Samuel Wardell Williams
Majority Leader of the
Indiana House of Representatives
In office
1885
Member of the
Indiana House of Representatives
from Knox County
In office
1882–1886
Personal details
Born(1851-02-07)February 7, 1851
Mount Carmel, Illinois, United States
DiedAugust 5, 1913(1913-08-05) (aged 62)
Vincennes, Indiana, United States
Political partyDemocrat
Populist

Samuel Wardell Williams (February 7, 1851 – August 5, 1913) was an American judge who is best known for being the Populist Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in the election of 1908.[1]

Biography

Williams was born in Mount Carmel, Illinois in 1851. At some point, he moved to Indiana and became a judge.

In 1904, he was one of the candidates for the Populist Party's nomination for president and served as chairman of the Populist Committee.[2] He came in third place at the convention, receiving 45 votes on the first ballot. Thomas E. Watson received 698 votes, and William V. Allen received 319.[3]

Williams served in the Indiana House of Representatives and was a Democrat at the time of his election to the Indiana General Assembly.[4][5]

In 1908, Williams was the vice presidential nominee of the Populist Party, running with Thomas E. Watson.[6][7] They received 28,862 votes (0.19%), performing best in Watson's home state of Georgia, where they received upwards of 12%.[8]

Williams died of appendicitis on August 5, 1913, in Vincennes, Indiana, at the age of 62. He is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Vincennes.[2][9]

References

  1. ^ "Public Offices held by Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates". US Election Atlas. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Thomas Edward Watson (1913). Watson's Magazine. Jeffersonian Pub. Co. p. 350.
  3. ^ "US President - Pop Convention 1904". Our Campaigns. November 26, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  4. ^ 'Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the State Bar Association of Indiana 1914,' Harrington & Folger Press, Indianapolis, Indiana: 1914, Biographical Sketch of Samuel W. Williams, pg. 238
  5. ^ "History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana: From the Earliest Time to the Present; with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc.; Together with an Extended History of the Colonial Days of Vincennes, and Its Progress Down to the Formation of the State Government". 1886.
  6. ^ The Independent. Independent Corporation. 1908. p. 774.
  7. ^ "S. W. Williams, Populist Leader, III" (PDF). The New York Times. December 26, 1909. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  8. ^ Leip, David. "1908 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  9. ^ "S. W. Williams Dies in Indiana". August 6, 1913. Retrieved November 5, 2016.

External links

Party political offices Preceded byThomas Tibbles Populist Party vice presidential candidate 1908 (lost) Succeeded byNone
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