Samuel May Williams
| Samuel May Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 4, 1795 Providence, Rhode Island |
| Died | September 13, 1858 (aged 62) Galveston, Texas |
| Citizenship | American, Mexican, Texan |
| Occupation | Secretary, businessman, politician |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Patterson Scott |
| Children | Joseph Victoria, Austin May, William Howell, Mary Dorothea, Caroline Lucy, Samuel May, Jr., and three others |
| Parent(s) | Howell and Dorothy Wheat Williams |
Samuel May Williams (October 4, 1795 – September 13, 1858) was an American businessman, politician, and close associate of Stephen F. Austin.
Samuel May Williams was born October 4, 1795, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Howell and Dorothy (Wheat) Williams. His ancestors arrived in New England in the 1630s, and his family tree included a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a president of Yale University.
After some schooling in his native city, he apprenticed to his uncle, Nathaniel F. Williams, at the age of fifteen. His uncle was a commission merchant in Baltimore. Later he was employed as supercargo to oversee freight bound for Buenos Aires, where he stayed to conduct further business in South America. He traded tobacco with the Karankawa people on Galveston Island as early as 1821. He moved to New Orleans around 1815, where he worked as a bookkeeper. In March 1822, he arrived at Matagorda Bay, Texas, with about ninety settlers equipped with farming implements.
In 1823, Stephen F. Austin first hired Williams as a translator and clerk at San Felipe de Austin. In the fall of 1824, Austin appointed Williams as a recording secretary for the Austin Colony. Though Mexico had not yet established an ayuntamiento (local government) in the colony, Austin had told Jose Antonio Saucedo about his intention to establish the recording secretary position with all of the responsibilities of a secretary for an ayuntamiento.
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