Albert Frank Williams, a leading lawyer of the Cherokee county bar, residing at Columbus, is a Missourian by birth, having been born at Appleton, St. Clair county, July 18, 1876. He is a son of Luke Allen and Jennie J. (Wylie) Williams. His father was a native of Illinois, and his mother was born in Missouri. When their son, Albert F., was but six years of age these parties located at Lamar, Mo., where he was reared and attended school. He graduated in the high school in 1894, and after teaching school one term, Mr. Williams went to Mountain Grove, Mo., where he and an associate established a newspaper, which was known as the "Mountain Advertiser." With this newspaper Mr. Williams was identified only six months, selling his interest after a half-year's experience. The law appealed to him, and he determined to prepare for and enter the profession of a lawyer. At Lamar he studied law in the office of Thurman & Wray. He was admitted to the bar at Columbus, April, 1897. At the beginning of the Spanish-American war, he enlisted, May, 1898, in Company F, Twenty-second Kansas infantry, as a private, but soon after his enlistment was elected first lieutenant. Still later he was promoted to acting quartermaster on the staff of Col. H. C. Lindsey and continued as such until his regiment was mustered out of the service at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Nov. 5, 1898.

Returning to Columbus, Mr. Williams resumed the practice of law. In the spring of 1899 he was elected city attorney for Columbus, a position he held for two terms. In 1902 he was elected county attorney for Cherokee county, to which office he was reëlected to succeed himself in 1904. On closing a splendid record of four years' service as county attorney, Mr. Williams continued in the practice of law at Columbus, and has gained and now holds a desirable clientage, ranking among the foremost lawyers of southeastern Kansas. He is local attorney for the Kansas, Missouri & Texas railroad, and also attorney for the Long-Bell Lumber Company, and for the Fidelity Coal Mining Company.

In politics Mr. Williams has always been an active Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a past exalted ruler in the Order of Elks, and a member of the grand lodge of Knights of Pythias. In 1905 Mr. Williams married Miss Kate Weisenbarker, of Pittsburg, Kan. For the past several years he has been interested in merchandising in Columbus. At present he is secretary and treasurer of the Western Cigar & Tobacco Company, of Columbus, Kan., a prosperous wholesale and retail concern. Pages 222-223 from volume III, part 1 of Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... / with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912. 3 v. in 4. : front., ill., ports.; 28 cm. Vols. I-II edited by Frank W. Blackmar. Transcribed December 2002 by Carolyn Ward. This volume is identified at the Kansas State Historical Society as microfilm LM195. It is a two-part volume 3.