David "Carbine" Williams (1900 - 1975) | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: We believe the subject of history makes people (i.e., American people) smarter, so in our quest to educate others, we will provide excerpts from the North Carolina History Project, an online publication of the John Locke Foundation. This one hundred and twenty-second installment is provided courtesy of the North Carolina History Project, and re-posted here with permission from NC Historic Sites.

    Born in the small town of Godwin (Cumberland County) in 1900, David Marshall "Carbine" Williams was the creator of the M-1 Carbine, the U.S. Army's favorite semi-automatic rifle during World War II. General Douglas MacArthur praised the M-1 Carbine as "one of the strongest contributing factors to our victory in the Pacific" (N.C. Historical Marker Program).

    In the early 1920s, the moonshine trade flourished throughout North Carolina. David Williams, both inventive and entrepreneur-minded, entered the illegal liquor trade in 1921. Shortly after he started making moonshine, law enforcement officers seized one of Williams's stills. However, the raid ended with the death of Deputy Sheriff Al Pace.

    Although Williams affirmed his innocence until his death, the twenty-year old was sentenced to thirty years at the Caledonia Prison for the second-degree murder of Deputy Pace. Williams soon became a trusted inmate and he was allowed to work in the prison blacksmith shop. While working in the shop, Williams invented his first firearm from pieces of leftover metal. Colt Firearms representatives visited Williams in prison to examine the gunsmith's inventions.

    In 1929, Governor Angus McLean reprieved Williams of his prison sentence. Williams continued inventing firearms after he was released at a small shop in his hometown of Godwin. The United States soon entered World War II, and the military was hard pressed to equip soldiers with weapons to contest German armaments. The Ordnance Department hosted a competition for a light rifle to be used in the war effort.
The semi-automatic 30 caliber M1 Carbine: Above.     Click image to expand.
    Constructing a light rifle for Winchester, Williams entered the military's competition in 1940. Revamping and modifying his Carbine Caliber .30 M-1 over several weeks, the gunsmith eventually finished his prototype. The military selected Williams' M-1 as its weapon of choice, and between 1941 until 1945, over six million M-1 Carbines were constructed in the United States.

    In 1975, Carbine Williams passed away at Dorothea Dix Hospital. In addition to inventing the M1-Carbine, Williams obtained over 50 firearm patents, and he designed gun mechanisms for the major gun manufacturers of Colt, Remington, and Winchester. His iconic life was the basis for the MGM film, Carbine Williams. Released in 1952, the movie featured Jimmy Stewart as the North Carolina inventor.

    Sources:

    "Inventions." William S. Powell, ed. Encyclopedia of North Carolina (University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC 2006).

    "David M. Williams (1900 - 1975)." North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program website. A Division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?sp=search&k=Markers&sv=I-81, (accessed June 27, 2012).

    "North Carolina Inventors: Carbine Williams." North Carolina Museum of History, 2005. Office of Archives and History, N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




World War I U-Boats NC Past, In the Past, Body & Soul Chest Pain Center Accreditation Demonstrates Vidant Medical Center's Commitment To Treating, Reducing Heart Disease In Eastern N.C.


HbAD0

Latest Body & Soul

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
Part of ongoing effort to raise awareness and combat rising congenital syphilis cases
Recognition affirms ECU Health’s commitment to providing highly-reliable, human-centered care
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist.
A subsidiary of one of the largest health insurance agencies in the U.S. was hit by a cyberattack earlier this week from what it believes is a foreign “nation-state” actor, crippling many pharmacies’ ability to process prescriptions across the country.

HbAD1

The John Locke Foundation is supporting a New Bern eye surgeon's legal fight against North Carolina's certificate-of-need restrictions on healthcare providers.
Shia LaBeouf received the Sacrament of Confirmation, completing his conversion to Catholicism, on Sunday, and the actor’s confirmation sponsor suggested LaBeouf may become a deacon “in the future.”
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the following statement on the Trails Carolina investigation:
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population.

HbAD2

As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard.

HbAD3

 
Back to Top