williams, born february 11, 1857 at fort hamilton in brooklyn, new york, was the son of civil war general thomas williams and mary neosho williams. his father died in the battle of baton rouge in 1862. gershom published his father's personal papers. his grandfather was john r. williams, the first mayor of the city. williams' great-grandfather, thomas williams, settled in detroit in 1765 and the williams family remained there from that time. prior to detroit, the williams family had settled in albany, new york in 1690. his paternal ancestors were roman catholics who at some point converted to the episcopal church. his mother was the daughter of dr. joseph bailey, who served in the u.s. army. her dutch ancestors were from the hudson river valley area and new england. williams was a member of the sons of the american revolution.