James Douglas Williams (January 16, 1808November 20, 1880), nicknamed Blue Jeans Bill, was an American farmer and Democratic politician who held public office in Indiana for four decades, and was the only farmer elected as the governor of Indiana, serving from 1877 to 1880. He also spent twenty-eight years in the Indiana General Assembly, and was well known for his frugality and advocacy of agricultural development.
Early life
Family and background
James Douglas Williams was born on January 16, 1808, in Pickaway County, Ohio, the son of George and Sarah Cavendar Williams. He moved with his family to Knox County, Indiana at the age of 10, and his family moved and settled near Monroe City, Indiana where he remained much of the rest of his life. He received little schooling, but did occasionally attend the log schoolhouse near his home, only attending until the fifth grade. Williams' father died in 1828, and being the oldest son, Williams became the caretaker of his family, continuing to run his father's farm. In 1831 Williams married Nancy Huffman, and together they had seven children. With Williams regularly in public service, she ran the family farm for much of her life—a three thousand acre spread in the central part of Indiana.
Throughout his life, Williams was known for his farm dress, earning him the nickname Blue Jeans Bill, because he so often wore denim. He used the nickname and the reputation that came with it to cast himself as a man of the people, and a countryman in his public elections. As he became more wealthy, he began to have suits made of denim and lined with silk. Besides being a farmer, Williams was active in studies and experimentation in trying to produce superior crops. He was a member of several local and regional farm organizations and regularly won first place in many of the Indiana State Fair competitions.
Legislator
In 1839 Williams first entered public service serving as justice of the peace of Vincennes, Indiana until he resigned in 1843. The same year he was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives and served until 1860, moving to the Indiana Senate where he served until 1872. Williams was responsible for the authorship of many bills, including laws that permitted widows to inherit the estate of their husbands. He wrote the bill that established the state's first sinking fund and also encouraged the development of the State Board of Agriculture and served as a member for sixteen years.
During the American Civil War, Williams was accused of being a Copperhead when he attempted to interfere with the war effort and submitted legislation to require Governor Oliver Morton to show what the money in the state emergency fund was being spent on. One of Williams's primary concerns in the Assembly was state spending. He supported the Greenback political movement that began in the 1870s, making paper money more readily available to the public through inflationary measures. His long term membership in the party led them to attempt to send him to Congress as a Senator in 1872, but was defeated by Oliver Morton. Williams was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Indiana in October, 1874 and served from 1875 to 1876. During this time he served as chairman of the committee on accounts and was responsible for considerable reform, and significant saving by cutting business costs. "A more destructive besom of economy could not have been selected from all the ranks of the democracy, or from either party, for that matter,"one observer wrote. "Lank, for all the world like Lincoln, and as tall, with a face which might be photographed for Lincoln's, and a shambling gait and a carelessness of dress exactly like the dead president's, Williams is a figure that never fades from the minds of the thousands who have once seen him," a reporter wrote. "Dressed always in the plainest of plain Kentucky blue jeans, he is a standing reproach to the more luxurious livers of his own party." While still in Washington he was informed that his party had nominated him to run for governor, a nomination he was not a candidate for. Instead of declining, he decided to not seek re-election to Congress, but instead returned to Indiana to campaign for governor.