Fleming Williams, the Williamson County Sheriff from 1970 to 1990, died over the weekend, the Sheriff’s Office announced on its Facebook page this morning.
He was 89.
“We are saddened to announce the passing of former Williamson County Sheriff Fleming Williams,” it read. “He served our county with distinction and honor from 1970 to 1990.”
No details of his passing are known as of yet.
Williams, who wrote “A Tennessee Sheriff, Williamson County cases 1970-1990” about his time as the county’s chief law enforcement officer, had been in the oil business before friends and supporters started a petition for him and convinced him to run for office, at a time when the county was quite different. He oversaw a taming of an outlaw streak that ran wider back before his time.
“Everything was wide open when I took office,” he told the Williamson Herald in 2013, when his book was coming out. “You could get away with anything. It took 15 to 16 years, but we cleaned up Williamson County. I had a part of it, but there were good men working with me doing the job, too. This is not something for me – it’s for the people who live in Williamson County – it’s history.”
I would see him at Leipers Fork selling his book on the weekends. He was a very nice gentleman and will be missed.