William Turner Williams and Mary Jane Clark Williams are my paternal great-grandparents. They are the parents of my grandfather, Willie Frances Williams, who is the father of my father Willis Burkett Williams.
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Headstone of Mary J Williams
Photographed by Patty Shreve
Find-a-grave site
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MARY JANE CLARK WILLIAMS
Through a series of leads today (8/29/2022), I virtually saw the gravestone of my paternal great-grandmother, Mary Jane Clark Williams. It started with that Ancestry hint which led me to Newspapers-dot-com. Click. There was her death notice in The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia) from Sat, 6 Nov 1948 (page 10). I easily recognized my great grandfather's name, W.T. Williams, as her surviving husband, along with their eight daughters: Annie, Virginia, Hattie, Fannie, Maggie, Daisy, Edna, Mary Jane and sevens sons: Joe, Willie (my grandfather), George, Carl, Herman, John, Harris. Each name had the city where they lived at that time -- verifying information and in some cases, providing me with new information.
Other new information included the name of her sister, Mrs. Sina Pound of Macon; the names of two sisters-in-law Mrs. Eliza Clark and Mrs. Ola Clark both of Macon. My guess is that they are her brothers' wives. Wow, my great-grandmother had at least one sister and two brothers.
Further information: "Funeral services will be held at Williams Chapel AME Church near Haddock, the day and hour to be announced later. Hutchins' Funeral Home." In a search I found two churches with the same name near Haddock, so I decided to first reach out to the funeral home, asking for a funeral program. I was surprised with a same-day response that took me back another generation!
"We do not have a funeral program. We only kept cards back in the 1940's.
This is the information on the card:
Name: Mary Jane Williams
Date of Death: November 3, 1948 Age: 54
Place: Macon, GA
Date of Birth: March 25, 1894
Place: Jones Co. GA
Father's Name: Austin Clark - born in Jones Co. GA
Mother's Name: Marth(a) Pounds - born in Jones Co. GA
Occupation: Laborer
Cause of Death: Unknown
Informant: Fannie Hudson
Funeral: 2:00 p.m. 11/8/1948 at Wiliams Chapel AME
Burial: 11/8/1948 at Williams Chapel AME cemetery in Haddock, GA"
*NOTE: Her birth year is about 1864.
I was so excited about the information provided by Hutchins Funeral Home that I immediately looked at Find-A-Grave for the Williams Chapel AME Cemetery. I added all the new information from the funeral home, along with the picture of her gravestone to my family tree.
WILLIAM TURNER WILLIAMS
Then it dawned on me, what about my great-grandfather, William Turner Williams? Another email to Hutchins Funeral Home provided information on him. Again, it took me back another generation.
Not sure if this is the right person but it's the only one in 1954 that came close.
Name: W.T. Williams
Residence - 2195 Neal Avenue
Place of Death - Macon, GA
Date of Death - July 29, 1954
Date of Birth - August 25, 1884 age 64
Place of birth - Jones Co., GA
Father's name - John Williams
Mother's name - Annie ? (Maiden name)
Occupation - Farmer
Spouse - Mrs. Mary Williams
Informant - Mrs. Rufus Hudson
Funeral - 1:00 p.m. August 2, 1954
Williams Chapel AME - Burial in church cemetery at Williams Chapel AME
*NOTE; His birth year is about 1858.
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Headstone of William Turner Williams
Photographed by Patty Shreve
Find-a-grave site |
I am beyond grateful to the "angel" who took the time to photograph my great-parents' headstones and to the person at Hutchins Funeral Home who responded to my inquiries. I have both shouted for joy and cried happy, mournful tears over this new information which, of course, leads me to more questions to research.
*NOTE: Their death dates of 1894 and 1884 were clearly typos because their daughter Fannie Williams Hudson (Informant) was born in 1898.
Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.
