Ephraim Williams

February 24, 1714][1][2] – September 8, 1755) was an American landowner and militia officer from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was killed in the French and Indian War.

[3] He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on February 24, 1714,[1][2] and was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died giving birth to a second son, Thomas, in 1718.

Williams was shot in the head and killed during an ambush by the French and their Indian allies in the Battle of Lake George on September 8, 1755, at the age of 40.

He previously intended to found the school as an academy for "the Promoting & propogating [sic] Christian knowledge amongst the Indians at Stockbridge" but was deterred by the potential of the project being manipulated by his political rivals after his death.

"[12] There is some internet based commentary that suggests Ephraim Williams appears in an early version of "Yankee Doodle": However, this suggestion comes mostly from on-line commentators, who "just repeat earlier questionable, undocumented interpretations" without citation, and no reputable scholars "connect this 'arrant Coward' to the French and Indian War hero.

"[13] The song "Yankee Doodle" was re-appropriated by the British colonists from the derisive version of the Dutch settlers and turned into a rousing marching tune eventually making Yankee another name for American known world wide, with the first known version of the song apparently about Ephraim Williams, who fought the French at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of the Bloody Morning Scout.