Title: Williams Family Papers, 1908-1929
Administrative/Biographical History
Eli W. and Erie Williams were long-time teachers in Morgan County Kentucky. Born in 1872 and 1883 in Johnson County, Mr. Williams first attained his teacher certificate in 1895 in Morgan County, while Mrs. Williams earned hers at Owsley County in 1912. Mr. Williams attended Eastern Kentucky State Normal School from 1910 to 1913, then a primary-education teachers college where he earned his advanced degree. While at Eastern, Mr. Williams was involved in an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, where he plays Lane, Algernon's butler. Mr. Williams' senior motto, "A Divine Spirit can see beauty in the humblest plant of God's creation," perhaps best exemplifies his and Mrs. Williams' decades of teaching in Eastern Kentucky. Eli W. Williams passed away in 1959 in Scott County at 86. Erie Williams had survived her husband by 15 years when she died in 1974 in Lexington. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are buried with each other in Georgetown cemetery.