Butler Post Office dedicated in honor of Civil War officer
From now on, whenever citizens pick up or drop off their mail, or simply pass by what was once known as the Butler Post Office, they will be reminded of what it means to be a true American patriot.
The post office, located at 345 S. Main St., will now carry the name of Andrew Gomer Williams, a native of Richmond, V.A. who served with distinction in the Civil War before becoming a lawyer in Butler during the later stages of his life.
The facility is now officially known as the Andrew Gomer Williams Post Office Building.
The renaming was made official at a dedication ceremony Friday, May 5. Among those present were U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Eddie Masangcay, U.S. Postal Service district manager for Pennsylvania.
It was a piece of legislation introduced by Kelly in April 2022, H.R. 7514, which paved the way for the renaming of the post office in Williams’ honor. The bill passed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously before being officially signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 28.
According to Kelly, the process of getting the post office renamed was far more difficult and time-consuming than he imagined it would be.
“I thought it would be so easy because it was just so obvious that this man deserved to be dedicated,” Kelly said. “Two years. So when people ask about getting things done quickly in Washington, I say, ‘Not possible.’ It’s not possible, when we have heroes and it takes two years to get them honored.”
Kelly hoped that the name of Williams atop the post office would inspire others to reach his level of patriotism and love for his country.
“I think it’s very important that we start educating our children the right way and talk about those people who made the greatest sacrifice of all to protect this nation,” Kelly said. “My question is, where are people like this man? Where will they come from? Who will stand up? Who will be that light in the darkest of nights? Who will say we need to come together as a nation and fight for what’s right?”
Pastor David Janz, of Butler First Methodist Church, gave an invocation prior to the dedication ceremony.
The ceremony was closed by Williams’ great-granddaughter, Caroline Hunt.
“Most people today really have little idea about how the Civil War affected people in their day,” Hunt said. “The sanitized version of what we hear of events around the world in our lifetimes gives really little understanding of what people have gone through in times of war, or even just normal living.”
Butler historian Bill May retold the tale of Williams’ life from beginning to end.
“’Poor is the nation that has no heroes,’” said May, quoting the motto of the Civil War Trust. “’Shameful is the nation that has them and forgets.’”
Williams was born Sept. 8, 1840 in Richmond, Va. — the city which would become the capital city of the Confederacy. At the age of 10, after his family moved to the Pittsburgh area, Williams took on a job as a nail-cutter at a local factory.
Just over a decade later, when the Civil War started, Williams did not hesitate to join the war effort on the side of the Union.
“Maybe it was a sense of patriotism that swelled in Andrew Williams’ heart,” May said. “Or maybe it was wanting to escape the dullness of factory work for the great unknown adventure of war.”
By war’s end, Williams fought in over a dozen battles, including some of the most famous, such as the battles of Bull Run and Gettysburg. He was also wounded four times, with the last one nearly costing him his life during the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864.
During that battle, Williams was thought to be killed when he was struck in the left temple by a Confederate bullet. It took four days for him to be found, but miraculously, he somehow managed to survive and return home to Pennsylvania.
Even after he returned from the war, Williams could not outrun tragedy. Thirteen of his relatives would die under tragic circumstances — be it from explosions, rail accidents, burning or drowning.
Unable to return to hard labor after the war, due to the effects of the near-fatal wound, Williams studied to become a lawyer. He moved to Butler in 1875 and was admitted to the bar association there the following year.
Williams died in Butler on April 6, 1923, at the age of 83.
