Military / Politics / Press & broadcasting
Alpheus S. Williams
1810–1878 · lawyer, newspaper editor, Union general, congressman
Detroit lawyer, editor and postmaster who became one of the Union's most dependable division commanders; his equestrian statue stands on Belle Isle and he is buried at Elmwood.
- Born
Deep River (Saybrook), Connecticut- Died
Washington, D.C.
aged 68- Birth name
- Alpheus Starkey Williams
- Also known as
- Alpheus Starkey Williams · Old Pap
- Detroit years
- 1836–1878
- Field
- Military, Politics, Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Alpheus S. Williams, a Yale-educated Connecticut lawyer, settled in booming Detroit in 1836 after years of travel. He married into the prominent Larned family and took up a string of Detroit careers: probate judge of Wayne County, bank president, owner and editor of the Detroit Advertiser from 1843, and postmaster of Detroit from 1849 to 1853. Active in the militia from his arrival, he served in the Mexican–American War, presided over the state military board and in 1859 was a major in the Detroit Light Guard. In 1861 he became a brigadier general and went on to command a division and at times a corps at Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, then led the XX Corps in Sherman's March to the Sea; his men called him 'Old Pap.' After the war he served as minister to El Salvador and from 1875 as a congressman from Detroit, dying in office in 1878. He is buried at Elmwood, and an equestrian statue by Henry Shrady honors him on Belle Isle.
Highlights
- Union division and corps commander from Antietam to the March to the Sea
- Postmaster of Detroit, 1849–1853
- Owner and editor of the Detroit Advertiser
- U.S. representative from Detroit, 1875–1878
- Equestrian statue by Henry Shrady on Belle Isle
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Memorial · 1921–
Alpheus S. Williams equestrian statue, Belle Isle
Bronze equestrian monument by sculptor Henry Merwin Shrady on the island park.
Buried here · 1878
Elmwood Cemetery
He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.