Biography

Both parents of Marylander Otho Williams died when he was 13, leaving him in charge of his seven younger siblings with only a small estate. To get by, he apprenticed with his aunt’s husband as a clerk for Frederick County, later taking over for his uncle. At 18, according to a friend, “‘He was about six feet high, elegantly formed; his whole appearance and conduct much beyond his years; his manner, such as made friends of all who knew him.’”[1] Five years later in 1767, he became a clerk in Baltimore County.

A year after entering business in 1774, Williams joined a militia rifle company as a lieutenant. It was ordered almost immediately to the Siege of Boston. During battles for New York City under Gen. George Washington, Williams’ unit was posted in woods below Fort Washington on Manhattan. It held off several attacks by Hessian troops before being forced back into the fort, where he was captured. During the last charge he was shot in the groin, but eventually recovered. He was held 15 months, first given a lot of freedom on Long Island. Then, maybe because he stood up to a British nobl