Abraham J. Williams (February 26, 1781 – December 30, 1839) was an American politician from Boone County, Missouri. He was the third Governor of Missouri, serving an unelected interim term in 1825 and 1826 following the death of Frederick Bates. He also served in the Missouri State Senate.
Biography
Williams was born on February 26, 1871, in Hardy County, Virginia, to Vincent and Elizabeth Williams. Williams was born physically challenged, with one leg severely atrophied. Very little is known about his childhood or education, as even friends considered him a very private man. Abraham Williams arrived in the Missouri Territory sometime between 1816 and 1820 and settled in Franklin, Howard County, Missouri. At the time Franklin was a hotbed of political activity in the soon-to-be state, with many prominent men in early Missouri history residing there. In 1820 Williams moved a few miles away to Nashville, Missouri, a small community in Boone County where he and business partner James Harris ran a tobacco warehouse.