X00303 Update on Who is Martha Williams

Now that I have a bit more information about the Williams family, I have taken another look at the question of Who is Martha Williams (X00303).

As mentioned previously, she is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in the same plot as some of the other members of the Thomas Williams family and I was wondering if there was a connection.

Martha Williams was born Martha Frost and married Henry H. Williams. She was the daughter of John Frost and Mary Williams and since the surname Williams appears on both sides of the marriage, it's not entire clear as to which side the connection could come from.

I thought that Mary Williams could be a sister of Thomas Williams, as he did have a sister named Mary. But Mary Williams, the sister of Thomas Williams was born in 1791, likely in Gloucenstershire and the Mary Williams who married John Frost was born in 1815 in Wales according to my research.

Henry H. Williams is the son of Lewis Williams and Orrilla Healey. It would appear that Lewis Williams was also born in Wales in 1807.

So both Williams connections to Martha Frost WIlliams originated in Wales and the timing doesn't seem to match with the Thomas Williams family. So it would appear that if there is a connection between the two families, it goes further back than that.

Update on X00303: Who is Martha Williams

An update on X00303:

According to this article posted on the Grey Roots website, John Frost's wife Mary Williams was of Welsh descent whereas the Thomas Williams family originated from around Bristol in England, so that doesn't appear to be the connection.

Also, when I was at Greenwood Cemetery in the summery, I wasn't able to find the stone.

X00303: Who is Martha Williams?

Recently I posted about Tattie Williams and the Williams plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound. In that post, I mentioned that all of the names in the plot had been identified except for Martha Williams.



The burial listings for Greenwood Cemetery indicate that Martha Williams died 1 April 1873 and was buried 20 February 1874, which seems a little odd. Her age was listed as 0, which might be the case, or it might be that her age was not recorded in the records.

So, I first had a look through the Ontario death records and did not find a Martha Williams who died in 1873. Then I had a look through the Owen Sound newspapers and found the following death notice in the Owen Sound Advertiser for Thursday, April 10, 1873, p2 Col 8:



So then I went back to the Ontario death registrations and then found a record for a Martha Frost who died on 1 April 1873 in Owen Sound and was the wife of Henry H. Williams. She was born about 1858.



This would appear to be the correct Martha Williams that is buried in Greenwood. The only problem is that it still doesn't identify who she is and what her connection is to the Thomas Williams family. So I next tracked down a marriage record between Henry H. Williams and Martha Frost. They were married in Owen Sound on the 14th May 1870.

Henry H. Williams was born about 1854 and was the son of Lewis Williams & Orella Healey.
Martha Frost was born about 1858 and was the daughter of John Frost & Mary Williams.

Now here is where it gets interesting: both of them have parents with the surname Williams. So, could Lewis Williams be the connection with Thomas Williams? Or perhaps it is Mary Williams. Or maybe both of them? Or it could be neither of them and the cemetery recorded the wrong burial location. More research to come.....