Gov. Benjamin Williams

Benajmin Williams (1 January 1751 -- 20 July 1814) was the Democratic-Republican governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1799 to 1802 and from 1807 to 1808.

Williams was born in Johnston County, North Carolina in 1751 and became a farmer. He married Elizabeth Jones on 10 August 1781; they had one son, also named Benjamin.

Williams served as a member of the revolutionary convention at in Johnston County in 1774; he then served two terms in the Provincial Council. In 1775, Williams was appointed to the Second North Carolina Regiment ; he served until 1781, was promoted to the rank of colonel, and fought at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

Williams served in the North Carolina General Assembly during the 1780s and was elected governor in 1799. He served for three years; during his last year in office, he pardoned Congressional Representative John Stanly, who had killed former Gov. Richard Dobbs Spaight in a duel.

The North Carolina Constitution of 1789 limited the post of governor to three one-year terms within a span of six years; Williams sought re-election to the post in 1805, but was defeated by Nathaniel Alexander. In 1807, the General Assembly elected him governor once again, but this time he served only a single term of one year. Williams then retired from politics, except for a single term in the North Carolina Senate in 1809.

Williams died in 1814 and is buried in Moore County.

Sources

• Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Robert Sobel and John Raimo, eds. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. (ISBN 0-930466-00-4)