Year: 1867

| honorable, never resortlDg to what is
termed snap practice to gain an advan-
tagc over his opponent. Had he remain
ed at the bar, few would have met with
greater success in that most difficult la
borieus and honorable profession.


At large and respectable Conven-
tion of the old Whig party of this county,
held on the 4th of June, 1851, Judge
Williams then young in years and in his
profession, and without judicial expert
ence, without solicitation on his part, was
nominated by acclamation for the respon-
sible position which he now holds, and
was placed upon the judicial ticket of
that party with the Hon. Walter Forward,
as the candidate for President Judge of the
District Court, and Hon. William b.
Mcclure as the candidate for President
Judge of the Courts of Common Pleas,
&c. His opponent at the election in the
fall was Judge Shaler, a lawyer of emil
nent ability and learning, who added to
his other qualifications for the position
an experience of several years upon the
bench, to which the Democratic party
sought again to elevate him. The result
of the election showed that the action of
the Convention in nominating Judge
Williams, without dissenting voice, was
pecuniarily acceptable to the people. He
ran ahead of his ticket in the ward in
which he lived, in 'the old Democratic
Third Ward and in the county, beating
his able opponent 2,245, while Judge
Forwards majority over Judge Hepburn
was only 1,22S and Judge M'Clure's
over James S. Craft only LILY.


{" So well, faithfully, impartially and
satisfactorily did Judge Williams dis
charge the duties of his Office, and so
learned, upright and useful Judge did
he prove himself to be, in the estimation
of all men, that at the end of his first ju-
dicial term of ten years, in 1861, he was
nominated by acclamation by the then
two great parties of the country, and was
reelected without opposition from any
quarter. Such renewed evidence of pop
ularity and appreciation in ones own
neighborhood and among men of all par
ties, are very rare, and most clearly FORE
shadow the very best fattering vote which
the Judge will receive from the people of
this county on the second Tuesday of
October next.


"Judge Williams manner and bearing
are always pleasing. In social intercourse,
he is the life of the circle in which he
mingles = Cheerful, lively and witty,
never by look or word, Intentionally,
wounding the feeling, or speaking i'll of
any one, he makes friends of all His
extensive reading, the large information
upon all subjects, makes his society
sought for by the learned and scientific
In history, in classics, and in the natural
and metaphysical sciences, there are few
more thorough and extensive students
than Judge Williams.


"Judge Williams moral and religious
character is beyond reproach. Tempe
rate and chaste in all things, truthful in
his words and honest and upright in all
dealings, neither by word nor by act does
be ever offend public decency, or bring
the cause of sound and moral true reli-
gion into reproach. Religious without
Phariseeism or bigotry, while he selects
and cherishes his own church connections,
in which he has ever been a consistent,
active and leading professor, he cheerfully,
and as matter of principle, comedies
the right of judging and determining
for themselves to all other men. No one
ever heard him denounce any man, or
any sect differing with him upon theo-
logical dogmas.


In politics, Judge Williams was at
the first Whig of the Clay and Webster
school holding with the former that pro-
lection to some extent was necessary to
encourage and foster the industrial of
Pennsylvania, and with the latter that
there was no object in our politics so
much to be constantly kept in mind and
maintained, in every event, as the perpet-
ual union of these States. When the ex-
igencies of the times gave birth to the
Republican party, his far-seeing patriot
ism, and his long cherished love of the
Union, led him to cast his votes and give
his influence, so far as it was consistent
with his official station, in favor Of the
principles and candidates of that party
During the rebellion he. supported the
Government and the armies of the Union
by every means in his power, upholding
the credit and authority of the former,
and encouraging by constant faith the
glorious success of the latter Those in
innate with him will not readily forget
his energetic utterance against treason
and traitors, and the strong and emphatic
manner with which he was wont to de-
clare that the Union must and should, at
all hazards, be preserved. While no
partisan or ultrast in politics, he is in.fa-
vor Of improvement and reform when the
changes of the time and wants of the peo-
pie demand them.


" The judicial position which Judge
Williams has held for over fifteen years
is as important and responsible as any in
the State. 1t has been adorned by some
of the best legal minds, and it is not say
ing too much of him to say that he has