Senator H.R. Williams

Senator Horace Raymond Williams Campaign Poster 1940s

From book Purdy, Mo 1881-1981 "Like his father, Raymond was very active in Republican politics. In 1942 he was elected to the Missouri State Senate, representing the 28th District comprised of Barry, Lawrence, Newton, and McDonald counties. In 1946 he was re-elected for another 4-year term. He was the second Republican ever elected Floor Leader of the Missouri State Senate. In the fall of 1949, he suffered a heart ailment, and did not seek re-election in 1950. Senator Williams enjoyed the respect of Democrats and Republicans alike. At the time of his death on Oct. 30, 1951, the Democrats joined in a Senate Resolution of Respect, lauding him as an outstanding citizen and a devoted public servant. The Senate then adjourned out of respect to his memory.

Born in Purdy, Missouri on December 12, 1887, Horace Raymond Williams was the third child of Horace Rice Williams and Virginia Alice Blankenship. Horace Rice Williams was an early settler of Purdy and was active in the development of the new railroad town. His parents, Isom W. and Mary (Painter) Williams, and their eight children left Rogersville, Tennessee in 1857. With their household goods and effects, they took passage on a flat boat down the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers to the mouth to the Arkansas River. From there they journeyed up the Arkansas on a steamboat to Van Buren, where they left the boat and traveled north overland to the southwest corner of Missouri. They settled in Pineville vicinity, and there the children grew to maturity. Both Isom and Mary died in Pineville.

Horace Rice moved to Corsicana, Missouri as a young man and in 1876 he married Virginia Alice Blankenship, daughter of Lorenzo J. and Martha (Garrison) Blankenship. In 1880 Horace and wife moved from Corsicana to Purdy and opened the H.R. Williams General Store. In about 1885 Horace and his brother Charles formed a partnership and began operations of the Williams Brothers General Store. Four sisters of the Williams brothers also moved to Purdy in the early 1880s: Nannie, married to Dr. Means and later to Mr. Chenoweth; Sarah, married to W. E. Smith; Margaret, married to W.I.I. Morrow; and Caroline, married to T.J. Smith. Margaret's husband operated a general store in Purdy for a few years before becoming a traveling salesman for a Springfield hardware firm. Nannie at one time operated a millinery ship in Purdy. Another sister, Anna Alexander, and her daughter moved to Purdy in 1931. The daughter, Blanche Alexander, is the only member of the Williams family now living in Purdy.

Horace Rice Williams was very active in Republican politics. He was the first Republican ever elected to a county office in Barry County when he was made County Collector in 1880. He was a member of the Republican State Committee for a number of years. In 1888 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. In 1889 he was appointed by President Harrison to the position of Receiver of the U.S. Land Office in Springfield. He then sold his interest in the general store to his brother Charles and moved his family to Springfield. Two of the three children born to Horace Rice and Virginia Alice Williams died in infancy. Virginia Alice Williams died in Springfield in 1895 at the age of 33. Horace Rice died in Springfield in 1901 at the age of 48.

Five years after the death of his father, Horace Raymond Williams left Springfield and went to live with an uncle and aunt in California. After working several years for Standard Oil Company, he returned in 1915 to the Ozarks and what was to become his permanent home in Cassville, Missouri. In Jun of 1916 he married Mary Grace Buzzetti. To this union were born three children: H.R. Williams Jr., Stanley R. Williams, and Mary Angeline (Williams) Rowland. Horace Raymond was Assistant Postmaster in Cassville for 13 years before becoming Secretary-Treasure and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Mutual Life Insurance Company for 17 years. He also raised registered Hereford cattle on his farm near Cassville."

Horace Rice and Virginia Alice Williams with son Horace Raymond

From Missouri Blue Book 1949: HORACE RAYMOND WILLIAMS (Republican), Senator from the Twenty-eighth District, was born on December 12. 1887, in Purdy, Missouri. Attended the Springfield Public Schools. Was married to Miss Grace Buzzetti on June 18, 1916. They have three children—two sons, Horace R., Jr., and Stanley R., and a daughter, Angeline, and five grandchildren. Owns and operates a farm near Cassville, Missouri, and is a breeder of registered Hereford cattle Is secretary-treasurer and chief executive officer of the Standard Mutual Association, a life-insurance company licensed by the state of Missouri. Is a member of the Christian church, Cassville Commercial Club, and the Rotary Club. Is a Shriner, and is a past master of the Masonic Blue Lodge, past commander of the Knights Templars, and a member of the Joplin Consistory. Scottish Rites Was elected to the Missouri Senate in 1942. Served as floor leader during the Sixty-third General Assembly. In the Sixty- fourth General Assembly was chairman of the committees on Banks, Banking, Savings and Loan, and Financial Institutions, Accounts and Clerical Force; and Rooms. In the Sixty-fifth General Assembly was a member of the following committees: Insurance; Education. University, School of Mines, State Colleges, and Libraries; Banks, Banking, Savings and Loan, and Financial Institutions; Roads and Highways; Conservation, Parks, and Forestry; Accounts and Clerical Force; Legislative Research; and Interstate Co-operation. Address: Cassville, Missouri.