Harold Putnam Williams was an American attorney and judge who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1925 to 1926 and as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...

 from 1947 to 1962.

Early lfe

Williams was born on October 2, 1882 in Foxboro, Massachusetts to Fred H. Williams, a lawyer and member of the Massachusetts General Court

Massachusetts General Court

The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...

, and Julia Annette (Blake) Williams. Williams grew up in Foxboro and Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

. He graduated from Brookline High School

Brookline High School

Brookline High School is a four-year public high school in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, in the United States.As of the 2007-08 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,826 students and 136 teachers , for a student-teacher ratio of 13.4 to 1 teacher.-Education:Almost every senior in...

 in 1899, Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 in 1903, and Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 in 1906.

Attorney

Williams began his legal career as a lawyer with Walter I. Badger in Boston. He then went to work with his father.

In 1918, Williams was appointed Assistant District Attorney for the Southeastern District (consisting of Norfolk

Norfolk County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Adams National Historical Park* Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area * Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site* John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site-Demographics:...

 and Plymouth

Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 494,919. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton...

 Counties). In this role he assisted District Attorney Frederick G. Katzmann in the prosecution of Ferdinando Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Sacco and Vanzetti

Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...

. In 1922 he was elected District Attorney.

In December 1924 Williams was appointed United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts by President Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...

. Williams' appointment satisfied both Wets and dries as the drys felt that he would enforce the prohibition laws

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 and the wets supported his confirmation because he was not endorsed by the Anti-Saloon League

Anti-Saloon League

The Anti-Saloon League was the leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. It was a key component of the Progressive Era, and was strongest in the South and rural North, drawing heavy support from pietistic Protestant ministers and their...

.

Judge

Williams resigned as U.S. Attorney in 1926 after he was appointed Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. He remained on the Superior Court until August 13, 1947 when he was appointed by Governor Robert F. Bradford

Robert F. Bradford

Robert Fiske Bradford was an American politician who served one term as the 57th Governor of Massachusetts, from 1947 to 1949.-Biography:...

 to serve on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Personal life

On September 9, 1911, Williams married Mary Harriet Culp of Brooklyn, Connecticut

Brooklyn, Connecticut

Brooklyn is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,173 at the 2000 census. The town center village is listed by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place...

. They had one son, Harold P. Williams, Jr.

Williams served in many offices in Brookline including Town Moderator and member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Library.

Williams was a member of the Congregational church

Congregational church

Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....

, the freemasons

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, the American Law Institute

American Law Institute

The American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law...

, the Massachusetts Bar Association

Massachusetts Bar Association

The Massachusetts Bar Association is a voluntary, non-profit bar association in Massachusetts with a headquarters on West Street in Boston's Downtown Crossing. The MBA also has a Western Massachusetts office....

, Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Sigma Alpha Epsilon is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South...

, the Harvard Club of Boston

Harvard Club of Boston

The Harvard Club of Boston is a private social club located in Boston, Massachusetts. Its membership is essentially restricted to alumni and associates of Harvard University...

, the Union Club of Boston

Union Club of Boston

The Union Club of Boston, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in the United States. It is located on Beacon Hill, adjacent to the Massachusetts State House. The clubhouse at No...

, the Brae Burn Country Club

Brae Burn Country Club

Brae Burn Country Club is a golf course located in West Newton, Massachusetts. Designed by Donald Ross, Brae Burn has hosted seven USGA Championships, including the 1919 U.S Open, and 1928 U.S Amateur. Brae Burn is most noted for its diabolic greens, and classic layout.-History:Brae Burn Country...

, and the Grange.

Williams' hobbies included golf and traveling.