J. Henry Williams
| J. Henry Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1831 Great Britain |
| Died | 1889 (aged 57–58) New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | General Theological Seminary |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Title | minister, delegate, philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | Indiana Fletcher Williams |
James Henry Williams (1831 – 1889) was a nineteenth-century Episcopal priest and philanthropist from New York who married an heiress from Virginia who ultimately founded Sweet Briar College after their only child, Daisy, predeceased them.
Williams was born in either Ireland or England in 1830 to William H. Williams and his wife H.G. After studies at Trinity College, and becoming a member of the Phi Kappa Society, he emigrated to the United States. He became a candidate for orders at the General Theological Seminary in New York in 1856, and graduated in 1858.
He was ordained a minister in the Episcopal Church, and served at Zion Episcopal Church in Dobbs Ferry, New York during the American Civil War. After the war ended, he traveled to Amherst County, Virginia to visit 35 year old Indiana Fletcher, whom he had met as a seminarian in New York during her travels. Her late father, teacher turned businessman and farmer Elijah Fletcher had owned plantations and valuable real estate as well as a cattle trading business in nearby Lynchburg, and had helped found St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg as well as Ascension Episcopal Church in Amherst. Indiana Fletcher had inherited much upon his death in 1858 (her brother Sidney received his inheritance circa 1850, during his father's life), but had never married. Her younger sister Elizabeth, had married, but with her husband had squandered much of that inheritance. After the war, marriage prospects were minimal, and emancipation of formerly enslaved people had greatly changed plantation management.
On August 23, 1865, Rev. Williams married Indiana Fletcher in Amherst County, Virginia,and the newlyweds took the train back to New York. The bishop of New York granted him permission to retire from his position, although he would later serve as assistant minister in Amherst. J. Henry Williams and Indiana had one child, Maria Georgianna "Daisy" Williams (1867-1883), who attended Miss Haines' School in Gramercy Square during the winters and died in Manhattan, New York City on January 22, 1884, where her parents spent winters.
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