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