The legend of Carter Williams is one that has been told and retold locally, with each narrator adding a few details to embellish the tale which actually has few records to substantiate it, except for the stories handed down by early settlers.

This man of apparent means, lived in the Amboy area in the 1870's but seemed to make few contributions to the welfare of the community. He didn't socialize with the local gentry and didn't get along very well with his neighbors. In fact, he might have been soon forgotten if it hadn't been for his unusual burial site on his farm seven miles southwest of town.

N.C. "Carter" Williams was reputed to be a handsome man, about six feet tall, who dressed in a very distinctive fashion and always carried a gun. He owned more than 1,000 acres of land and lived on the farm now owned by Mrs. Velma Carter in East Grove Township. It is on this farm, back in a field almost a quarter of a mile, atop a knoll which commands a sweeping view of the countryside in all directions, where a simple eight-foot-high, white sandstone monument marks his grave and bears the inscription: N.C. Williams, died Nov. 9, 1879, age 58years, 8 months and 29 days. It was his request that he be buried at this spot, along with his favorite horse, saddle, dog and gun.

Williams was a fancier of fine horses, which he purchased in Kentucky and brought to his farm here to train. He raced these horses at fairs and celebrations with much success. He seemed to be somewhat of a showman because of his distinctive southern suit and 10-gallon hat. It is reported that he often appeared in town driving a pair of trained elk hitched to a wagon, with a wolf trotting beneath the wagon as a pet dog might do. It was his interest in horses that eventually led to his murder by a rival, as he was stabbed in the back, on the porch of his home in Arkansas. His widow brought him to be buried in his favorite spot as he had requested. This is a quiet, peaceful place, with the only sound being in the summer when the wind rustles through the cornfield which surrounds the area and the mystery remains.
From the Dixon Evening Telegraph Feb. 28, 1976

Illinois - "Our Way"