John Williams 1847-1915
Eternal Rest: Section Y Plot 243 Grave 2F
John Williams was a Newark fireman who was born in Pennsylvania in September of 1847 to Isaac N. Williams and the former Rachel Hedden, natives of Germany.
He first showed up in the official records of Newark in the 1850 Census as a three-year-old, along with his parents, an older sister and a younger brother. His father was listed as a manufacturer of lace for coaches, and the family lived in the city’s West Ward.
In the 1870 Census, the 22-year-old Williams had his occupation listed as a cigar maker.
By the 1880 Census, Williams had married Agatha (née Bork) Peterson, and they were living at 293 Bank Street. His occupation was trunk maker.
Agatha had been born in Denmark to Danish parents, and she was two years older than John. In the 1900 Census, the couple had moved to 170 Newton St. in Newark.
John was Agatha’s second husband. She had had several children with her first husband, Peter Peterson, also a native of Denmark, including sons Andrew and Harry Peterson.
Peter Peterson died in March 1879 at the age of 35, and Agatha remarried the following year.
Andrew Peterson started out building cabinets but later became a highly successful businessman after inventing a machine that made cigar boxes.
His factory in Newark at its peak was said to produce as many as 5,000 of the boxes a week from a factory at 95 Bruce St. For a time, Andrew’s brother Harry worked for the company as a salesman.
John and Agatha had at least one child together who grew to maturity, a daughter Oranda, sometimes spelled Orando or Orenda.
Records do not show the exact year that John joined the Newark Fire Department, but he was listed as a fireman in the 1900 Census and as a lieutenant in the department in the 1910 Census, the family now living at 121 Ridgewood Avenue in Newark.
Williams’ picture appeared in the paper in June of 1911 when he retired from the force.
Williams died on March 15, 1915, at the age of 67, and his funeral was held at the family home on Ridgewood Avenue. He was subsequently buried in Woodland Cemetery with the raised image of a fire hose embedded on his headstone.
After her husband’s death, Agatha Williams boarded at a home on S. Grove Street in Orange, NJ. She died in 1925 and was buried with John.
At least one other member of the Williams family, daughter Oranda, who died in 1963, is listed as also being buried in Woodland Cemetery.
Guy Sterling
July 2026
Article and Research by Guy Sterling.
NJ State Exempts Firemen’s Flag supplied by Ridgefield Fire Chief Scott Russo.
Photo enhancement Glenn Blank.
Woodland 