. This essay
below can be found on page 269 of A History of Lewisburg and North Logan
County, Kentucky, written by Era Stinson and Sue Spurlock and published
by the Lewisburg/North Logan Historical Commission, Inc., 1999.
FAMILY OF REVEREND GRAY WILLIAMS Rev. Gray Williams (1783-1856) was the patriarch of one of the early north Logan Williams families. Early in life, he chose the ministry as a vocation and was admitted into the Virginia Confence of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1806. Having served churches in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, he died in Logan County and was laid to rest at Kennerly's Chapel Cemetery in Henrysville, Kentucky. Rev. Williams' parents were Christopher (ca. 1748-1786) and Elizabeth (Soward ) Williams (ca. 1748- 1806) of Northampton County, North Carolina. His paternal grandparents were Thomas (ca. 1972-1754) and Jane (Golightly) Williams (ca. 1720-1771) of Brunswick County, Virginia. Rev. Williams married Nancy Dorinda Taylor (1792-1854) of Powhatan County, Virginia, while he was serving as Methodist circuit rider in that area. By 1818, the couple had joined several of Rev. Williams' siblings in Robertson County, Tennessee. One of Rev. Williams' land patents in that county was signed by Sam Houston, when the latter was governor of Tennessee. In the early 1830's, Rev. Williams and his family moved to the Miller's Valley area of the Todd-Logan border, where his three oldest sons met the young ladies they would marry. Rev. Williams and Nancy eventually returned to Robertson County, where they were counted on the 1850 Census, but their two eldest sons remained in Todd County (1849 Census). By 1856, three of the Williams sons had purchased farms about three miles south of the present-day Elk Lick Church, near what is locally known as the old George Wilcutt farm (part of which was earlier known as the Cleavenger farm). A few years later, Gray and Nancy's youngest son, John W., as well as their three daughters, also located in this general area. The couple's four sons and three daugters were Wesley Ferguson (1814-1869) who married Eliza Jane King, Bedford Gray (1816-1888) who married Pauline Adeline King, Christopher Taylor (1818-1890) who married Elizabeth Peyton Cleavinger, Nancy Taylor (1823-1900) who married James M. Terry, Elizabeth (1827-1900) who married Noah S. Walker, Virginia Frances (1830-1893) who married William J. Walker and John W. (1834-1902) who married Sarah C. Walker. Note: William Gower, retired druggist, is a descendant of Rev. Williams' oldest brother, Thomas Williams, who remained in Robertson County, Tennessee.
