William Williams III was born on May 14, 1711 in a section of Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, that later became the town of Weston. The first of 10 children born to the Reverend Williams Williams and Hannah Stoddard Williams, William graduated from Harvard College in 1729. Known as Bill to family and friends, Williams at first seemed destined to be a physician but a military career appealed to him more. He served in a campaign of 1739 against the Spanish in St. Augustine Florida. Promoted to Ensign under Admiral Vernon, Bill survived the Caribbean campaign including the Battle of Cartagena in 1741, unlike most other New Englanders who also served there. On his return, he bought property in Deerfield, Massachusetts in about 1743 but frequent deployments meant he was rarely there. Bill Williams served in King George's War (1744-1748) and the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and attained the rank of Colonel. He spent a brief period in Deerfield from about 1751-53 where he was a justice of the peace, served as a town selectman, and kept a store where he earned a small commission supplying troops as a subcommisary. Around 1753, Williams moved with his second wife, Sarah Wells Williams of Deerfield, to Pontosuc, now Pittsfield, Massachusetts. where he later became known as a strong Loyalist in common with other members of the Williams family. Colonel William Williams died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1785.
Daybook entries from 1751 reveal that Williams bought shoes for Calab Sharp (also known as Sharp Calab.) Originally enslaved by Colonel Oliver Partridge of nearby Hatfield, Calab Sharp was apparently under Williams' control by the early 1750s. Entries from 1752 included charges for mending "yr negroes" and for purchasing "yr negros pumps." Entries in Elijah Williams' account book for 1755 and 1758 refer to Caleb Sharp as "Col Wm Negro." William Williams also rented Prince, who was enslaved by Joseph Barnard. Williams' own daybook from the strore he kept in Deerfield include many entries in the hand of his clerk, John Bush, a free African American man originally from Shrewsbury who served in the militia in the area as well as working for Williams. John Bush was a talented powder horn carver with a distinctive calligraphic style. Bush was captured at Fort William Henry and died en route to France as a prisoner of war.
Colonel William Williams married Miriam Tyler in 1733; the couple had no children and Miriam died in 1748. Williams remarried Sarah Wells of Deerfield shortly before moving to Pontoosuc. They had five children, including William Williams who became a military surgeon and died of smallpox while serving in New York in 1760. The horn John Bush carved for him is now in the collections of Historic Deerfield, Inc.
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