Ephraim Williams

Ephraim Williams Jr. ( – September 8, 1755) was a soldier and land owner from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was killed in the French and Indian War. He was the benefactor of Williams College, located in northwestern Massachusetts. The school's athletic programs, the Ephs (rhymes with "chiefs"), are named after Williams. Life Early life Ephraim Jr. was the eldest son of Ephraim Williams Sr. and Elizabeth Jackson Williams (d. 1718). He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on February 24, 1714, and was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died giving birth to a second son, Thomas, in 1718. His family was influential in western Massachusetts; they were preeminent in a group of families then called the "River Gods" (referencing the Connecticut River, the major waterway in the area). A cousin, Israel Williams, was known as the "monarch of Hampshire" due to his singular influence along the river. ] In his youth, Ephraim Jr. was a sailor and travelled several times to Europe, visiting England, Holland and Spain. Military service In 1742, at age 27, he moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where his father had relocated on land purchased from the Mahican tribe, and purchased large tracts of land in the young settlement. He joined the militia and was commissioned captain.