Governor Williams

Governor Williams

Benjamin Williams was born near Smithfield N.C., 1 January 1751. He served in the North Carolina Provincial Congress 1774-75 and was a captain during the Revolutionary War. After serving in the North Carolina Senate, he was elected to the House of Representatives of the United States, serving 17931795. Williams was elected Governor of North Carolina 1709 1802 and 1807 1808, died in Moore County, N.C., 20 July 1814.

(Gy: 1. 52'; b. 15'; dph. 5'8"; cpl. 28; a. 1 24-pdr., 6
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Governor Williams was one of a group of galleys built at Wilmington, N.C. in 1798. These small vessels authorized by Congress 4 May 1798, were built and equipped by the Navy Department but operated by the War Department as a kind of Naval Militia.

During the Quasi-War with France 1798-1801 Governor Williams cruised the coasts and inlets of North Carolina Cmder Lawrence Dorsey, who held the rank of "Captain of a Galley." After this service in defense of the coast of North Carolina, she was transferred to the Department of the Treasury Revenue Cutter Service in 1802.