James Arthur Williams

James Arthur Williams (December 11, 1930 – January 14, 1990) was an American antiques dealer and a historic preservationist based in Savannah, Georgia. He played an active role in the preservation of the Savannah Historic District for over 35 years.

Williams is the main character in John Berendt's book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, published four years after Williams's 1990 death. After four trials for an alleged murder that occurred in his house in 1981, he was acquitted in 1989.

Life James Arthur Williams was born in 1930 in Gordon, Georgia, to Arthur Costlar, a barber, and Blanche Brooks Williams. He studied piano at Middle Georgia College and interior design at Ringling College in Sarasota, Florida.

After serving briefly in the U.S. Air Force, Over the following 35 years, he restored more than fifty homes in Savannah, as well as in the low country of Georgia and South Carolina. Notable Savannah houses he restored include the Odingsells House, the Merault House, the Hampton Lillibridge House (which he had exorcised), With his newfound fortune, in 1969 Williams purchased Mercer House, an Italianate mansion located at 429 Bull Street which was originally built for General Hugh Mercer, great-grandfather of famed American songwriter Johnny Mercer. At the time of the purchase, the house had been vacant for almost a decade since its former occupants, the Shriners organization, had used the building for their Alee Temple. His antique shop was behind the house, on Whitaker Street, run by Kenneth Worthy. Williams had an "in" box and an "out" box for his invitations, depending on whether or not the person was in Williams's favor at the time.

Arrest and trials

Williams was arrested at his Mercer House home on May 2, 1981 for the alleged murder of 21-year-old Danny Hansford, with whom he had been having a homosexual relationship. At his arraignment his bond was set at $25,000, which he posted. Prosecutors asserted that Williams had staged the crime scene to make it appear as if Hansford had actually fired a gun at him. a record in the state of Georgia, Williams was acquitted in May 1989, eight years after his arrest. Overall, he had spent 22 months in prison over the eight years.

Death On January 14, 1990, eight months after his acquittal, Williams died unexpectedly in his home, at age 59, from pneumonia and heart failure. Sonny Seiler, Williams's attorney, said he found Williams in the doorway between the office and the hallway: "I went immediately to Mercer House and found Jim on the floor. I thought he was probably dead. He was in his skivvies.”

Williams is buried next to his mother, who survived him by seven years, in Ramah Church Cemetery, Gordon, Georgia.

At the time of his death, Williams was restoring the mansion at 126 East Gaston Street, known today as Savannah College of Art and Design's Granite Hall, which he had purchased.

Williams's sister, Dorothy Kingery, inherited Mercer House and put it up for sale later that decade, with a price tag of just under $9,000,000. This was later reduced to about $7,000,000. Kingery died in 2023, aged 88. The Mercer House, now known as the Mercer Williams House Museum, continues to be owned by Dorothy Kingery's daughters, Susan Kingery and Amanda Kingery Heath, according to the museum's website.

Jim Williams's confession to John Berendt before the third trial was recorded on a Dictaphone by the author. "If [Williams] had not died, I don't know what I would have done, because I'm pretty sure he would not have wanted that in the book."

"I was fascinated by Jim, by what a brilliant and engaging storyteller he was," said Berendt in 2015. "He was bitter, funny, with that ironic humor so distinctive to Savannah."