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297:, wrote a biographical sketch of Ephraim Jr. in 1802. He described the college's benefactor as follows: "In his person, he was large and fleshy...His address was easy, and his manners pleasing and conciliating. Affable and facetious, he could make himself agreeable in all companies; and was very generally esteemed, respected, and beloved."
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on
September 8, 1755, at the age of 40. Members of his regiment hid his body after the battle to prevent it from being desecrated. They later buried Williams nearby. His body was disinterred in the early 20th century and moved to the chapel at Williams College. A stone etched with Williams' initials
174:, on February 24, 1714, and was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died giving birth to a second son, Thomas, in 1718. His family was influential in western Massachusetts; they were preeminent in a group of families then called the "River Gods" (referencing the
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However, this suggestion comes mostly from on-line commentators, who "just repeat earlier questionable, undocumented interpretations" without citation, and no reputable scholars "connect this 'arrant Coward' to the French and Indian War hero."
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on it and the year of his death still stands at the original Lake George gravesite just across the street from a monument erected by
Williams College alumni. The monument marks the site of the ambush, which was called the Bloody Morning Scout.
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The song "Yankee Doodle" was re-appropriated by the
British colonists from the derisive version of the Dutch settlers and turned into a rousing marching tune eventually making Yankee another name for American known world wide, with
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Fitch, Ebenezer (1802). "Historical sketch of the life and character of
Colonel Ephraim Williams, and of Williams College, founded in 1793, in consequence of his liberal bequest".
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Ephraim left his sizeable estate to support the founding of a free school on his land in western
Massachusetts, on the conditions that the town be renamed after him (
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in August 1746. After the war ended, Williams spent considerable effort urging the settlement of new townships in the western portion of
Massachusetts along the
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Correct date of birth of
February 24, 1714 is obtained from primary source: Massachusetts Vital Records "Newton Births 1674-1801 Book 1 Vol 106"
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In this section of
Ephraim William's Last Will and Testament (1755), Williams allocates his slaves to his brothers Josiah and Elijah Williams.
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apparently about
Ephraim Williams, who fought the French at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of the Bloody Morning Scout.
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In his youth, Ephraim Jr. was a sailor and travelled several times to Europe, visiting
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Ephraim Jr. was the eldest son of Ephraim Williams Sr. and Elizabeth Jackson Williams (d. 1718). He was born in
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There is some internet based commentary that suggests Ephraim Williams appears in an early version of "
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Williams was shot in the head and killed during an ambush by the French and their Indian allies in the
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and the line of defences in western Connecticut and Massachusetts. He was absent when the fort was
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at the end of the 1740s. Many of the early settlers in this region were soldiers stationed at
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9.4, Winter/Spring 2011, accessed on June 1, 2022. See the section on "Dr. Schuckburgh,
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February 24, 1714] – September 8, 1755) was a soldier and land owner from the
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However, within just a few years, Williams was again called into service as part of the
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494:"Yankee Doodle and the Country Dance from Lexington to Yorktown"
235:(1754–1763). Williams, now a colonel, took part in
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Military personnel killed in the French and Indian War
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People of Massachusetts in the French and Indian War
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at Williams College Special Collections and Archives
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Williams College archive Ephraim Williams Biography
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Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society
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18:Ephraim Williams (disambiguation)
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62:Province of Massachusetts Bay
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257:Declaration of Independence
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317:To fight for the Nation;
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502:The Lexington March
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166:Early life
50:1715-03-07
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533:. 1860
203:captain
525:. 1919
271:Legacy
58:Newton
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161:Life
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