Background
He was a descendant of immigrant Robert Williams of Roxbury, a cordwainer of Great Yarmouth and Norwich, England, who arrived in Roxbury, Massachusetts with his wife and several children about 1635.
United States representative lawyer politician
He was a descendant of immigrant Robert Williams of Roxbury, a cordwainer of Great Yarmouth and Norwich, England, who arrived in Roxbury, Massachusetts with his wife and several children about 1635.
Born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Williams completed preparatory studies. He was graduated from Yale College in 1794. He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar in 1799 and commenced practice in Mansfield, Connecticut. He moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1803. He was appointed attorney of the board of managers of the school fund of Hartford 1809-1810.
He served in the State house of representatives in 1813, 1815, and 1816.
He served as clerk of the house in 1815 and 1816. Williams was elected as a Federalist to the Fifteenth Congress (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819).
He was appointed in 1829 an associate judge of the supreme court of errors and of the superior court, and in May 1834 appointed chief justice, holding the position until his resignation in May 1847. He served as mayor of Hartford 1831-1835.
He resigned from public office.
He served as president of the American Tract Society of New York from May 1848 until his death. He died in Hartford, Connecticut, December 15, 1861. Williams married in 1812 Delia Ellsworth, daughter of Founding Father Oliver Ellsworth of Windsor, Connecticut.
Member Connecticut General Assembly, 1813, 15, 16, clerk of house, 1815, 16. Member United States House of Representatives from Connecticut, 15th Congress, 1817-1819. Member Connecticut Legislature, 1819, 25, 27-29.
Married Delia Ellsworth, January 7, 1812. Married second, Martha Coit, November 1, 1842.