John Williams-Philadelphia, PA
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 39° 56.190 W 075° 14.346
18S E 479571 N 4420736
Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient for action on board the USS Pawnee in the attack upon Mathias Point, VA on June 26, 1861. He is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery, U.S. Naval Plot, Philadelphia, PA in Section 1, Row 4, Grave 14.
Waymark Code: WM11215
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 08/01/2019
Views: 5
He was born in 1828 in New Orleans, LA and died on October 3, 1885 in Philadelphia, PA. His Medal of Honor information and citation is: WILLIAMS, JOHN
• Rank and organization: Captain of the Maintop, U.S. Navy
• Accredited to: Louisiana
• G.O. No.: 11, 3 April 1863
Citation: Serving as captain of the maintop of the U.S.S. Pawnee in the attack upon Mathias Point, 26 June 1861, Williams told his men, while lying off in the boat, that every man must die on his thwart sooner than leave a man behind. Although wounded by a musket ball in the thigh he retained the charge of his boat; and when the staff was shot away, held the stump in his hand, with the flag, until alongside the Freeborn.
The photo was taken by Michael D. and posted on Findagrave.
*SPECIAL EXCEPTION WAYMARK* This category made the decision to approve this waymark based on the research and partnerships between the submitter, Don.Morfe, and individuals who gave permission for their photos of Medal of Honor resting places to be used in this community. Although the vision and philosophy of the Waymarking body is to promote in-person visits and photo documentation, special circumstances can be made on a case-by-case basis such as this submission. We appreciate the fact that Don.Morfe spent over 20 years visiting more than 2,900 Medal of Honor resting places and has documented them in this category with personal photos the past 18 months. He recently took it upon himself to document many more Medal of Honor resting places around the world that he could not visit in person. He reached out to individuals on FindaGrave.com and elsewhere and received permission to use their photos, created write-ups and submitted them here for approval. A compromise was made to allow his submissions here in order to gain a sense of appreciation to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Thank you, Don, for your tireless efforts and contributions to this category and to the Waymarking community!