Roy Hughes Williams

Roy Hughes Williams (September 1, 1874 – December 18, 1946) was a lawyer from the U.S. State of Ohio who served as a prosecutor, local and appellate judge, and was a justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio from 1934 until his death.

Roy Hughes Williams
Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
In office
November 1934 – December 18, 1946
Preceded byHoward Landis Bevis
Succeeded byRobert M. Sohngen
Personal details
Born(1874-09-01)September 1, 1874
Milan, Ohio
DiedDecember 18, 1946(1946-12-18) (aged 72)
Columbus, Ohio
Resting placeMilan Cemetery, Milan, Ohio
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)L. Verna Lockwood
Alma mater
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Battles/warsWorld War I

Biography

Roy Hughes Williams was born September 1, 1874, in Milan, Ohio, son of Charles Ronald and Helen Hortense (Hughes) Williams.[1][2] He graduated from Milan High School in 1890, attended the Western Reserve Normal School in Milan,[2] and graduated from Oberlin Preparatory School in 1891.[1][2] He attended Oberlin College for one[1] or two years,[2] and graduated from University of Michigan Law School with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1897. He was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1897.[1][2]

Williams was married to L. Verna Lockwood on December 7, 1898.[1] They had no children.[2]

Williams won his first election for Erie County, Ohio prosecuting attorney in 1900 for a three-year term, and won re-election in 1903. He served January 1901 to January 1907, opting not to run for a third term.[1][2] He prosecuted bridge contractors under the state's Anti-trust act for bid rigging.[2]

Williams was in private practice in Sandusky, Ohio until he won election to the Erie County Common Pleas court in 1914, with term beginning January 1, 1915. He took a leave of absence as a 44-year-old to enlist in the United States Army during World War I.[2] He served at Camp Zachary Taylor in Kentucky.[1] Williams returned to the bench after his discharge, and was the first judge in Ohio to impanel a jury of twelve women on August 26, 1920.[2]

Williams was elected to the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals in 1924, and was re-elected in 1930.[2] He ran for the Supreme Court of Ohio in November 1934 as a Republican, to fill an un-expired term, and defeated Howard Landis Bevis, who had been appoint after Reynolds R. Kinkade resigned. he won a full six-year term in 1936, defeating Will P. Stephenson. He would be re-elected on November 3, 1942.[2]

Williams missed much of the 1945 session of the court due to ill health, but recovered enough to work in the fall 1946 term. He died of a heart attack, while drafting an opinion, on December 18, 1946, and had a funeral at the Old First Presbyterian Church in Sandusky, with burial in Milan Cemetery in Milan, Ohio.[2]

Williams was a member of the Masons, B.P.O.E., Kiwanis, Beneficial Union of Sandusky, and American Legion.[1]

References
  1. Neff, William B, ed. (1921). Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio History and Biography. Cleveland: The Historical Publishing Company. p. 722.
  2. "Roy Hughes Williams". The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
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