My great-great-great-grandparents William Williams and Elizabeth (-?-) lived in Henry County before part of it became Barbour County. He died in Barbour County in NOV 1846. The family migrated from NC to Jones County, GA, then to the part of the Mississippi Territory that became AL in 1819. >From that beginning I have four generations of lighthouse keepers in my Williams ancestry, and am interested in learning more about this Williams line before they became lighthouse keepers. The four generations actually begin with my great-great-grandfather Braddock Williams, born ca. 1798, in NC. He married Sarah D. Williams on 22 DEC 1822, in Henry County, AL. She was born ca. 1803, in GA. Braddock appears in the Walton County List of Florida Voters in Their First Statewide Election, May 26, 1845. He served as Keeper of Cape St. George Lighthouse, FL, and Keeper of Cape San Blas Lighthouse, FL. His service began 23 FEB 1854 and continued until his resignation from the U.S. Lighthouse Service on 13 JAN 1879. James Albert Williams, my great-grandfather, was Braddock's son. He was born 22 AUG 1827, in Pike County, AL. He married Lucretia Foster ca. 1853. James Albert entered the U.S. Lighthouse Service on 9 JUN 1875, and served as Keeper of Cape St. George Lighthouse, FL, Keeper of Apalachicola Bay Range Front Light, FL, and Keeper of Crooked River Lighthouse, FL. Lucretia died on 18 DEC 1906; James Albert died on 14 APR 1908. My grandfather James Chester Williams, James Albert's son, was born 9 MAY 1866, in Pensacola, FL. He married Delia Cornelia Vause on 9 MAY 1886, in Apalachicola, FL. Delia was born in Wakulla County, FL. James Chester served as Keeper of Apalachicola Bay and St. George Sound Bulkhead Cut, 6-foot Spot, and Porter Bar Beacons, FL, Keeper of Fort Morgan Lighthouse, AL, and as Assistant Keeper of Cape St. George Lighthouse, FL. He died 21 June 1937, in Tallahassee, FL. Delia Cornelia (Vause) Williams died on 27 September 1954, at Eastpoint, Florida. My father, James Tabor Williams, James Chester's son, was born 16 November 1891, in Apalachicola, Franklin County, Florida. My mother, Nora Margaret Gordon, was born 21 January 1904, at Round Island Lighthouse, located in the Mississippi Sound off Pascagoula, Harrison County, Mississippi. Her father was Ralph Gordon, Keeper of the Round Island Light, born 4 July 1880, in London, England; her mother was Nanetta (Netta) Haasis Mills, born 15 January 1885, in Orrville, Alabama. During his lighthouse career, James Tabor was Assistant Keeper of Gasparilla Island Lighthouse, FL, Assistant Keeper of Merrill's Shell Bank Lighthouse, located in the vicinity of Cat, St. Joseph's, and Grand islands, in the Mississippi Sound, Second Assistant Keeper of Bolivar Point Lighthouse, TX, Assistant Keeper at Sabine Pass Lighthouse, TX. On 19 June 1917, he was given leave from the Lighthouse Service to join the U.S. Navy. He became a radio operator, and served in USS Nevada and USS Allen during World War I. On 19 September 1919, James Tabor returned to Sabine Pass Lighthouse as Second Assistant Keeper, and remained at that light until 23 November 1919. James Tabor decided to make use of his wartime experience in USS Allen, one of the classic four-stack destroyers, and requested to be transferred to a U.S. lighthouse tender. His request was granted, and between 24 November 1919 and 31 March 1922, he served as Radio Operator in USLHS Magnolia. On 9 March 1922, James Tabor Williams and Nora Margaret Gordon were married in Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. James Tabor was transferred ashore on 1 April 1922, when he relieved Ralph Gordon as U.S. Lighthouse Depot Keeper, at Port Eads, Louisiana. James Tabor retired from the Lighthouse Service on 30 September 1930, but returned to be Keeper of New Canal Light, New Orleans, Louisiana, on 16 June 1932. The light marks the entrance to the canal on Lake Pontchartrain. It is still an active light; Coast Guardsmen man the station there and are responsible for all rescue work in Lake Pontchartrain and the bayou country surrounding the greater New Orleans area. On 16 May 1938, James Tabor became Assistant Depot Keeper, New Orleans, Louisiana. The depot is located on the Industrial Canal, which links the Mississippi River with Lake Pontchartrain. On 7 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was absorbed by the U.S. Coast Guard, and my father was forced to retire. This time his retirement lasted until his death, on 13 November 1963, in the Veterans Administration Hospital, Bay Pines, Pinellas County, Florida. He is buried in the Bay Pines Veterans Cemetery. My mother, Nora Margaret (Gordon) Williams, died on 20 December 1990, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. When I joined the U.S. Navy in 1940, I broke a career tradition that began with Braddock Williams, my great-great-grandfather, was carried on by James Albert Williams, my great-grandfather, continued by James Chester Williams, my grandfather, and ended with James Tabor Williams, my father. These four generations of men in my Williams lineage--and the women who shared their lives--served as lighthouse keepers in stations on and near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Over a period of seventy-Þve years, they kept lights in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The years of their combined service began in February 1854 and ended 1 July 1939. Thanks. Ralph Tabor Williams Kaneohe, Hawaii tabor@lava.net http://www.lava.net/~tabor/ If you can't get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. --George Bernard Shaw