Background
John Foster Williams was born on October 12, 1743 in Boston, Massachussets. Little is known of his family and early life, but he seems to have had some connection with the Lane family of Boston.
John Foster Williams was born on October 12, 1743 in Boston, Massachussets. Little is known of his family and early life, but he seems to have had some connection with the Lane family of Boston.
On May 8, 1776, he was commissioned captain of the Massachusetts state sloop Republic and in December was transferred to the Massachusetts, another state vessel. In June 1777 he took command of the Wilkes and in October of the Active, both privateers. In 1778-79 he made two cruises in the state brig Hazard, capturing several prizes.
On March 16, 1779, off St. Thomas, West Indies, after a sharp action of thirty minutes he forced the British brig Active, 18 guns, to surrender. In the unfortunate Penobscot expedition he burnt his vessel to prevent her capture. His next command, the Protector, was the largest ship in the Massachusetts navy.
On June 9, 1780, southeast of Newfoundland, he engaged the privateer Admiral Duff for an hour and a half, until she was destroyed by the explosion of her magazine with a heavy loss of life. In his next cruise he visited the Grand Banks and the West Indies, taking several prizes. Off Nantasket, in the spring of 1781, he was compelled to strike his colors to a superior force consisting of the British vessels Roebuck, 44 guns, and Medea, 28 guns. After confinement for several months in England, he was exchanged and arrived at Boston in time to take command early in 1783 of the privateer Alexander.
In 1788 when Boston celebrated the adoption of the federal constitution by Massachusetts he was given a conspicuous place in a procession as the captain of a ship mounted on wheels and is said to have made a striking appearance in his Continental uniform with a speaking trumpet in his hand. From 1790 until his death he commanded the revenue cutter Massachusetts, an office to which he was appointed by President Washington. Occasionally, however, he turned his attention to duties outside of those connected with the revenue.
In 1792 he communicated to the Boston Marine Society an invention for distilling fresh water from salt water, with appropriate drawings. In 1797, at the request of Jeremy Belknap, he examined the coast of Maine to determine the various localities visited by George Waymouth, and made a report of his conclusions. In 1803 with the assistance of a surveyor he surveyed Nantasket Harbor and reported his results to the federal government.
He lived on Round Lane, Boston, which later was renamed Williams Street, supposedly in his honor. He was buried in the Granary Burying Ground.
On October 6, 1774 he was married to Hannah Homer.
