A. D. Williams

AKA: Rev. Alvin Dighton Williams

Born 1825-10-13 Smithfield, PA (USA)

Died 1894-12-31
Kenesaw, NE (USA)

Buried
Kenesaw, NE (USA)
Kenesaw Cemetery

Williams was the first permanent settler of Kenesaw, Nebraska, arriving in a covered wagon in August, 1872 and his career is noted in the town's online history. He was a minister, teacher and newspaper publisher. He started the Kenesaw Times newspaper in 1875 and helped found the Freewill Baptist Church there. He started churches in several cities, including Lincoln, Nebraska. He helped establish a regional Baptist cooperative organization and wrote a book about it. His account of the Easter Sunday blizzard of 1873 is often cited.

Places Lived

Clinton, NY
Lawrence, MA
West Virginia

Kenesaw, NE

Author Of

Nonfiction

Keywords

Early Settlers--Nebraska; Church History; Baptist Church; Blizzard of 1873

Education

Degree, 1849, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Doctor of Divinity, 1871, Quincy College, Quincy, IL

Occupation

Minister
Teacher
Superintendent
College President
Postmaster
Publisher/Editor, Freewill Baptist Quarterly
Author

Places Worked

Kenesaw Times
Freewill Baptist Quarterly
Superintendent of Schools, Lawrence, MA
Superintendent of Schools, West Virginia
President of the Northwestern and West Virginia Colleges
Principal of Nebraska State Normal School

Associations

Member of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture

Bibliography

The Rhode Island Freewill Baptist Pulpit.
The Support of the Ministry.
Memorials of the Free Communion Baptists.
Four Years of Co-operation in Nebraska and Kansas: Free Will Baptist Associations. 1888.

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