Early in Uriah's life he lost both of his parents.  He was placed 
with a fmily named Holloman,  who operated a sheep ranch in Angelina County, 
Texas.  It was the period of the Civil War and the Holloman boys who were 
older than Uriah went into the Army and Uriah we left to do the chores and 
herd the sheep.  This he did until the return of the Holloman boys.  Uriah 
then moved to Coryell County, married, and started a family of his own.
    Mary Elizabeth Painter was the oldest child of David Painter, who died 
from a "fever" contracted while in Confederate service in 1862.  The family 
lived near old Fort Gates and later Straws Mill in Coryell County.  Their 
origin was Scotland.  Mary Elizabeth and Uriah were married in 1870.  They 
purchased a farm near Coryell Creek and lived there the remainder of their 
lives. Unfortunately, Mary Elizabeth died in childbirth, as did her infant 
son.
    The children of Uriah and Mary were all born in Texas and are listed 
below:
Clara (Williams) Shipman 1874 - 1893
Elizabeth (Williams) Meharg 1875 - 1959
Emma (Williams) Holmes 1879 -
Robert (Bud) Williams 1882 - 1958
Willis Williams & 1884 - 1974
Walter Williams (Twins) 1884 - 
Bert Williams 1887 - 1973
Lanie (Williams) Morris 1889 - 
    A younger brother of Mary Elizabeth, Robert, lived nearby in the White
 Hall area all of his life.  His descendents are still worthy residents of 
that area.
    Texas was still frontier country during the early years of the family.  
Uriah bought his first farm of 274 acres for a dollar per acre.  Later, he 
bought 26 acres more, for which he traded a horse, saddle, and a pair of 
boots.  The Indians were gone by that time, but there were numerous rough 
characters.  It was not too long after the Civil War and times were hard.  
The country was restless, but at the same time there was a sense of growth. 
Settlers were coming in not only from nearby states, but also from abroad.  
As measured by present standards life was hard and rewards low and 
unpredictable. Nevertheless, they persisted and with a sense of good humor 
and neighborly helpfulness which would be very hard to match today.
    Educational opportunities were very limited - generally a month or two 
per year.  It is greatly to the credit of the Williams family that they were 
in the forefront of education whenever possible.  Uriah collected money and 
helped build the first school house on Coryell Creek.  If you learned to read, 
write, and do simple addition and subtraction, that was about all you could 
expect.  Additional education, if any, was up to you.  Yet by diligent reading 
and study it was possible to become an educated person, and some did.
    In addition to farming, Uriah was a fiddler and often played for nearby 
dances, After his fiddling days were over, he grew a long white beard which 
his grandchildren loved to admire.  He was fond of sitting in a rocking chair 
on his front porch and stroking that long white beard - a patriarch in this 
time.
    I have a keen recollection of the first William home.  It was of logs, the 
cracks being filled with some sort of clay or plaster.  How the family fit into 
it will always be a mystery to me - four boys and four girls with their parents!  
There was a kitchen, which also served as an eating area.  And of course, there 
was the fireplace.  This, together with the kitchen stove, were the only means 
of heating. I do not remember bedrooms.  Privacy was at a premium. The 
"facilities" were outdoors of course.  The fireplace and stove used wood for 
fuel, which was generally to be had for the cutting and hauling.  No one 
thought of paying for it.
    I also have recollection of my step-grandmother Williams (Nancy Coskrey 
Williams) making soap by leaching the wood ashes and heating with the 
"rendering" of the hog fat.  The soap was not as good as today's, but it  
served its purpose.  A large pot of cast iron holding about twenty gallons 
was heated on a fire outdoors.  This pot had multiple uses - not only for 
soap making, but also to boil clothes on wash day.  Water was also heated 
to boiling in the pot and the hog's carcass dunked into it on slaughtering 
day. This loosened the lard which could them be removed easily.
    Later the Williams built a conventional frame house, which may have had 
indoor "facilities," but to me it never had the fascination of the log house.  
It is still in use.
    In spite of the hardships, people's attitudes were usually cheerful and 
highly independent. The people were almost universally religious.  Within 
my family the variation was from Presbyterian to some form of Baptist (Uriah 
Williams was instrumental in getting the church built on Coryell Creek).  But 
regardless of denomination there we a helpful attitude towards neighbors.  
That attitude was the only relief for the poor, widows and orphans.  There 
was no publicly financed relief. The church was a strong factor in this.  
It served not only as the conscience of the community, but it also was a 
special influence which brought people together as no other factor did.