The papers of Thom Williamson consist of orders, general correspondence, naval correspondence, two diaries, and a notebook, among others. The collection also includes letters of appointment to commissions, notices, certificates, a biographical sketch of Rear Admiral John W. Moore, and a survey of the iron clad casemated steamer "Tennessee" written in 1864 after its capture by Union forces in the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Open to researchers without restrictions.
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Julia Williamson Hall Blair
Gift. Accession #A76-61
[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Thom Williamson was born on August 5, 1833, at Edenton, North Carolina. Williamson spent his childhood in Norfolk, Baltimore and Philadelphia. He received his principal education in Norfolk at the Norfolk Military Academy. In 1847 his father was ordered to Baltimore, Maryland to which the family moved. He attended St. Mary's College in Baltimore from 1847 to 1850. His father was transferred in 1850 to Philadelphia where Thom went and stayed about one year. In Philadelphia the young man went to work at the Vulcan Iron Works which was outfitting the U.S.S. Susquehanna with machinery built for her under the superintendence of William Price Williamson in Baltimore. The family returned to Norfolk in 1851. Thom was placed in charge of a small farm not far from the city--"Sycamore Cottage." A. Mehaffy employed young Williamson as an-assistant draftsman, working on drawings of machinery for the United States steamers Powhatan and Allegheny.
Williamson entered the United States Navy as Third Assistant Engineer in 1853. Thom Williamson was an engineer in the United States Navy from 1853 until he was relieved from active duty with the rank of Rear Admiral in 1912. His first ship was the U.S.S. Saranac where he was a shipmate of his father Chief Engineer William Price Williamson.
The Saranac made a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea, which lasted almost three years. Thom Williamson was promoted to second assistant engineer in 1855. In July 1857, he was ordered to the Wabash, which he joined at the Isthmus of Panama. He landed at Greytown (San Juan del Norte) with the naval force which captured "General" Walker, the filibusterer.
Promotions continued to follow one another rapidly. In 1858 Williamson became first assistant engineer and in 1861 he was promoted to Chief Engineer. He married Julia Price on December 2. 1861. She was the daughter of William Ferdinand Price, who was employed in the office of the Secretary of the United States Senate. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Williamson faced a serious dilemma. Thom's father, William P. Williamson resigned from the United States Navy and accepted an appointment as Engineer in the Navy of the Confederate States of America. The elder Williamson became Engineer-in-Chief and took a prominent part in the construction of the Confederate ironclads, e.g., the Merrimac or Virginia. The rest of the Williamson family also supported the Confederacy. Thom however, renewed his oath of allegiance to the United States of America and declined a commission, filled out and signed by Jefferson Davis, appointing him a Chief Engineer in the Navy of the Confederate States of America. This action cut Thom Williamson off from his family and friends, but he was reconciled to them after the war.
During the Civil War, Williamson served on the U.S.S. Hartford, the flagship of Rear Admiral Farragut. He was present at the Battle of Mobile Bay in which the Union forces captured or sunk several vessels, including the Confederate ram Tennessee. Chief Engineer Williamson made frequent inspections of the Engineer Division on the Hartford during the battle. He was also involved in the capture of Forts Gaines and Morgan on August 8th and 23rd. He and three other officers were ordered by Admiral Farragut on the day after the battle of Mobile Bay to make a "strict and careful survey" of the Confederate ram Tennessee captured on August 5th. He died on March 17, 1918.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 1, Biographical Sketch-Rear Admiral John W. Moore, undated, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 2, Certificates of Membership, undated, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 3, Commissions, Letters of Appointment, undated, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 4, Correspondence, General, 1891-1912, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 5, Correspondence, Naval, 1853-1913, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 6, Correspondence, William P. Williamson, undated, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 7, Deed-Thomas J. Carson and William P. Williamson, 1868 March 7, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 8, Diary, 1853-1855, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 9, Diary, 1856-1857, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 10, Notebook, 1867-1869, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 11, Notices, Forms--Naval, undated, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 12, Orders, 1853-1859, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 13, Orders, 1861-1869, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 14, Orders, 1871-1878, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 15, Orders, 1881-1887, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 16, Orders, 1890-1899, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 17, Orders, 1901-1912, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 18, Receipt, undated, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 19, Reports--The Survey of the Iron Clad Casemated Steamer "Tennessee", 1864, Thom Williamson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.