Thomas Hickman Williams Explained

Thomas Hickman Williams
Jr/Sr:United States Senator
State:Mississippi
Term Start:November 12, 1838
Term End:March 4, 1839
Predecessor:James F. Trotter
Successor:John Henderson
Birth Date:20 January 1801
Birth Place:Williamson County, Tennessee
Death Place:Pontotoc, Mississippi
Party:Democratic

Thomas Hickman Williams (January 20, 1801May 3, 1851) was a United States Senator from Mississippi. Born in Williamson County, Tennessee, he attended the common schools, moved to Mississippi and settled in Pontotoc County, and engaged in planting. He was appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James F. Trotter and served from November 12, 1838, to March 3, 1839. He ran as a candidate in the 1843 Mississippi gubernatorial election, losing to Albert G. Brown.[1] He was secretary and treasurer of the University of Mississippi at Oxford from 1845 to 1851 and was known as "Father of the State University," being the first to propose it and also aiding to secure it.

Williams died on his plantation south of Pontotoc in 1851; interment was in the private cemetery on the family estate.

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Notes and References

  1. Book: Busbee, Westley F. . Mississippi: A History . John Wiley and Sons . 2015 . 1st . 161–162.