Who Was Horace Williams Anyhow?
Most Carolina people have heard the name Horace Williams mentioned frequently in recent months. I think I heard the name back in the time when I was in Chapel Hill (’55-’58), but I can’t remember in what context it was used. So, I decided to see if I couldn’t find out more about Horace Williams and now that I have, I thought I would share it with you. Fortunately the Daily Tar Heel recently ran an article on Mr. Williams and I have drawn on that article for some of the information I have used. Horace Williams was a native North Carolinian but I have not been able to determine exactly where he was born. I do know that his father was in North Carolina shortly after the Civil War because an incident that occurred at that time, later had a dramatic effect on Williams and what we now call the Horace Williams tract. Williams’ father had his herd of cattle confiscated by Union forces shortly after the conclusion of the Civil “War. This, in all likelihood, gave rise to the desire of Horace Wil
