WILLIAMS, John

Date of birth:  About 1820 – Springfield, Kentucky
Date of death: January 1893 – Oakland, California

The Franklin Democrat, Friday, February 3, 1893, page 1 column 4

LOCAL AND PERSONAL.

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A letter from M. R. Slater, Tucson, Arizona, to a friend in this city was re­ceived Monday containing the following notice of the death of a former Johnson county citizen:

“Uncle” John Williams, one of the oldest trotting horse drivers in the country, was found dead in bed in the hotel on the Oakland race track early yesterday morning. The old man had been failing since last November, and, although he was about on Wednesday last, was very feeble. His death was due to asthma and old age. “Uncle” John was seventy-three years of age, and had in his day driven some of the most noted trotting horses of this country. He was the first man to drive a half mile in a race in 1:03, accomplishing the feat with the then noted trotter, Queen of the West. He was born in Springfield, Ky., and had recently been employed by D. C. McCarty. Ben Wright, pro­prietor of the hotel in which he died, took charge of his remains, and will see to the funeral arrangements.

Submitted by Mark McCrady and Cathea Curry