Ralph Franklin Williams, Sr

Constable Ralph Franklin Williams (1890-1938) was a Delmar, Delaware policemen from 1930 to 1938.  He was also a Constable for Sussex County District Five which included Delmar.  He was the son of Robert Frank Williams and Ella Martha Christine Gillis Williams.  He was married about 1915 to Edith Lowe (1895-1992). They would have a son, Ralph Williams, Jr and adopt a daughter, Nettie Ellen Dutton Williams.

Mr Williams in 1923 had gotten into a little trouble due to kidnapping his Uncle, Elmer C Williams, in Salisbury due to an unsettled debt over the purchase of bricks.  He returned to Philadelphia where he worked as an automobile mechanic.  By 1928 he was back in Delmar running a store.  They lived on State street.    

Ralph Williams was a policeman and Police Chief at a time when little training was required and a great deal of nerve.  It was at a time when many hobos came through Delmar and the local drunks were very active.   He was known for running his own fingerprinting bureau.

In 1928 he had a furnace explosion which threw kerosene on his son Ralph resulting in burns.  In August of 1938 there was a gas explosion in the Williams home, when Constable Williams went down into the basement to see what was wrong he was overcome by the gas.

His body was found in the Williams bathtub in November 1938.  Dr Lynch declared it was a heart attack as he found no water in the dead man’s lungs.  After Ralph Williams death, Clarence E. Wilson became the police officer and also Chief of Police in Delmar, Delaware.