William Williams 



Although not one of the earhest instrument makers in Boston, 

 but certainly one of the more significant, was William Williams 

 (1737/8-1792). He was the son of Capt. John Williams, a shop- 

 keeper who died on March 22, 1748, at the age of 41, and who was 

 buried in King's Chapel Burial Ground. ^^ 



William Williams was born in 1737 or 1738. He was ten years 

 of age when his father died, and he had two brothers and two 

 sisters. His father left a substantial estate of £6,575, of which 

 £4,544/9/4 was for the inventory of the shop merchandise. One of 

 the appraisers for his estate, Jotham Maverick, married the 

 widowed Mrs. Williams less than a year later, on January 20, 

 1748/9.«« 



In 1770 William Williams established himself as a mathematical 

 instrument maker and cloekmaker at No. 1 Long Wharf, at the 

 Crown Coffee House, as it was then known. The shop was located 

 on the corner of State and Chatham Streets, on premises owned 

 by Robert Shillcock. 



^*" Report of the Committee on the Rooms," Proceedings of the Bostonian 

 Society (1917), no. l,p. 14. 

 ^ Ibid., p. 15. 



Figure 47. — ^Quadrant, showing signature of Thomas Greenough. Photo courtesy 

 Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford. 



93 



