Los Angeles County
Biographies
GESNER WILLIAMS
WILLIAMS, GESNER, Lawyer, Los
Angeles, California, was born in Gainesville, Alabama, December 15, 1867.
His father was David Hitt Williams and his mother
Eugenia Florida (Hutton) Williams. Mr. Williams went to Los Angeles from
Demopolis, Ala., in 1903, and immediately became associated with
A. W. Hutton under the firm name of Hutton and Williams. He married
Jennie Graydon Knox at Demopolis on September 7,
1892. There is one daughter, Graydon Williams.
Mr. Williams was educated in the public schools of
Gainesville until 1884. From 1884 until 1888 he attended the Virginia Military
Institute at Lexington, Virginia. From 1888 until 1890 he attended the
University of Virginia. During the summer of 1885 he attended the Eastman
National Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York.
From 1893 until 1897 Mr. Williams practiced law with the
firm of Clarke and Williams at Demopolis, Alabama. He was attorney for the
southern Railway Company for nine years and was one of the attorneys who broke
the “Oiled Roads Patent.” He was associated with the counsel for the plaintiff
Anita Baldwin in her contest of Lucky Baldwin’s will, one of the most famous
cases in the annals of litigation in California. In 1906 Mr. Williams
helped to organize the Independence party in California. In 1908 he was a
member of the national committee of the Independence party. He was a member of
the National Guard of Alabama from 1892 until 1902. He was mayor of Demopolis
from 1895 until 1897, and city attorney from 1897 until 1903. He was a member
of the Constitutional Convention of Alabama in 1901 and civic judge in 1898. He
is an Elk, Knight of Pythias and Odd Fellow. He is
also an officer in several commercial companies. He received a degree from the
University of Virginia in 1890.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
30 August 2010.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 499, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2010 Marie Hassard .
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES