Part of an old map of the San Jacinto area from the Texas Revolution

Veteran Bio

Texian Location:  Participant

The Kemp Sketch

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WILLIAMS, CHARLES--The name Charles Williams appears on the San Jacinto rolls printed in 1836 as a member of Captain Jesse Billingsley's Company of MINA VOLUNTEERS. Most of the men in Captain Billingsley's Company resided in what are now Bastrop and Travis Counties. No one by the name of Charles Williams applied for bounty land for having served in the army or for donation land for having participated in the Battle of San Jacinto.

There was a Charles Williams who was a member of Captain Andrew Briscoe's Company of LIBERTY VOLUNTEERS, November 21, 1835 and who joined Captain Benjamin D. Harper's Beaumont Company after the Battle of San Jacinto but the compiler has found no official proof that this is the man who participated in the Battle of San Jacinto. It would seem that had he been at San Jacinto he would have been a member of Captain Franklin Hardin's Company recruited in Liberty Municipality.

Following is a copy of the Certificate of Character issued to a Mr. Charles Williams: "San Augustine Octr. 27th 1834. I certify that Charles Williams is a native of Louisiana of the United States of the North is a man of Family consisting of five Persons and a man of good Moral habits and a good Citizen and friendly to the laws and Religion of this Country given at the instance of the party interested. (Signed) BENJAMIN LINDSEY Alcalde Wife and 3 children" Mr. Williams evidently obtained a colonial grant of one league of land for on February 3, 1838 he received Headright Certificate No. 6 for but one labor of land from the Jefferson County Board. In the certificate it is stated that Mr. Williams came to Texas in 1834. He was living in Jefferson County with his wife Emily, July 15, 1853 when he sold his Headright Certificate to Charles Bundick. He was a son of Hezekiah Williams.< P> NOTE: 1 league surveyed in Jefferson County.



Written by Louis W. Kemp, between 1930 and 1952. Please note that typographical and factual errors have not been corrected from the original sketches. The biographies have been scanned from the original typescripts, a process that sometimes allows for mistakes in the new text. Researchers should verify the accuracy of the texts' contents through other sources before quoting in publications. Additional information on the veteran may be available in the Herzstein Library.


Battle Statistics

  • Died in Battle: No
  • Rank: Private
  • Company: Capt. Jesse Billingsley

Personal Statistics

  • Birthplace: Louisiana
  • Came to Texas: 1834
  • Wife: Emily Williams
  • Children: Hezekiah Williams, two others