Catharine R. Williams
American writer
Catharine R. Williams (December 31, 1787 – October 11, 1872) was a Rhode Island writer and poet and a leading figure in the Dorr Rebellion in support of universal suffrage. In 2002, she was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.
Early life
Catharine Read Arnold was born on December 31, 1787 in Providence, Rhode Island to Alfred Arnold, a sea captain, and Amey Read. Her ancestors were prominent members of Rhode Island families, who had distinguished themselves in the American Revolution and in the state government. Her grandfather on her paternal side was Oliver Arnold, who had served as Rhode Island Attorney General. Arnold's mother died when she was a child and due to her father's voyages, she was raised in the care of two aunts. When she was twenty-three years old, one of the aunts married and the other died, leaving Arnold to make her own way. While visiting friends, she met Horatio N. Williams, a descendant of Roger Williams. They married in 1824, in New York and settled in the western part of the state. Williams gave birth to a daughter and after two years, in an unhappy marriage, left her husband to return to Rhode Island.
“Catharine R. Williams” enters the record as american writer. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Catharine, Williams and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23758930. VIAF identifies the subject as 32086896. The Library of Congress control number is n85052096. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1787, 1872, 2002 and 1824.
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This entry incorporates text from “Catharine R. Williams” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.