| Sources |
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Laidlaw O Williams
Titles & Terms:
Event: Census
Event Year: 1940
Event Place: Assembly District 22, San Francisco, San Francisco City, San Francisco, California, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Marital Status: Married
Race (Original): White
Race (Standardized): White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head
Relationship to Head of Household (Standardized): Head
Birthplace: New York
Estimated Birth Year: 1905
Residence in 1935: Carmel, Monterey, California
Enumeration District Number: 38-168
Family Number:
Sheet Number and Letter: 83A
Line Number: 32
NARA Publication Number: T627
NARA Roll Number: 304
Digital Folder Number: 005456385
Image Number: 00628
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Laidlaw O Williams M 35 New York
- [S142] Newspaper Article, Apr 1978.
LAIDLAW WILLIAMS, an Elective Member of the Union, was killed in an automobile accident in Carmel, California on 12 October 1976. He was born in New York City on 9 June 1904 but spent his early years in Princeton, New Jersey. His father, Jesse Lynch Williams, founded the Princeton Weekly and in 1918 received the first Pulitzer Prize for drama. Laidlaw attended Princeton University and was ex-Class of 1928. He came to Carmel in the mid-1920's and in 1937 married Abbie Lou Bosworth, a prominent painter of the Carmel school. Laidlaw's long-standing interest in ornithology is evidenced by his joining the AOU as a teenager in 1919. After coming to California he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he took zoology courses with Joseph Grinnell. He joined the Cooper Ornithological Society in 1925. Laidlaw soon became the leading authority on the birds of the Monterey Bay area. He was interested primarily in bird behavior and published a number of papers on that subject. Most notable were lengthy papers on display and sexual behavior of the Brandt's Cormorant (Condor, 1942), illustrated with draw- ings by his wife, and on tile breeding behavior of the Brewer's Blackbird (Condor, 1952). Recently he and Michael MacRoberts collaborated on analysis of song variation in tile Dark-eyed Junco. Two joint papers resulted, one appearing in the Condor in 1977 and the other currently in press in that journal. In addition to his behavioral work, Laidlaw published on the distribution and seasonal occurrence of the birds of the Monterey Peninsula area. He spent much time in tile field and kept careful records over the years. His files of notebooks contain a wealth of information that he shared freely with any interested ornithologist. Any question on local birds was always answered in depth, either from his extensive knowledge or from carefully recorded data. His library and notebook files have been given to the Hastings Natural History Reservation by Abbie Lou. In 1943 he founded the Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society and served as its first president. He also founded the Society's Check-list Committee and served as its chairman until his death, overseeing the publication of five editions of tile "List of the Birds of the Monterey Peninsula Region" between 1946 and 1974. Laidlaw and Abbie Lou moved from Carmel to Carmel Highlands in 1943 and their delightful home, situated on an extensive pine-forested hillside, soon became a mecca for local and visiting ornithologists. No visitor with a serious interest in birds failed to call on, or stay with, tile Williamses when in the Peninsula area. In the late 1940's Laidlaw, and especially Abbie Lou, forwarded many packages of food, clothing, and other necessities to European ornithologists who had been hard hit by tile war. This, together with Laidlaw's publications and related correspondence, made them acquainted with a host of European workers, many of whom they met personally when they attended tile Xlth International Ornithological Congress in Basel in 1954. In addition to his interest in ornithology, Laidlaw was an ardent conservationist. He did much of the "behind tile scenes" work that led to the establishment of the Carmel River State Beach. In later years he was prominent in the effort to preserve Elkhorn Slough, a locality in northern Monterey County famous for its estuarine and mudflat birds, and his will contained a substantial bequest to the Nature Conservancy toward that end. Laidlaw was one of tile least pretentious men I have ever known, in dress, speech, and manner, and a thoroughly comfortable man to be with. A few days after his death his family and friends gathered in the patio of tile Williams home. Here, Laidlaw's friends shared their reminiscences of him, a young flutist played some of his favorite music, and the whole occasion was completely in keeping with the spirit of this gentle and unassuming man. Laidlaw Williams is survived by his wife, Abbie Lou, a daughter, Alice, and a son, Laidlaw Bosworth
- [S87] Death Certificate.
Name: Laidlaw O Williams
Event: Death
Event Date: 12 Oct 1976
Event Place: Monterey, California, United States
Birth Date: 09 Jun 1904
Birthplace: New York
Gender: Male
Father:
Mother:
- [S142] Newspaper Article, The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 18 May 2011.
- [S142] Newspaper Article, New York Times, Page 17, 14 Aug 1937.
LOUISE BOSWORTH BRIDE
Princeton Girl Wed in California to Laidlaw Williams
Mr. and Mrs. Neil E. Bosworth have announced the marriage of their daughter, Miss Abbie Louise Bosworth, to Laidlaw Onderdonk Williams, son of Mrs. Jesse Lynch Williams of Carmel, Calif., formerly of Princeton and New York, which took place on July 31 at Carmel.
Mr. Williams is a member of the class of '28 in Princeton University. His father, the late Jesse Lynch Williams, was the author and dramatist whose play, "Why Marry?" won a Pulitzer prize.
|
Search | Advanced Search
1904 - 1976 (72 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
= Link to Google Maps