engraving after John Trumbull
In 1799, on October the 26th, the Tennessee State Legislature authorized the formation of Williamson County named in honor of Hugh Williamson, a signer of the United States Constitution.
Dr. Hugh Williamson (1735-1819)
Five years after making the long ocean crossing from Dublin, Ireland to America, the eldest son of John and Mary Williamson was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania on December 5, 1735.
John W. Williamson, a clothier by trade and devout Presbyterian, determined that his son Hugh would receive a first rate education. After graduating from the College of Philadelphia in 1757 where he excelled in mathematics, Hugh studied theology and was licensed to preach by the Philadelphia Presbytery. Not having the physical stamina or inclination to public preaching, he decided to pursue an education in medicine - earning degrees from universities in both Philadelphia & Europe. His intellectual pursuits were varied including astronomy and science providing entrance to the Royal Society, London, the American Philosophical Society, Pennsylvania and association with leading thinkers of his day such as Benjamin Franklin.
He was an eyewitness to the Boston Tea Party in 1773 and afterwards sailed to England on the Haley, a ship owned by John Hancock. While in England he warned the British government that unless their policies toward the colonies changed, civil war or revolution was the likely outcome. In an open letter to Lord Mansfield, later printed as a pamphlet in Philadelphia, he wrote in support of the colonies. Upon learning of the Declaration of Independence, he sailed for America aboard the ship Salley which was captured off Delaware capes by a British Man-of-War. After escaping, he returned to Philadelphia and offered his medical services to the Continental Army only to find no suitable position.
Following a brief career in shipbuilding and commerce in 1777, he became acquainted with the Governor of North Carolina, Richard Caswell and offered his medical service to the state. He served at the Battle of Camden and implemented practices within the army for sanitary procedures, general care and vaccinated troops against small pox. Caswell, then major general of the militia appointed him surgeon general of North Carolina.
He was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1782 and represented North Carolina to the Continental Congress. In 1787 he was one of three signers, from North Carolina, of the United States Constitution. One of the other signers, William Blount would serve as the Territorial Governor of the Southwest Territory which encompassed all of what is today Tennessee.
At the age of 55, Hugh Williamson married Maria Apthorpe, the daughter of a wealthy New York merchant in 1789. After her death in 1790 he retired from public service and moved to New York. In 1812 he wrote a two volume "History of North Carolina". He died on May 22, 1819 and was buried in the Apthorpe family tomb Trinity Churchyard, New York City.
In 1799, on October the 26th, the Tennessee State Legislature authorized the formation of Williamson County named in honor of Hugh Williamson, a signer of the United States Constitution.
information sourced from NCpedia.