A Visit with John Williamson (1764-1829)

John Williamson (1764-1829) is my fifth great-grandfather. I haven't talked about him much here because I've been so focused on his descendants. His son John was the one who moved his Williamson crew from Tennessee to Arkansas about 1830. They stayed there a long time and had a bunch of kids who had a bunch of kids, so I've spent all my time researching Williamsons in Pope County, Arkansas.

This weekend, I happened to locate the marker for John Williamson at FindAGrave.com. I don't own the picture, so I won't publish it, but interested family and readers can find it here: John Williamson. He was also a Revolutionary War patriot, the second one I know of in my own ancestral lines.

An impromptu web search for John Williamson also turned up this little biography. Ironically, the web site that provided this bit of local history seems to be for a residential community that is built where the Williamsons once lived, and where some are still buried. Guess that's progress for you.

There's still plenty of research to be done on the Williamsons of Pope County, Arkansas. However, a change of scenery might be nice. Maybe it's time to move back a generation and study the Williamsons of Wilson County, Tennessee.

This whole post was drafted for my family, who may or may not know of their ancestors in 1700's Tennessee. Before then, they came from Virginia, but it will be a while before I have enough information and time to research that era. For now, just take the time to get to know John Williamson and get used to your Tennessee roots.