| Notes |
- Niagara Gazette - 4/3/1943
In Memoriam •
William F. Williams, Niagara
Native, Merchant,
Banker, Industrialist and
Churchman; Was Member
of the Niagara County
Pioneers' Association.
BY EDWARD T. WILLIAMS
Niagara Historian
The hand of death was laid heavily,
demonstrating that death loves
a shining mark, in the sudden passing
of William F. Williams of Lockport.
For three-quarters of a century
the mercantile house of Williams
Brothers has been a household
word, particularly in the city
of Lockport and in the towns in
the eastern half of Niagara county.
For more than half a century William
F. Williams has been a major
factor in this establishment, and
for the last 15 years he was the
president. Not only in the mercantile
buslnes but in banking, industrial,
educational, health giving,
church and social circles Mr. Williams
was a leader. Native of Niagara
county, the firm of Williams
Brothers was probably the oldest
and most substantial mercantile
house in the county, doing business
under one name for 75 years, except
the men's clothing house of Sllberbergs
in Niagara Falls, founded in
Lewiston in 1852 by Marcus Silberberg,
91 years ago, and in the
then vilage of Niagara City, by Mr.
Silberberg In 1860, 83 years ago, the
name of the place later changed
to Suspension Bridge, after the
completion of the great bridge In
1855, to become March 17, 1892, the
city of Niagara Falls. Succeeding
Mr. Silberberg were his four sons,
two of whe I., Louis S. and Gustave
J., are still conducting' the House
of Silberberg, the largest of its
kind and the oldest mercantile establishment
in Niagara county doing
business for 91 years continuously
under the Silberberg name.
Like the Williams Brothers department
store in Lockport, the Silberberg
clothing store in Niagara Falls
is a household word, in the city
where It operates and In all of the
adjoining towns.
With all of the business activities
with which his name was connected
William F. Williams still found time
to be Interested in the higher things
of life, educational, religious and in
the history of his native county of
Niagara, one of the greatest reservoirs
of historic lore in America,
and he lived three-quarters of a
century to see Niagara countv become
not only the site of the most
sublime spectacle of nature's handi-
work; the site of the production of
1,500,000 hydroelectric horse power,
greatest on the globel its fertile
fields the garden spot of America,
its millions of fruit trees sending
their products through the civilized
word; and, finally, Niagara county
has become the No. 1 area for the
wining of the greatest war in history,
as it was an important factor
in winning World War No. 1,
it having been said then that if
the Kaiser, had owned Niagara,
Palls he might have won that war.
In the past few years William
P. Williams became officially connected
" with the Niagara County
Pioneers Association, oldest historical
organization in his native
county, and one of the most outstanding
in the state of New York.
At the time of his death he was a
member of the executive committee.
He attended the meeting nearly
a year ago now in the Tuscarora
club in Lockport, where the grim
reaper claimed him while attending
another meeting this week, at which
it was decided that on account of
the war emergency the annual
gathering of the Niagara County
Pioneers Association, held at Olcot
for 65 years, should be deferred
in 1943.
During the pust six months the
association, always composed of the
leading citizens of Niagara county,
has suffered severe losses, George S.
Gooding and George C. Lewis, of
Lockport, past presldents; Arch O.
Scobey, of North Tonawanda, treasurer,
and now William P. Williams,
of Lockport, member of the executive
committee. '
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1869 - 1943 (74 years)