Capt. John Williams

John was born in Groton, MA on July 4, 1746 to John and Elizabeth (Cutter) Williams. He was the youngest of their three children, and the only son.

On January 19, 1769 he married Molley Everett of Attleboro, MA. He was recorded of being “of Concord", so he may have been living there at the time. They had twelve children, though sadly half of them would die before their fifth birthday.

Capt. Williams was an ardent Patriot, and served during the Revolutionary War. He marched as a Sergeant in Capt. Asa Lawrence’s Company of Minutemen on the Lexington Alarm of April 19, 1775. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant a week later, and then 1st Lieutenant that June during the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1777 he was commissioned Captain in the 12th Regiment. He joined Vose's 1st Regiment in 1781, and remained in it until it disbanded in late 1783.

In 1779 he was a charter member of the Washington Lodge No. 10 of Masons, formed by and for men serving in the Continental Army. He was also a charter member of the Order of the Cincinnati.

Capt. Williams died in Groton on July 1, 1822 just a few days shy of his 76th birthday, and is buried in the Old Burying Ground.