{{Short description|American politician}} {{for|the American Civil War soldier and journalist|George Forrester Williams}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = George Fred Williams | image = 1890 George Fred Williams Massachusetts House of Representatives.png | state3 = [[Massachusetts]] | district3 = [[Massachusetts's 9th congressional district|9th]] | term_start3 = March 4, 1891 | term_end3 = March 3, 1893 | predecessor3 = [[John W. Candler]] | successor3 = [[Joseph H. O'Neil]] | order2 = | office2 = [[United States Ambassador to Greece|United States Minister to Greece]] | term_start2 = February 2, 1914 | term_end2 = September 28, 1914 | successor2 = [[Garrett Droppers]] | predecessor2 = [[Jacob Gould Schurman]] | president2 = Woodrow Wilson | order1 = 5th | minister_from1 = United States | country1 = Montenegro | term_start1 = May 10, 1914 | term_end1 = September 28, 1914 | successor1 = [[Garrett Droppers]] | predecessor1 = [[Jacob Gould Schurman]] | president1 = [[Woodrow Wilson]] | birth_date = July 10, 1852 | birth_place = [[Dedham, Massachusetts]], U.S. | death_date = July 11, 1932 (aged 80) | death_place = [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], U.S. | party = {{ubl|[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (until 1884)|[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]}} | spouse = | relations = | children = | education = {{ubl|[[Dartmouth College]]|[[Boston University]]}} | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''George Fred Williams''' (July 10, 1852 – July 11, 1932) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] from [[Massachusetts]] and [[Envoy (title)|envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary]] to both Greece and Montenegro.
==Early life and career == Born in [[Dedham, Massachusetts]], Williams attended private schools, graduated from the [[Dedham High School]] in 1868, and from [[Dartmouth College]] in 1872. His parents were Captain and Henrietta ({{nee|Rice}}) Williams.{{sfn|Clarke|1903|p=17}} His mother was a Sunday School teacher at the [[Allin Congregational Church]].{{sfn|Clarke|1903|p=17}} He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin. He also studied law at [[Boston University]], [[Boston, Massachusetts]].
He taught school in [[Brewster, Massachusetts|West Brewster, Massachusetts]] in 1872 and 1873. He was also a reporter for the ''Boston Globe''. He was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1875 and practiced in Boston. He edited Williams' ''Citations of Massachusetts Cases'' in 1878 and volumes 10 to 17 of the Annual Digest of the United States 1880 to 1887.
==Public life== Initially a Republican, Williams bolted the party in the [[Mugwump]] revolt of 1884, and eventually joined the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. He served as member of the [[Dedham Public Schools|Dedham School Committee]] before being elected to the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] in 1890. Williams was elected to the [[52nd United States Congress|Fifty-second]] Congress (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893) but lost a bid for reelection in 1892 to the [[53rd United States Congress|Fifty-third]] Congress.
He resumed the practice of law in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] and was an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor in 1895, 1896, and 1897. He served as delegate to several state Democratic conventions and to the Democratic National Conventions in 1896, 1900, 1904 and 1908. In the 1896 convention, he bucked the state party establishment by abandoning the gold plank supported by the rest of the delegation, and supported [[William Jennings Bryan]] for president. This action did tremendous damage to his future elective prospects within the party.
Williams was appointed Minister to Greece and [[Montenegro]] by President [[Woodrow Wilson]], serving in 1914. He resigned this position after a visit to [[Albania]] witnessing the tragic Albanian civilians being murdered and left to die of hunger by the current regime.<ref>{{cite news |title=Williams vs William |url=https://archive.org/stream/independen79v80newy#page/n18/mode/1up |newspaper=The Independent |date=Jul 6, 1914 |access-date=July 28, 2012}}</ref>
==Later life== He resumed the practice of law until his retirement in 1930 and died in [[Brookline, Massachusetts|Brookline]], near Boston, July 11, 1932. He was interred in Dedham's Old Village Cemetery.
==References== {{reflist}}
===Works cited=== *{{cite book | title = Mid-Century Memories of Dedham | first = Wm. Horatio | last = Clarke | location = [[Dedham Historical Society]]| year = 1903}} *{{CongBio|W000497}}
==External links== *[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/williams4.html politicalgraveyard.com] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070310191326/http://www.picturehistory.com/find/p/6532/mcms.html picturehistory.com]
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=[[John E. Russell]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[Governor of Massachusetts]]|years=[[1895 Massachusetts gubernatorial election|1895]], [[1896 Massachusetts gubernatorial election|1896]], [[1897 Massachusetts gubernatorial election|1897]]}} {{s-aft|after=[[Alexander B. Bruce]]}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=Massachusetts |district=9 |before=[[John W. Candler]] |after=[[Joseph H. O'Neil]] |years=March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box | title= [[United States Ambassador to Greece|United States Minister to Greece]] | before= [[Jacob Gould Schurman]] | after= [[Garrett Droppers]] | years= 1914 }} {{succession box | title= [[United States Ambassador to Montenegro|United States Minister to Montenegro]] | before= [[Jacob Gould Schurman]] | after= [[Garrett Droppers]] | years= 1914 }} {{s-end}}
{{Bioguide}}
{{US Ambassadors to Greece}} {{USRepMA}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, George Fred}} [[Category:1852 births]] [[Category:1932 deaths]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Greece]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Montenegro]] [[Category:Dartmouth College alumni]] [[Category:Politicians from Dedham, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Dedham High School alumni]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Lawyers from Dedham, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Boston University School of Law alumni]] [[Category:Burials at Old Village Cemetery]] [[Category:Candidates in the 1907 United States elections]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]