Early Life
Williams was born in Hanover County, Virginia and orphaned before he was twelve. He moved into the home of his brother, John, in Granville County, North Carolina. John, being a lawyer, gave him a basic education before James set out on his own. He settled on the Little River in South Carolina.
By 1773, Williams had started a farm and built a mill in the Ninety-Six District on the western frontier (in what is modern Laurens County, South Carolina), and was an officer in the local militia. Tensions rose before the revolution, as many of his neighbors took Loyalist positions. Williams, however, supported the American cause. He joined the local Committee of Safety, and was elected to the state's Provincial Congress in 1775 and again in 1776.
Read more about this topic: James Williams (Revolutionary War)
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