Clara "Kate" Catherine Pond was born on August 28, 1831 in Vernon Center, New York. She attended District Schools and Young Ladies Institute in Pittsfield, Massachusetts before coming to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, from which she graduated in 1857. She then taught at the Seminary from 1857 to 1864, and at Harpoot Female Seminary in Haprut, Turkey from 1864 to 1866, before becoming a missionary to Turkey and principal of the Home School for Girls, Constantinople, Turkey from 1875 to 1883. She married William F. Williams, had 2 children and 1 step-child. She died on January 23, 1895. Alumnae relatives include Clara Eliza Williams (Class of 1887).
From the guide to the Williams Papers MS 0645., 1857-1895, 1865-1866, (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)
