Williams may have worked as an instrument maker in Marble- 

 head before returning to his native Boston. According to Felt,^°*' 

 an instrument maker named William Williams at Marblehead 

 advertised in the Salem newspapers in the early 1770's. However, 

 in 1768 Williams was producing instruments from an address in 

 King Street, Boston. (See figure 48.) An advertisement inserted 

 by Williams appeared in the March 12, 1770, issue of The Boston 

 Gazette. It was this same issue that reported the Boston Massacre. 

 One of the victims was Williams' step-brother Samuel Maverick, 

 the son of his stepfather Jotham Maverick by a first marriage. 



In 1773 Williams married Joyce Shillcock, the daughter of 

 his landlord. During the Revolutionary War, Williams saw 

 active service as a private in Captain Mills' company, of Col. 

 Jeduthan Baldwin's regiment of artificers, during the years 1777- 

 1779. In 1780 he served in Captain Pattin's company of General 

 Knox's artillery, which was stationed at West Point.^°^ 



With the conclusion of the war Williams returned to the craft of 

 instrument-making in his shop, at No. 1 Long Wharf. In 1782 

 his wife, Joyce, inherited the property from her mother, the 

 widow Hannah Shillcock, following the latter's death in that 

 year. In the following May it is recorded that Williams purchased 

 the warehouse and land on the north side of State Street from 

 Benjamin Brown, a trader. By a separate deed, he and his wife 

 released to Brown the warehouse and land which had been the 

 property of his father-in-law in exchange for a clear title to one- 

 half share of the store and land under it "which is next to the 

 street called King Street." On February 7, 1784, he bought a 

 share of the lower division at Long Wharf, No. 7, from Arnold 

 Welles. On May 17 of the same year he succeeded in buying out 

 Brown's half share of the lower division of Long Wharf at Nos. 

 1 and 7, and at the same time he deeded to Brown one-half 

 share of No. 7 Long Wharf, together with all its dockage and 

 wharfage. Finally, on January 20, 1785, Williams and his wife 

 deeded to Brown all rights to land of No. 7 Long Wharf, reserving 

 for himself his rights in the flats, wharfage, and dockage. 



On March 23, 1787, Williams deeded to Joseph Helyer, a 

 blockmaker, the store and land under same, and half the wharfage 

 properly belonging to Lot No. 1. On October 20 of the same 



^^ Felt, op. cit. (footnote 38), p. 173. 



ioi"\Yilliam Williams," in Thwing Catalogue, Massachusetts Historical Society. 



94 



