Born in Johnson County, Texas, Jeff Williams came to Hale County in 1896. Largely self-taught, he began surveying in 1902 and worked on the XIT Ranch resurvey of 1909. He was Potter County surveyor, 1907-15, and held the same post in Hale County, 1902-06 and 1920-73. Dividing ranch lands, plotting roads and townsites, and solving boundary disputes, Williams helped open the South Plains for settlement. He married Ethel Williams in 1906, and they had four children. Recorded - 1975