Williams, Nathan W. (1842-1923)

WILLIAMS

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/21/2019 at 16:51:46

Nathan W. Williams
May 2, 1842 - May 12, 1923

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.538)
N.W. WILLIAMS, contractor and builder, No. 123 West Broadway, is a native of Ashtabula County, Ohio. He was born May 2, 1842, son of James and Sarah (Woodruff) Williams, both natives of New York state and descendants of old Puritan families. When the subject of our sketch was four years old his father died, and when he was twelve he left his native state and went with his mother to Michigan and located near Coldwater. After remaining there three years, they removed to Warren, Jo Davies County, Illinois, where they lived one year.

In the fall of 1857, they located in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, where the mother died the following autumn. In December of that year, 1858, Mr. WILLIAMS and his two sisters came to Council Bluffs, where he has since made his home. In 1860 he began a two years' apprenticeship to the trade of bricklaying and plastering, but before his time expired, in August 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 29th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served six months, until February 1862, but was not accepted. He then returned to Council Bluffs and completed his trade, after which he worked as a journeyman until 1870 when he commenced contracting.

In 1883 he turned his whole attention to contracting and has since been extensively engaged in the same. During the year 1883, he took the contract for 70 houses. His annual business the past two years aggregates $45,000. During the busy season, Mr. WILLIAMS employs about 30 men. On upper Broadway he has a brick-yard where he manufactures his own brick besides supplying the trade. Some of the contracts he has taken are numbered among the best business blocks and private residences. In connection with the business already referred to, he also has a wholesale flour and feed store, and deals in wood and coal, lime and all building materials. He handles the Diamond Bluff flour of St. Peter's Minnesota, and is agent for the Acme Cement Plaster, one of the best plasters in existence, just entering the market in this city.

Politically, Mr. Williams is a stanch Republican. He is a member of the A.O.U.W., Pottawattamie Lodge No. 46, and of the Modern Woodmen, Hazel Camp.

Mr. WILLIAMS was married July 21, 1863, to Miss Charlotte E. ARMSTRONG, a native of Nauvoo, Illinois, born May 6, 1844. They are the parents of seven children: Fannie, Ralph, Mark, Stella, Olive, Emma and Ruth. Fannie, Stella and Olive are deceased. Mr. Williams and his family reside at No. 111 Stuttsman Street. He is the owner of a number of city properties, 11 in all.