Texas Pioneer, Businessman, and Freemason

Samuel May Williams was the eldest child of Howell and Dorothy Williams, and was born on October 4, 1795, in Providence, Rhode Island. His father was a sea captain, and instilled a love of the sea and things nautical in young Sam Williams.

His education was in Providence, R.I., and at the age of 15 he became an apprentice to his uncle, Nathaniel F. Williams, a Baltimore commission merchant. This apprenticeship afforded him the opportunity to travel, and soon he journeyed to Buenos Aires. It was here that he mastered the Spanish language and Latin American business practice. Upon his return to the United States, he settled in New Orleans.

In 1822, using an assumed name, E. Eccleston, Sam Williams went to Texas. It is unclear why he used the assumed name; some say it was because of a business deal gone bad; others say it was to escape creditors; and some say it was because of a woman – but whatever the case, Sam Williams set forth and became one of Stephen F. Austin’s original “300” settlers.

A year later, Samuel May Williams resumed his true identity, and became Stephen F. Austin’s translator and secretary. For the next thirteen years, Williams was Austin's lieutenant; he wrote deeds, kept records, and directed colonial activities during Austin’s absences. In 1826, Sam Williams was named postmaster of San Felipe and was appointed revenue collector and dispenser of stamped paper by the state of Coahuila, Mexico. For these services he received eleven leagues (49,000 acres) of land which he selected on strategic waterways including Oyster Creek and Buffalo Bayou.

In 1833, Sam Williams entered into a partnership with Thomas F. McKinney and formed McKinney and Williams, a mercantile company, and they soon dominated the Brazos cotton trade.

Williams and Texas Independence

When Texas declared independence from Mexico, the firm of McKinney and Williams used its credit in the United States to purchase arms and raise funds for Texas. As the company relied heavily on maritime commerce, both McKinney and Williams were strong supporters of a Navy for Texas. They were successful in obtaining letters of Marque and Reprisal from the newly formed Texas government (letters granting them permission to act as warships for the Texas government), and they set about immediately to arm some of their existing fleet.

Sam Williams traveled to Washington DC to negotiate with the US government for a loan to allow the Republic of Texas to buy warships, and McKinney became the captain of his firm’s retrofitted sailing ship “San Felipe”. When Stephen F. Austin was released from Mexican prison, McKinney was dispatched to transport Austin, by sea, back to Texas. At the end of the voyage and as they approached the Texas shore, the San Felipe encountered the Mexican warship “Correo”, which was attempting to capture a US merchant ship that was unloading lumber at McKinney and William’s dock! McKinney was hesitant to attack the Mexican ship with Stephen F. Austin on board his ship, so Austin was put on a smaller boat and taken to shore. The San Felipe then attempted to attack the Correo. Both ships were sailing vessels and relied upon the wind for power, and the wind that day was such that neither ship could gain an advantage. They spent the rest of the day (for lack of a better way of saying it) taking pot shots at each other. The wind was no better the next morning, so one of McKinney and William’s steamships, using the load of lumber from the US vessel as fuel, steamed out to the San Felipe and towed her over to an ideal attack location, and the Correo surrendered! The ship was seized and the men on board taken prisoner. McKinney was sure that the United States would try them for piracy, as they had attacked a US merchantman. The United States, however, refused to do so.

When Sam Williams learned that the United States had refused to hear the case against the men of the Correo, he decided that it was time to stop negotiating for a loan to buy warships, and take positive action. He purchased the newly built “Invincible” using his own credit, and this ship became the flagship of the Texas Navy. Sam Williams thus became know as the “Father of the Texas Navy.” Before the revolution was over, McKinney and Williams invested nearly $100,000 (in 1836 US dollars) in the cause of the Republic of Texas.

Samuel Williams and the Republic of Texas

As an investor in the Galveston City Company, Sam Williams aided in developing the city by helping to construct the Tremont Hotel as well as the commission house and wharf. In 1842, Henry Howell Williams assumed his brother's interest in the firm, which became H. H. Williams and Company, and Sam Williams concentrated on banking. Under William’s leadership, the Galveston Commission house received special permission from the Texas Congress to found a bank to issue and circulate paper money as an aid to commerce.

Sam Williams later ran for the United States Congress in 1846, but was unsuccessful. In 1848, Williams activated a charter he received in 1835, obtained from Coahuila and Texas and approved by the Republic of Texas in 1836, to open the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Galveston, which also printed its own money. This venture was eventually closed because of unpopular sentiment about banking that prevailed during that time.

Samuel Williams and Masonry

Samuel May Williams was made a Mason at Independence Royal Arch Lodge #2 in New York, so he was a Mason when he came to Texas. There is some evidence that Williams and Stephen F. Austin worked together to attempt to obtain a charter from The Grand Lodge of Mexico to start a lodge in San Felipe, but by this time there was considerable unrest between the citizens of Texas and the Santa Anna’s government, and the request
was dropped. Later, Williams would affiliate with Harmony Lodge #6 in Galveston, and found the San Felipe Encampment #1 of Knights Templar. He was the first High Priest of Royal Arch Masons in Texas, and the first Eminent Commander of Knights Templar in Texas.

Although Williams is not listed as one of the original members of the Grand Lodge of Texas, it was very soon after this body’s founding that he became a member. That he was not one of the original members is curious, given his history with Austin and his early work to bring Masonry to Texas. He was active in Grand Lodge, however, and served as the Grand Master of Masons in Texas in 1840.

Later Life

Sam Williams lived quietly with his wife, Sarah Patterson Scott, on a country estate west of the city of Galveston. He died September 13, 1858, and was buried with a Knight Templar ceremony. He was survived by his wife and four of his nine children.