Biography

09/08/1846 - 04/06/1923

Captain Andrew Gomer Williams (R41) Armstrong and Butler Counties 1901-1904   

Early Life: 

Captain Andrew Gomer Williams, born September 8, 1846, Richmond, Virginia, son of John G. and Caroline Snyder Williams; attended, Duff’s Business College; captain, wounded, Civil War, 1861-1864; engaged, tradesman, nail-maker; bookkeeper; attorney 1875-1923; notary public, 1876-1891; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1891; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1900-1904; member, Soldier’s Orphans School Commission, 1900-1906; married, first, Lucy A. Lee; second, Emma S. Ramage; died, April 6, 1923, Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania; Interment, North Side Cemetery, Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Civil War, 1861-1864;enlisted, Sargent, Company E, 63^rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, September 9, 1861, Pittsburgh, three-year service; promoted, 2d Lieutenant, November 29, 1862; wounded, Crossroads, Fredericksburg and Rapidan Campaign (shot in the left temple with a musket-ball at the Wilderness); promoted, captain, Gettysburg, 1863; discharged,  August 6, 1864 – his regiment mustered out with only three officers and 63 of the enlisted ranks surviving. 

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Soldier’s Orphans School Commission, 1900-1906. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1891 term, not a candidate for reelection to the House, 1892.   

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 41st district, Armstrong and Butler Counties, 1900-1904; committee assignment, Judiciary General, Military Affairs (Chairman), Mines and Mining, Public Grounds and Buildings and Railroads. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

Legacy: 

Due to efforts of the Company C, 63rd PA Volunteers Reenactment Group and the Butler Office of Veterans Affairs, Captain Andrew G. Williams received a new headstone, May 29, 2021.  

April 14, 2022 Press Release  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, United States Representative Mike Kelly (PA-16), joined by all 17 other Members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation, introduced bipartisan legislation to name the United States Post Office located at 345 South Main Street in Butler, Pennsylvania, as the “Andrew Gomer Williams Post Office Building”.

“Mr. Williams lived a life of service to his community and country. A Civil War veteran, PA State Representative, PA State Senator, local lawyer, and so much more – his commitment to helping others never wavered” Kelly said. “During a monument dedication in 1889 on the Gettysburg Battlefield, Mr. Williams said, ‘Monuments are as old as our race and all along the history of the dim and dusty age down to the bright and joyous present we have been perpetuating the memory of heroic men.’ I am honored to cement the memory of this heroic man in our nation’s history.”

The bill can be found here. Andrew Gomer Williams post office bill text  

A speech given by Butler historian Bill May on the life of Andrew Gomer Williams was inserted into the Congressional Record on June 16, 2021.

The Congressional Record can be found here. 

"Having researched the life of Union Captain Andrew G. Williams, I discovered a man of high character and integrity on and off the battlefields of the Civil War," May said. "It is thus very appropriate to have the Butler Post Office named in his honor!"

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members W". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1904). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1020, 1025-1028, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 997.

Dedication Ceremony For Civil War Vet This Saturday - ButlerRadio.com - Butler, PA

Kelly Introduces Bill to Name Butler Post Office after Civil War Hero, Community Leader | Congressman Mike Kelly (house.gov)

Andrew Gomer Williams (1840-1923) - Find a Grave Memorial