Clinton Williams, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Clinton Williams
CLINTON WILLIAMS is one of those brave men who, when our nation was passing through the darkest crisis of its existence and our great Republic was in grave peril of dissolution, responded to the call for men to defend the Union and gave three years of valiant service as a soldier. He is one of the comparatively few that have been spared to see a half century pass since the opening period of that great conflict and to witness the remarkable growth and development of our nation during that interim.
A native son of Indiana and a scion of one of its pioneer families, Mr. Williams has spent the most of his active career as an agriculturist in Porter county, though a portion of the time he has also been engaged in business as a liveryman, but now, advanced well toward four score years of age, he is living retired in Chesterton. Mr. Williams was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on the 19th of January, 1836, a son of William Williams. The latter was a native of Tennessee and when thirteen years of age had accompanied his parents, Richard Williams and wife, both natives of Tennessee, to Wayne county, Indiana. There William Williams grew to manhood, took up the vocation of farming, and was married to Lucretia Starbuck, a native of that county and the daughter of Paul Starbuck. To this union were born eleven children, of whom there are but four surviving at his date (1912): L. P. Williams, now of Washingon, D. C., where he holds a clerical position in the Department of Justice; H. H. Williams, a resident of Chesterton, Indiana; Clinton Williams, the subject of this review; and William W. Williams, a well known resident and business man of Chesterton.
The son of a farmer and reared to farm life, it was but natural that Mr. Williams should take up agriculture as his own vocation. Having attained his majority, he began life on his own responsibility by engaging as a farm hand in Porter county, working by the month, and thus continued to be engaged until August 8, 1862, when he enlisted as a member of Company K of the Seventy-third Indiana infantry, was mustered in August 16, 1862, at South Bend, and left at once with his regiment for Lexington, Kentucky, to aid in sustaining and perpetuating the Union. As to the valor of the men of the Seventy-third Indiana and the character of their military service, a correct estimate may be obtained from the following account of this regiment as given in the Union Army: "From Lexington the regiment moved to Louisville early in September, 1862, and there was assigned to the Twentieth Brigade, Sixth Division of Buell's army, and joined in the pursuit of Bragg. It was in reserve at Perryville and continued in pursuit of the enemy as far as Wild Cat. It returned to Glasgow, Kentucky, and moved thence to Gallatin, Tennessee, where it surprised the enemy and drove him from the field, capturing nineteen prisoners. The regiment marched into Nashville on November 26, then proceeded to Lebanon, where it was in a skirmish, and moved with Rosecrans' army to Stone river, which the regiment crossed on the evening of December 29, in company with the Fifty-first, being the first of the army to make the crossing. The Seventy-third was compelled to recross the river under the fire of an entire division, and it was in sharp skirmishing on the 30th. On the 31st its brigade double-quicked a mile and a half to reinforce the right wing which had been crowded back a distance of two miles, taking a position and engaging twice its numbers. It fought at dose range for twenty minutes, losing more than one-third the number engaged, then charged and drove the force in its front from the field. The advance of a brigade on its flank compelled it to fall back a short distance, but the enemy's advance had been checked and the right wing saved. Rosecrans complimented the regiment in person after the battle. In these operations the regiment was under fire at the front for six days, and was so completely exhausted it was placed in reserve on January 3, 1863. . . . It was assigned to Colonel Streight's independent provisional brigade on April 10, and accompanied it to Eastport, Mississippi, where it was mounted and moved to Tuscombia, Alabama, from which place it started on the raid into Georgia. At Day's Gap this brigade, numbering 1,500 was attacked by 4,000 of Forrest's and Roddey's cavalry. The Seventy-third on the left flank repulsed a fierce charge and the whole brigade then charged the enemy, driving him from the field. The enemy reformed during the day and made a second attack at Crooked Creek, but was repulsed with a heavy loss. The brigade was again attacked at Blount's farm, the Seventy-third bearing the brunt of the fight, and Colonel Hathaway was killed. At Cedar Bluffs, utterly exhausted, almost out of ammunition and surrounded, the brigade surrendered. The men were sent north on parole and later exchanged, but the officers were sent to prison. Returning to the field several months later, the regiment under Major Wade, who had been released by the prison authorities, was placed on guard duty along the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, with its headquarters at Triune." From this time until its muster out at Nashville on July 1, 1865, the regiment was on guard duty the most of the time, defending Prospect, Tennessee, against Wheeler's raid and defending the fort at Athens, Alabama.
Shortly after his return from the army, or on August 31, 1865, Mr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Faulkner, who was born in Porter county, Indiana, on September 20, 1838. She is the only child of G. W. Faulkner, and Lydia Payne Faulkner, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Lake county, Ohio. Educated in the district schools and in the Valparaiso public schools, she became a teacher and taught three terms of school prior to her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams were born four children, two of whom are living, viz.: Claudius C., born July 24, 1874, and Lettie, born December, 1867. They have one grandson, Clarence Campbell. In politics Mr. Williams is a Republican but he has never taken an active part in party affairs. He is a member of A. B. Wade Post No. 208, Grand Army of the Republic, at Chesterton, and Mrs. Williams is a member of its auxiliary order, the Woman's Relief Corps, in which she has served in several of its offices. She is also a member of the Church of Christ. Both are people of strong character and strict integrity whose upright and useful lives, though quiet and unassuming, command a place for them among Porter county's most worthy citizens.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 809-8011
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook