Consider the Lillies

At our annual meeting there is always mention made of money received from the Williams Trust Fund.   Many of the congregation know of Annie Williams Memorial Park and some have noticed that the second window on the pulpit side of the church is dedicated to James Francis Williams MD.  Who was Dr. Williams?

James Francis Williams was born at Dalston, Oro Township, Simcoe County, in 1858.  He studied medicine at McGill University in Montreal and graduated in 1886.  Dr. Williams continued his education at several hospitals in England before returning to Canada.  In 1889, James Francis Williams married Gertrude Annie Bird of Barrie, Ontario.  He and his wife moved to Bracebridge in 1895 and had one son who died at a very young age.  Dr. Williams served in the North West Rebellion and in World War I attending the wounded.  During his years in Bracebridge, Dr. Williams was very active in community leadership as well as maintaining his medical practice as a general practitioner.  He served as magistrate; he was a member of Patriotic Fund – a fund that provided for the families of Canadian Soldiers in WWI; he was a conservationist involved in reforestation, planting over 50,000 red pines in Oakley Township.  Dr Williams and his wife were faithful members of the Methodist church and later the United Church of Bracebridge.  At the time of his death in 1926, Dr. Williams was a member of the Official Board of the church.

Dr. Williams was a keen motorist and was the first citizen in Bracebridge to own an automobile.    The Williams’ home was one of the local landmarks situated at the south end of Manitoba Street.  (The present road leading to the silver bridge runs through the middle of the property owned by Dr. Williams.) 

He was a very generous man.  He established a scholarship in medicine at McGill University, left an annual payment to Bracebridge United Church, and he also provided for the annual maintenance of the property which later became Annie Williams Memorial Park – a tribute to his wife.  His heirs continued this generosity in Dr Williams’ memory by setting up a trust fund to care for needy sufferers of cancer and tuberculosis.  This allowed them to be treated in their own homes in the district.