
1821-1900

Welsh Immigrant

The purpose of this blog is to enable the descendants of Hugh R. Williams to separate fact and fiction regarding his history,  discover his parentage, place of birth, and  work together to share information regarding Hugh and his family.

Family Lore:  What is fact?  What is fiction? 

In an article on Hugh R. Williams published in the History of Blue Earth County  (P : 756),  Hugh R. Williams was born in Carmarthenshire, Wales, about 1827 to Richard and Kitty Jones Williams.  He had one brother, William, who was two years younger.  The father, Richard,  died when Hugh was about four years old.  His mother, Kitty,  died when he was about six.  The two boys were raised by relatives. According to the family,  the people Hugh R. and William were living with owned a pub or inn.  One day the two boys were in the cellar fighting and tipped over a barrel of beer or ale.  Frightened, they ran away and came to America.  

Hugh R Williams, was originally a farmer in Waukesha, Wisconsin.  The first official record found thus far is a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States No # 1333 filed in the Circuit Court of Waukesha County, Wisconsin.  Apparently he filed this document on the 4th day of November, 1851.  It claims he was born in Wales in 1821 and immigrated to the US on or about the month of May, 1850.  The next document filed after that was by a Gabriel Williams also of Wales, who was born in 1811.  Could this be a relation to Hugh R. Williams? 

The 1850 census records for Delafield Township, Waukesha, Wisconsin list Hugh and Margaret Williams.  They probably married in Wisconsin in 1850.  Hugh R. became naturalized and they had daughter, Catherine.  Shortly afterwards they started charting their course for Butternut Valley late in the fall of 1855.  The second child, Richard Williams was born on April 1, 1855.  The family are as follows:  Hugh R., wife Margaret, children:  Richard, Catherine, Elizabeth, Mary, Ellen, Hugh, Jeanette, Willie, Margaret E. and Thomas. 

According to the Lake Crystal newspaper dated September 12,  the family (Margaret and Hugh R. daughter Catherine, and son Richard) left to go to southern Minnesota in November of 1855.  The following is part of the Lake Crystal article with revisions thrown in.  Apparently they had yoke and oxen and one cow when they settled on the farm owned by George Wagner.  They lived there for about three months before they moved to a 160 acre farm southwest of the village of Cambria, Minnesota, which they acquired by preemption paying two and one-half dollars per acre. Here they built a log house.  Their son Richard Williams later bought this farm in 1881. 

Like other pioneers of those early days, the family lived on johnny cakes and prairie chickens.  The chickens were so abundant they could be caught in traps.  Passenger pigeons and partridges were also included in the menu.

Below a large spring, just below the Williams farm, a tribe of Indians lived in a village each winter.  Richard Williams played with the Indian children until the uprising occurred when he was seven years old.  Prior to the outbreak of 1862, the Indians brought wild ducks and geese to the Williams family and traded them for bread.

Hugh R. Williams joined the Butternut Valley guard to protect the settlers from the invading Indians.    During the outbreak, the family took refuge in South Bend.  In their absence,  the Indians took one horse and a colt. 

Mrs. Margaret Williams died in 1867, cause of death unknown.  Later that year, their daughter, Catherine,  married William Salisbury Hughes of Butternut Valley. Hugh R. Williams signed their marriage certificate as a witness. 

Hugh R. Williams married again on May 19, 1869 in Cambria, Minnesota, to Ruth Rees whose father was a minister named Joseph Rees.  They moved west in 1881 and lived in Coalville, Utah, long enough to have one child and then settled in Lewisville, Idaho.

Hugh R. Williams died on August 6, 1900 and his second wife Ruth died in 1925.

This article was based on information given by Gladys Williams, a granddaughter of Hugh's first family living in Minnesota and correspondence she received from Selma Grimmett, a 2nd great granddaughter of Hugh's second family living in Idaho.

"Hugh R. Williams", Hughes, Thomas. History of Blue Earth County and Biographies of Its Leading Citizens, Middle West   Pub. Co.:Chicago,1901. http://openlibrary.org/books/OL24156317M/History_of_Blue_Earth_County_and_biographies_of_its_leading_citizens

Another account of Hugh R. Williams' life written by another granddaughter, Joyce Spaulding gives additional information.

Hugh Williams was born September 15, 1824, at Kraganois, Carmarthenshire, Wales, the son of Richard and Kitty (Jones)Williams.  His father was "Champion Boxer of the British Isles" for four years. His parents died at an early age and relatives took care of him and his younger brother, William.

 In 1846 Hugh married Margaret Jones and in 1849 they left Cardiff, Wales on the ship "City of Glasglow" and sailed to New York.  First they settled in Waukeska, Wiscconsin, then moved to Minnesota in 1859 and settled at Butternut Valley, now called Cambria.  They had seven children while living there.  They were: Catherine, Mary, Richard, Elizabeth, Ellen, William, and Hugh Thomas.  They purchased the Richard Morgan farm and built a house in the valley.  Since they were early settlers in that area, they endured many hardships and had to fight the Indians.  To protect themselves the people hid in a cornfield from the attacking Indians.
 

In May 1868 Hugh's wife, Margaret, died and shortly after that he married his second wife, Ruth Rees, at Saratoga,  Minnesota.  She was born January 1, 1845, at Scranton, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Jones Reese.  Her father was pastor of the Mankato Presbyterian Church.  To this union the following children were born:  William, born  December 2, 1869, at Cambria, Blue Earth, Minnesota, married Hulda Elizabeth Hill on 8 January 1891. He  died September 18, 1934.   Benjamin, born  September 7, 1871 at Cambria, married Edith Leonhurt on September 1900.  He died May 12, 1945. Joseph Bert, born  August 18, 1874 at New Ulm, Minnesota.  He married Dora Idella Marler on June 18, 1903.  He died April 5, 1927. Sarah Mable born September 16, 1877 at Cambria.  He married Moses Robert Johnson on December 25, 1894.  She died December 23, 1972. Alice Eva, born January 8, 1880 at Cambria, Minnesota.  She married Sylvester L. (Bash) Bennett on December 25, 1896. She died March 9, 1940.  Ella born December 29, 1882 at Wales, Utah.  She married Albert Neas on June 17,1899.  She died  September 23, 1967. Jeanette Evelyn, born December 5, 1885 at Lewisville, married Bert Henderson.  She died April 24, 1941. Raymond Dwight, born January 22, 1887, at Lewisville.  He  married Alice Kendrick on April 7, 1910.  He died November 1,1949.

 In 1881, the family joined the LDS Church and came to Utah on the train.  They settled in Coleville where Hugh worked on the railroad in that area and at Nephi for two years.  In 1884 they moved to Lewisville and took up a 160 acre homestead almost two miles west of Lewisville.  He cleared the land and hauled wood to Idaho Falls to make some money.  It was a hard life living in such primitive conditions, but they were used to it.

Hugh was a very religious man and rode a donkey to every meeting on Sundays.  His wife was not as converted to the LDS faith and this caused some contention between them.  But she was a good mother and, as a midwife, delivered many babies, including her own grandchildren.  In times of illness, a white flag was put on the roof top and Mrs. Williams would come to assist those in need.

In 1899 they sold their farm to George Hill and decided to move to Montana with their married daughter, Kitty, and her husband, Mose Johnson.  But Hugh became very ill and stayed behind.  After he found out he had cancer, he decided to go to Montana anyway.  Bash L. Bennett and Bill Williams put him on the train to join his family who had traveled to Montana by team and wagon.  While enroute, he got off the train at Chinook, Montana, and died there August 6, 1900 before the family could reach him.  He's buried at Chinook, Montana. 

His wife Ruth Rees Williams died November 4, 1925, at Roberts and is buried in Lewisville's cemetery.