William Williams was born on April 8, 1731, in Lebanon, Connecticut, the son of Solomon Williams, Sr. , pastor of the First Congregational Church, and his wife, Mary Porter. He was the descendant of Robert Williams, who emigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts, from Norfolk County, England, in 1637.
After being graduated at Harvard College in 1751, William began the study of theology under his father's instruction.
During the French and Indian War, in 1755, he took part in the operations at Lake George as a member of the staff of Ephraim Williams, his father's cousin. At the conclusion of the campaign he returned to Lebanon and shortly thereafter set up in business.
He threw himself ardently into the struggle for American independence, employing both his pen and his purse without stint in behalf of the cause. He set forth the claims of the colonists in the press and helped to compose many of the Revolutionary state papers of Governor Trumbull. On his promissory note, in 1775, money was raised to defray the cost of sending Connecticut troops to aid in the capture of Ticonderoga.
In 1779, when it was found impossible to purchase much needed supplies for the army owing to the depreciation of the Continental currency, he offered a quantity of specie in his possession, accepting in return paper money that was rapidly becoming worthless. He is said to have remarked that if independence were established he would get his pay; if not, the loss would be of no account to him.
In the winter of 1780 - 1781, when a French regiment was quartered at Lebanon, he moved out of his house in order to place it at the disposal of the officers. He was criticized for resigning his commission as colonel of the 12th Regiment at the outbreak of the war in order to accept an election to the Continental Congress, but his personal courage is attested by the fact that in 1781, when word was brought to Lebanon of Benedict Arnold's raid upon New London, he at once mounted his horse and rode twenty-three miles in three hours to offer his services as a volunteer.
He occupied many public offices, often for lengthy periods. He was for twenty-five years, 1760 - 1785, a selectman of Lebanon, for forty-four years, 1752 - 1796, town clerk, for twenty-one years, 1757 - 1776, 1781 - 1784, a member of the lower house of the state legislature, and for nineteen years, 1784 - 1803, a member of the governor's council. He was repeatedly elected clerk and also speaker of the house and appeared on committees to consider the Stamp Act, the claim of Connecticut to the Susquehanna lands, the case of the Mohegan Indians, and the adjustment of the boundary between Connecticut and Massachusetts. He was appointed to represent Connecticut at various conferences of delegates from the New England states, held to consider matters of common interest. He was a member of the Continental Congress, 1776 - 1778, 1783 - 1784, signing the Declaration of Independence and assisting in framing the Articles of Confederation.
In 1777 he was elected to a seat on the board of war. He was a delegate to the convention that met at Hartford in 1788 to consider the adoption by Connecticut of the constitution of the United States, and he voted in favor of it, although objecting to the clause forbidding religious tests. For twenty-nine years, 1776 - 1805, he was judge of the Windham County Court and for thirty-four years, 1775 - 1809, judge of probate for the Windham District. He died on August 2, 1811, and was buried at Lebanon.
William Williams was described as a man of medium build and well-proportioned, with dark brown eyes and black hair. He was pretty self-controlled, but when he was passionate about something, his language was described as "violent. "
On February 14, 1771, William Williams married Mary Trumbull. They had three children.
