author
Alfred M. (Alfred Mason) Williams
1840–1896
A 19th-century journalist, poet, and literary critic, he brought a reporter’s eye and a reader’s curiosity to subjects ranging from Irish verse to folk song and Texas history. His work feels wide-ranging, energetic, and deeply rooted in the literary culture of his time.
1 Audiobook
Studies in Folk-Song and Popular Poetry
by Alfred M. (Alfred Mason) Williams
About the author
Born in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1840, Alfred M. Williams studied at Brown University before eye trouble interrupted his time there. Later accounts also describe his Civil War service and his early newspaper work, which helped shape the clear, informed style he brought to both journalism and books.
Williams became an important newspaper man in Providence, serving on the Providence Journal and eventually editing it. Alongside that work, he published books that show the breadth of his interests, including The Poets and Poetry of Ireland, Studies in Folk-Song and Popular Poetry, and Sam Houston and the War of Independence in Texas.
He died in St. Kitts in 1896. Remembered as a journalist, editor, and poet, he stands out as a writer who could move comfortably between literature, history, and cultural criticism.