WILLIAMS, Napoleon B. – (d. 1869)
Bereavements upon bereavements in our midst, are calling for frequent obituaries. Young Napoleon B. WILLIAMS, too, is numbered with the dead. He breathed his last, at 10 o’clock, on the night of the 14th of July. He was a native of Tennessee, about nineteen years of age, and was, perhaps, the handsomest youth in the city. Stricken down in rosy youth, we stand bewildered at the stroke; for it is only in the sublime philosophy of the Christian faith, that these sore, heart-rendering contradictions of nature are reconciled, and brought into recognized and perfectly consistent harmony with the goodness of the great Creator. There was something about this young man that not only attracted and kindled, but absolutely coerced, affection. His gentle, yet manly presence, his gentlemanly instincts, and the modest dignity of his demeanor drew all hearts, and made a friend of every acquaintance. Of robust health, and purity of habits, above suspicion in every particular, no one would have selected him as a mark for the great Archer. But that inexorable archer is in our midst; his arrows have flown fast and thick, and many bleeding hearts are trickling beneath his shafts. By prudence, public and private, during these days of tropical intensity, let us all endeavor to rob his quiver, though we cannot break or capture his bow.
Young WILLIAMS, we have learned, was a steady consistent member of the Baptist Church, and, seldom, indeed, has the religion of the Savior seen her seraph features and celestial graces reflected from a bright mirror, or in a more lifelike and beautiful image.
We can only add that the lamented subject of this too hasty notice, whose memory will long linger in the circle of his young friends, like some delightful strain of suddenly hushed music, was the only brother of Mr. J.J. WILLIAMS, of Atlanta, but leaves, beside, a father, mother, and sisters, in Tennessee, to mourn with an anguish from which the imagination shrinks, this irreparable bereavement. — Atlanta, July 15, 1869.
Source: Atlanta Constitution, 17 July 1869.
Editorial Note: his tombstone indicates he was from Grainger County.