Joseph Lanier Williams

Williams was born near Knoxville, Tennessee on October 23, 1810. After completing preparatory studies, he attended the University of East Tennessee and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Knoxville, Tennessee. He married Malinda R. Williams and they had four children.[1]

Williams was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seven Congresses. He served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843.[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1842. He engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C.

Williams was appointed judge of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court by President Abraham Lincoln, and served in that capacity from 1861 to 1865.[3] Historian Doane Robinson wrote of Williams, and his contemporary B. P. Williston, that "[n]either Williston or Williams left a record, or made an impression from which any adequate judgment of their efficiency may be ascertained".[4]

Williams died in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 14, 1865 (aged 55 years, 52 days). He is interred in Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville. He was the son of U.S. Senator John Williams.[5]

• United States Congress. "Joseph Lanier Williams (id: W000524)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.