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Descendants of Benjamin Richardson

265. WILLIAM RAYFORD⁷ LYNE (RAYMOND LAFAYETTE⁶, NANCY LOU BERTHA⁵ RICHARDSON, GENERAL LAFAYETTE⁴, ROBERT W.³, BENJAMIN², BENJAMIN¹) was born 14 June 1938 in Big Spring, Howard County, Texas. He married RONDA GAY MURCHISON 23 November 1962 in Odessa, Ector County, Texas, daughter of GAINES MURCHISON and LAVERNE BODINE.

Children of WILLIAM LYNE and RONDA MURCHISON are:

	i.		CALEISTA LAVERNE⁸ LYNE, b. May 1963, Brownfield, Terry County, Texas.
	ii.		JOHN ERIC LYNE, b. 17 April 1964, Huntsville, Walker County, Texas.

266. MARTHA ELIZABETH⁷ LYNE (RAYMOND LAFAYETTE⁶, NANCY LOU BERTHA⁵ RICHARDSON, GENERAL LAFAYETTE⁴, ROBERT W.³, BENJAMIN², BENJAMIN¹) was born 28 July 1943 in Kermit, Winkler County, Texas. She married JACK ERIC WILLIAMS 04 June 1970 in Nashville, Tennessee, son of ASA WILLIAMS and LA PRICE.

Notes for MARTHA ELIZABETH LYNE:
LIZABETH WILLIAMS

Singer/songwriter Lizabeth Williams is a native Texan who has performed extensively in clubs, cabarets, college concerts and music festivals across the country.

She says she got her first taste of show business at the age of two, when she sang "Linda" to win a Saturday morning talent contest at the local movie theater in Kermit, Texas. She studied piano with private teachers through childhood and as a high school clarinetist was named to the Texas All-State Band.

Her lifelong interest in music soon took her to Nashville, Tennessee, however, where for five years she worked as a singer/writer in the music business. In addition to her work in recording and in clubs, both as a solo act and with her own bands, she was Artist-in-Residence in the Tennessee Schools Songwriters' Seminar Series conducted by Broadway composer/conductor Lehmann Engel at Nashville's Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), where her classmates included songwriters Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Tupper Saussy and Kris Kristofferson.

After high school, Ms. Williams earned a B.A. degree in Journalism, and her brief experience as a newspaper columnist led to several national writing awards. Her biography has appeared in Foremost American Women in Communications and The World's Who's Who of Women.

Her original songs have been heard and praised by such artists as Jimmy Buffett, David Allen Coe and Billy Joe Shaver. Epic recording artist John Hiatt, in a Nashville radio interview in 1975, called Ms. Williams "one of Nashville's most outstanding young songwriters." Her songs have been recorded and/or performed by such diverse artists as country singer Marshall Chapman, international folksinger Martha Schlamme, operatic baritone James Javore and pop singer Janet Glaser.

From 1977 to 1979, Ms. Williams lived in New York City, where she continued to perform in clubs and compose her own music. A collection of her songs, entitled "Sunrise Over Manhattan", featuring six singers and a 12-piece band, was presented at Westbeth Theatre Center in New York City in late 1978.

Her 2,000 original songs embrace a variety of styles, including county, rock and pop. She spent several seasons as a musician/actress in a summer stock theater companies and has written a large assortment of music for theater productions, as well as children's theater music, children's songs and a number of ragtime piano pieces. In addition to guitar and piano, Ms. Williams plays clarinet, flute and harmonica.

Ms. Williams, whose tall, slender, brunette looks reflect her part-Cherokee heritage, says her interest in the growing regional music scene recently influenced her to return to Texas, where her ancestors settled as pioneers in the days of General Sam Houston.

"There I was, living smack in the middle of sophisticated and crazy Manhattan," she says, "and I gradually realized that most of the songs I was writing were about Texas and the South. I feel that Texas music is more energetic and original than any other music around, and I'm proud to identify myself with it."

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Martha Elizabeth (Liz) Lyne Williams was born on July 28, 1943, in Kermit, Texas, the daughter of Raymond L. and Caleista Benton Lyne. She attended Kermit elementary schools and junior high schools in Waco and Midland, Texas, where she was drum major of the school band. She attended Odessa High School and graduated from Odessa-Permian, where she was an honors graduate, a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and a member of the National Honor Society and the Texas All-State Band.

Ms. Williams graduated from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, with a B.A. degree in Journalism and English. She was active in student publications and student government and participated in the Tech Honors Program for academically advanced students. Following college, she was employed by THE ODESSA AMERICAN and arts critic for THE SHREVEPORT TIMES. She won a number of national writing awards as an opera librettist, newspaper columnist and feature writer. Her biography had appeared in FOREMOST AMERICAN WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS and the WORLD'S WHO'S WHO OF WOMEN. She was an officer in the Shreveport Press Club.

She taught school at Colegio Panamericano in Bucaramanga, Columbia, and was artist-in-residence in the Nashville, Tennesse Public Schools under auspices of the Tennessee Arts Commission. She was associated with the Ensemble Theater Company in Nashville as an actress and director. She wrote children's material for the Television, Radio and Film Commission of the Methodist Church and for the Baptist Sunday School Board. She also had been member of the Nashville Songwriters' Association.

Her participation in summer stock theater companies as an actess and musician included the Point Theater, Kerrville; The University of South Carolina Summer Theater, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Springside Summer Theater, Auburn, New York. She was composer-in-residence for the Long Leaf Summer Theater in Long Leaf, New York.

In New York, she performed her original music extensively in clubs and theaters. She twice won top honors in the Songwriters' Competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival and was selected for inclusion in "THE AUSTIN WOMEN'S SONGBOOK".

She was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and owned a small music-publishing company, Picante Music. She had been a participant in the late Lehman Engels' seminar series, "Composing Music for the Broadway Stage", sponsored by Broadcast Music, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee.

Ms. Williams was a granddaughter of the late Angus and Wessie Benton of Dayton, Texas.

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Letter written by Elizabeth for her family:

Dear Family,

Thank you for coming together to remember my life and to mark the occasion of my passing. I hope that this day will not be a sad one for you. I had a good life, full of interesting experiences and fascinating people. The best thing about my life, I believe, is that I had a wonderful family. Never has the concept of "family" meant so much to me as in the last period of my illness. You have, each of you, been so caring and loving that I know I was fortunate indeed to have been a part of you.

My parents are truly remarkable individuals. They dedicated long months to my well-being, and no child ever received such loving attention. But, this behavior was not really unusual for them. Throughout my life they have inspired me with their decency and kindness. There is no reason for them to feel a sense of failure. They made my last months happy and hopeful. If my life adds up to anything at all, then I know I owe most of it to their influence.

My son, Eden, is a fine young man. While I regret that I won't be able to see what he does with his life, I'm glad that he will have the rest of the family to offer him love and support. I'm especially glad that I made it back to Dayton, since Eden has had the opportunity to get to know the family that he might otherwise have missed.

When I have looked at the younger members that our family has produced, I have felt a great sense of pride and satisfaction. They are a beautiful crop of youngsters, and it feels good to know that the future of this family has been left in good hands.

I won't be lonesome where I am going. Mama and Papa Benton are there. Uncle Archie. Benton Broussard. My sister, Mona, Joy Mae. Uncle Roger and Uncle A.T. I like to imagine that I'll come walking up the road and there they'll be, sitting on the front porch, talking and laughing and waiting for me. That would certainly be nice.

Many people may think of "family" as the group of people which one happens to be born into, by sheer luck and accident. To me, it is much more than that. I believed that we have been together since the Beginning of Time, playing different roles in one another's lives as circumstances, with much to learn from and give to one another. Pat Benton and I fished for crawdads in the ditches together, fought furiously, but always made up, and later fell in love with Elvis and drove many hours around the wild night streets of Dayton together. Mark Broussard was the object of my girlish crush. He was so handsome! Troy Faye was the height of glamour to me, and always so full of fun. Aunt Marc and Uncle Archie were like second parents to me, and some of the happiest times of my life were spent right here in Dayton. I hardly realized that our family wasn't as wealthy or important as some of the others. We had a lot of love and laughter, and those things, in the end, are all that matter.

Where do I go? I go home to God, to meet those who have gone before and to await those yet to come. I believe that death is a great adventure. Parting from loved ones and leaving this wonderful world are only temporary difficulties. I feel that we have many more lives together yet to be lived, and I hope they will be as fulfilling as this one has been.

I regret that I didn't take the opportunity to share my music with you. I tried very hard to express my philosophy of life and my love of life through music, and I'm sorry that my own shyness and circumstances didn't allow me many chances to let you hear what I was doing. I'm really glad that there are other musicians in the family, as no one who loves music can be unhappy for very long!

If I could leave you with any last message, I would ask you to take the time to care about one another. Life can be short, as I have learned, and today is really all we've got. This world is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people and I hate to leave it. But, my faith in God is strong, and I believe that we will all meet again. Have courage, by happy, and may your lives by full of love.

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Notes for JACK ERIC WILLIAMS:
JACK ERIC WILLIAMS - Composer/lyricist, singer, actor, director
Had principle role of Beadle Bramford in the original production of SWEENEY TODD.

Born March 28th 1944, Odessa, Texas
Died Jan28th 1994, New York City

Obituary:

Jack Eric Williams, a composer/lyricist, and a performer who originated the role of Beadle Bramford in Steven Sondheim and Hal Prince's SWEENEY TODD, died Friday Jan. 28th in New York City. He was 49.

A year ago he had entered into a coma for several months. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Mr. Williams was born in Odessa, Texas on March 28th, 1944. After living in Texas and, for a while, Nashville, he made his home in New York City, where he lived for the last 20 years.

Mr. Williams' work in music and music theater extended to composer/lyricist, orchestrator, conductor, director, as well as teacher and frequent guest artist/lecturer at various colleges and universities, and in the public schools.

His most famous role as a performer was the creation of the role of Beadle Bramford in the acclaimed Sondheim/Prince Broadway thriller, SWEENEY TODD. Mr. Sondheim wrote the extremely difficult vocal part with a high tessatura specifically for Mr. Williams. His Broadway debut in 1976 was in the now-famous Lincoln Center revival of THREEPENNY OPERA directed by Richard Foreman and produced by Joseph Papp. He also appeared in Foreman's controversial first film STRONG MEDICINE and sang a command performance for the King and Queen of Sweden.

In the cabaret venue, his Nightclub act, Songs and Other Devices: A Cabaret Recital, volumes 1-4 played such NYC watering holes as the Ballroom, Lone Star Cafe, Reno Sweeney, S.N.A.F.U., The Other End and The Westbank Cafe. (Concert evenings of Williams' writing have been heard at the Chelsea Theater Center Cabaret, Ted Hook's, Lucky Strike Club and elsewhere.)

Mr. Williams' later years were occupied with his work as a composer. His 1983 docu-opera, MRS. FARMER'S DAUGHTER, was directed for Pepsico Summerfare by Tom O'Horgan. It was followed by another production in 1984 at the American Music Festival in Philadelphia. Mr. Williams' Nashville Musical, SWAMP GAS AND SHALLOW FEELINGS, was given developmental readings in 1988 and 1990 at the National Music Theater Conference of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and in 1991 by the National Music Theater Network as part of its Broadway Dozen Series. It was also the 1990 recipient of a Richard Rodgers Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

He received commissions for works from the New York Shakespeare Festival, The American Dance Festival, Playwrights Horizons and The Arena Stage in Washington. Mr. Williams composed several songs for film, television, and video, did extensive recording and wrote lyrics for the ABC-TV miniseries, AMERIKA, starring Kris Kristofferson. He was also a participant in the Sundance Film Institute.

(As a Director, he created a critically praised production of MAN OF LA MANCHA for the Tennessee Repertory Theatre. As artist in residence at the Rhodes College in Memphis, he directed THREEPENNY OPERA.)

(While in New York City, he was well-known as a teacher of voice. For the last several years he maintained a full-time professional voice studio for private students.)

He was married to Martha Elizabeth Lyne of Kermit, Texas, deceased. He is survived by his son, Eden Payne Williams, and by his numerous friends and colleagues.

There will be a memorial service Feb. 2th at 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul's Church, 60th and Columbus Avenue in New York City.

For questions regarding the service or regarding donations to his Music Fund, contact Eve Martinez as (718)237-9868.

Child of MARTHA LYNE and JACK WILLIAMS is:

EDEN PAYNE⁸ WILLIAMS, b. 28 August 1972, Nashville, Tennessee.

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