Alpheus Starkey WILLIAMS, Congress, MI (1810-1878)

WILLIAMS, Alpheus Starkey, a Representative from Michigan; born in Saybrook, Middlesex County, Conn., September 20, 1810; was graduated from Yale College in 1831; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Detroit, Mich.; judge of probate 1840-1844; editor of the Detroit Daily Advertiser 1843-1847; served in the war with Mexico; commissioned lieutenant colonel of the First Michigan Infantry December 8, 1847; mustered out July 29, 1848; postmaster of Detroit 1849-1853; commissioned brigadier general of Michigan Volunteers April 24, 1861, and of United States Volunteers May 17, 1861; brevetted major general of Volunteers January 12, 1865; mustered out January 15, 1866; unsuccessful nominee for Governor of Michigan in 1866; Minister Resident to San Salvador 1866-1869; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses and served from March 4, 1875, until his death in Washington, D.C., December 21, 1878; chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Forty-fifth Congress); interment in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.

Bibliography

Charnley, Jeffrey Gordon. “‘Neglected Honor’: The Life of General A.S. Williams of Michigan, 1810-1878.” Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 1983; Williams, Alpheus S. From the Cannon’s Mouth: The Civil War Letters of General Alpheus S. Williams. Edited with an introduction by Milo M. Quaife. Detroit: Wayne State Press and the Detroit Historical Society, 1959.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present