Theodore Osborn Williams, county surveyor of Kent county, Mich., and civil engineer at Grand Rapids, was born in Allegan, May 27, 1861, a son of Hon. William B. and Marietta O. (Osborn) Williams, both natives of Rochester, N.Y., where they grew to maturity and were married.

Hon. William B. Williams was reared to the legal profession and was quite a young man when admitted to the bar of Rochester, where he was actively employed in his profession until 1856, when he brought his wife to Michigan and settled in Allegan, where he now holds a prominent place among the members of the bar. He has twice been elected probate judge of Allegan county, served in this capacity eight years in all, and has also served two terms (1867-1870) as a member of the state senate of Michigan, of which body he was president in 1869 and 1870. From 1873 to 1876 he represented the Fifth Michigan district in congress. He also served as a member of the constitutional convection of 1867, and commissioner of railroads from 1877 to 1883. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born five children, namely: Marion, wife of F. R. Rudd, a dry goods merchant of Detroit; William B., Jr., a life insurance agent of Manitoba; Ella, married to T. S. Updyke, a real-estate and insurance agent at Allegan; Theodore O., the subject of this biography, and Frank H., at present probate judge of Allegan county.

Theodore Osborn Williams, with whose life this article has most to deal, graduated from high school at Allegan in 1879, and then for two years was employed on a farm owned by his father; from 1881 to 1883 he attended the Agricultural college at Lansing, then for a year or more was re-employed on the farm, after which he went to southwestern Kansas, where he was employed in clerking and surveying until 1887, when he returned to Allegan. Here, he was at once appointed county surveyor to fill a vacancy for one year, and so ably did he perform the duties of the position that he was elected to fill the office for two years, and at the close of his term was re-elected--thus serving in all five years.

In 1891 Mr. Williams came to Grand Rapids and was here employed by th city engineer in field work, surveying the new city limits, which duty filled up the time until the fall of 1892, when he was elected county surveyor, and re-elected in 1894, 1897 in he was re-appointed, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of F. E. Skeels, and while still in office was re-elected in the fall of 1898, the people of Grand Rapids feeling well satisfied that they could never secure a more competent man for the office.

The marriage of Mr. Williams took place at Plainwell, Allegan county, May 12, 1892, to Miss Ida Whitcomb, who was born in that village December 6, 1869, a daughter of Alfred N. and Nellie (Chandler) Whitcomb, natives of Michigan, and of colonial descent, and this union is now brightened by the presence of one little child--Willfred, born October 27, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are members of the Episcopal church, and in politics Mr. Williams is a republican. Besides performing his duties as county surveyor, he does surveying and engineering for the Holland & Lake Michigan railroad and the Saugatuck, Douglas & Lake Shore railroad, both electric lines, and also does work for the county drain commissioner. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and social he and wife enjoy the warm friendship and esteem of all who know them.