Never Leaving Home

More About Those Williams Folks

I already introduced to you A.O. Williams who was the beautiful Pearl (Williams) Pointer's father.  And I also showed you his pocket watch.  Oh, and we can't forget A.O.'s cantankerous and contrary brother, Sim [a.k.a., W.S., Simeon and Uncle Sim].  Well, Sim's full name was William Simeon Williams.  Understandably, Sim didn't go by the name William.  I mean, really?  William Williams?  Could you imagine the confusion and the taunting?  Why, for heaven's sakes, did they name him William?  Maybe they liked the name William, but it may have something to do with the fact that his father's name was William.  [I kid you not.]  But apparently he never went by that name either.  In fact, Great-Uncle Donald [who turns 90 in a week], calls him by his middle name, Jordan.  In the census while growing up, he was always listed as William J. Williams or W.J. Williams.  But when he was an adult in the census, I noticed he always used the name Jordan.  Furthermore, research indicates that Jordan had an uncle named William Williams.  And the purpose of this discussion?  I dunno.  I just find it interesting.  I wonder if they just didn't like the name, or if they used their middle names to lessen the confusion.

Anyways, A.O.'s and Uncle Sim's father was William Jordan Williams [parents were Henry Williams and Harriet [?]].  Jordan was born on abt. 1833 in probably Montgomery County, TN.  [The "probably" is for the county, but I do know that he was born in Tennessee.]  At some point, Jordan and some of his Williams kinfolk moved from Tennessee to Wapello County, Iowa.

Jordan's wife, Julia Ann Shearer, was born 31 Aug 1833 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Valentine and Magdaline Shearer, who happened to be 1st cousins.  Now, this information wasn't easy to figure out because the Shearer family is huge [huuuuge].  Lots of siblings who had lots of kids.  Also, these Shearers were once Scherrers, and they descend from Johann Augustus Scherrer who came to America from Lachen Speyerdorf Bayern Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany [which is a mouthful] in 1730.  However, I'll talk more about them later.  Julia's family moved to Wapello, IA in February 1856, according to her obituary, which Pearl had cut out of the paper and pasted into her scrapbook that Great-Uncle Donald scanned and shared with me.  [Have I mentioned how much I love Pearl and Great-Uncle Donald?]   She married Jordan Williams 19 Feb 1857 in Wapello, IA, and they had 3 sons: Alvis Oliver "A.O." Williams, Henry V. Williams [who died young], and William Simeon "Sim" Williams.  A.O. and Sim both lived with Jordan and Julia even into adulthood.  And when A.O. married Nancy Catherine Odell, she moved in as well, which I had noticed in the census, but Great-Uncle Donald confirmed it for me in his memoirs.  

Hm.  I guess that whole idea of kids coming back home to live is not new.  In fact, A.O. and Sim never left.  And I don't know whether or not I'll tell my children this because they've already hinted to me [More like, they unequivocally stated...] they're going to live with me and my husband forever [shudder].  And I'd hate for them to have something to cite from their own family tree.  [rolling eyes heavenward] 

Anywho, below is a photo of William Jordan & Julia Ann (Shearer) Williams ~ my husband's 3rd great- grandparents.