J.G. Williams - Seaman

John George Williams (often recorded as J.G. Williams) was a 50-year-old Canadian seaman who perished in the wreck of the passenger steamer SS Valencia on January 23–24, 1906. A member of the deck crew, he worked alongside a tight-knit group of able seamen during the ship’s final, desperate hours off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island. While little personal history survives — typical for working sailors of the era — Williams is consistently named in official crew lists, union records, and contemporary newspaper accounts. His body was almost certainly one of those recovered months later and buried in Seattle.

Early Life and Background

Details of Williams’ life before the Valencia are almost entirely unknown. The only confirmed biographical information comes from the Coast Seamen’s Journal (1906), which listed him as:

“John George Williams, No. 10, a native of Canada, aged 50.”

Like many merchant seamen of the period, he likely spent decades sailing the Pacific coast, moving between vessels as work became available.

Service on the SS Valencia

In January 1906, Williams was serving as an able seaman on the iron-hulled steamer Valencia, operated by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. The ship departed San Francisco on January 20 bound for Seattle and Victoria with 108 passengers and roughly 65 crew. Williams was one of eight deck seamen whose names appear together in every surviving crew manifest:

Tom Lampson, William Gosling, Thomas Shields, Lorense Olsson, Charles Brown, Louis Ahlstedt and John Marks.

These men stood watches on deck, and handled the heavy work of the ship. They would have known one another well — sharing meals, stories, and the daily hardships of coastal steamship life.

The Wreck of the Valencia

On the night of January 22, in thick weather and heavy seas, the Valencia struck Walla Walla Reef in Shelter Bight, just south of Cape Beale. Over the next 36 hours the ship was pounded against the rocks and cliffs. Six of the seven lifeboats were launched into the darkness of the first hour into the surf with tragic results. They overturned or were smashed, killing close to one hundred, many of which were woman and children.

The following morning, on January 23, the captain called on Boatswain Timothy McCarthy to get a crew of volunteers to man the last lifeboat (No. 5, later known as the “McCarthy Boat”) and attempt to reach shore to rig a breeches buoy. Five of Williams’ fellow seamen stepped forward and managed to reach shore and survived the disaster. They were: Tom Lampson, William Gosling, Thomas Shields, Charles Brown, John Marks.

Two others from the same deck crew did not survive:

  • Gunnar Lorense Olsson (L. Olson) – Reached shore the first night but drowned attempting to climb the cliffs.
  • Pontus “Louis” Ahlstedt (L.T. Ahlstedt) – Perished; body never recovered.

No specific eyewitness account of Williams’ final actions survives. Like many of the lost crew, he may have drowned during the first hour or ha may have remained aboard helping passengers and fighting to stay alive until the Valencia finally broke apart on January 24.

Body Recovery and Burial

Contemporary reports listed Williams among those whose bodies were never recovered immediately after the wreck. However, on September 15, 1906, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the Revenue Cutter Grant had brought eleven bodies to Seattle. One was identified as “Williams,” and a watch found on another body was hoped to aid further identifications. Given the scarcity of other crewmen named Williams, this is almost certainly John George Williams. Strangely, after the brief mention of a body identified as Williams in the Seattle Post Intelligencer, nothing seems to be reported later.

His remains were taken to Butterworth undertaking parlors and formed part of the mass funeral held at Seattle’s Grand Opera House on September 23, 1906, followed by burial at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Seattle.

Legacy

John George Williams represents the ordinary able seamen whose courage and daily labor kept Pacific coast steamers running — and who, in times of crisis, gave everything to save others. Though his personal story remains largely untold, his name endures in crew lists, union death rolls, and the collective memory of the Valencia disaster.