Early in Uriah's life he lost both of his parents. He was placed with a fmily
named Holloman, who operated a sheep ranch in Angelina County, Texas.
It was the period of the Civil War and the Holloman boys who were older
than Uriah went into the Army and Uriah we left to do the chores and herd
the sheep. This he did until the return of the Holloman boys. Uriah then
moved to Coryell County, married, and started a family of his own. Mary
Elizabeth Painter was the oldest child of David Painter, who died from a
"fever" contracted while in Confederate service in 1862. The family lived
near old Fort Gates and later Straws Mill in Coryell County. Their origin
was Scotland. Mary Elizabeth and Uriah were married in 1870. They
purchased a farm near Coryell Creek and lived there the remainder of their
lives. Unfortunately, Mary Elizabeth died in childbirth, as did her infant son.
The children of Uriah and Mary were all born in Texas and are listed below:
Clara (Williams) Shipman 1874 - 1893
Elizabeth (Williams) Meharg 1875 - 1959
Emma (Williams) Holmes 1879 -
Robert (Bud) Williams 1882 - 1958
Willis Williams & 1884 - 1974
Walter Williams (Twins) 1884 - Bert
Williams 1887 - 1973
Lanie (Williams) Morris 1889 -

A younger brother of Mary Elizabeth, Robert, lived nearby in the White
Hall area all of his life. His descendents are still worthy residents of that
area. Texas was still frontier country during the early years of the family.
Uriah bought his first farm of 274 acres for a dollar per acre. Later, he
bought 26 acres more, for which he traded a horse, saddle, and a pair of
boots. The Indians were gone by that time, but there were numerous rough
characters. It was not too long after the Civil War and times were hard. The
country was restless, but at the same time there was a sense of growth.
Settlers were coming in not only from nearby states, but also from abroad.
As measured by present standards life was hard and rewards low
and unpredictable. Nevertheless, they persisted and with a sense of
good humor and neighborly helpfulness which would be very hard to
match today. Educational opportunities were very limited - generally a
month or two per year. It is greatly to the credit of the Williams family
that they were in the forefront of education whenever possible. Uriah
collected money and helped build the first school house on Coryell Creek.
If you learned to read, write, and do simple addition and subtraction,
that was about all you could expect. Additional education, if any, was up
to you. Yet by diligent reading and study it was possible to become
an educated person, and some did. In addition to farming, Uriah was a
fiddler and often played for nearby dances, After his fiddling days were
over, he grew a long white beard which his grandchildren loved to admire.
He was fond of sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch and stroking
that long white beard - a patriarch in this time. I have a keen recollection
of the first William home. It was of logs, the cracks being filled with some
sort of clay or plaster. How the family fit into it will always be a mystery
to me - four boys and four girls with their parents! There was a kitchen,
which also served as an eating area. And of course, there was the
fireplace. This, together with the kitchen stove, were the only means
of heating. I do not remember bedrooms. Privacy was at a premium.
The "facilities" were outdoors of course. The fireplace and stove used
wood for fuel, which was generally to be had for the cutting and
hauling. No one thought of paying for it. I also have recollection of
my step-grandmother Williams (Nancy Coskrey Williams) making soap
by leaching the wood ashes and heating with the "rendering" of the
hog fat. The soap was not as good as today's, but it served its purpose.
A large pot of cast iron holding about twenty gallons was heated on a
fire outdoors. This pot had multiple uses - not only for soap making,
but also to boil clothes on wash day. Water was also heated to boiling
in the pot and the hog's carcass dunked into it on slaughtering day.
This loosened the lard which could them be removed easily. Later the
Williams built a conventional frame house, which may have had
indoor "facilities," but to me it never had the fascination of the
log house. It is still in use. In spite of the hardships, people's attitudes
were usually cheerful and highly independent. The people were almost
universally religious. Within my family the variation was from
Presbyterian to some form of Baptist (Uriah Williams was instrumental
in getting the church built on Coryell Creek). But regardless of denomination
there we a helpful attitude towards neighbors. That attitude was the
only relief for the poor, widows and orphans. There was no publicly
financed relief. The church was a strong factor in this. It served not only
as the conscience of the community, but it also was a special influence
which brought people together as no other factor did.

copyrighted Bobbie Ross 2002