Vanessa WoodI’m delighted to announce that my article “Unearthing the Migration of Benjamin Williams from North Carolina to Kentucky” has been published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 114, No. 2 (June 2026).
The article traces Benjamin Williams (died 1817 in Barren County, Kentucky) from his North Carolina origins through his migration to Kentucky — revealing the cluster of families who made that journey together from Rutherford County, North Carolina.
This research has a companion piece in The Record Lady Files. Ben C. Williams, Benjamin’s great-grandson, gave a Works Progress Administration interview in 1937 — a rare first-hand family perspective on the Williams family’s westward migration. Members can access that analysis here: The Record Lady Files
The NGS Quarterly is available to NGS members at ngsgenealogy.org.
This article is part of an ongoing Williams family research project spanning four generations and nearly 120 years. Earlier research on the Williams family includes:
- “The Williams Family Who Disappeared from Illinois into Unorganized Territory” — Illinois State Genealogical Society, The Quarterly (2023)
- “Ben C. Williams (born about 1840): Unorganized Territory and Indian Wars Pension” — TheRecordLady.com
Together these articles trace the Williams family from Benjamin’s death in Kentucky in 1817 through his great-grandson Ben C.’s WPA interview in 1937.
FEATURED IMAGE: Graphic outline of the State of Kentucky, CoPilot AI, illustration, 2026.
