Signer of the
Declaration of Independence; born in
Lebanon, Conn., April 18, 1731; graduated at Harvard College in 1757, and was on the staff of his relative,
Col. Ephraim Williams, when he was killed near
Lake George in 1755.
An active patriot and a member of the committee of correspondence and safety in
Connecticut, he was sent to Congress in 1776.
He wrote several essays to arouse the spirit of liberty in the bosoms of his countrymen, and spent nearly all his property in the cause.
He had been speaker of the Connecticut Assembly in 1775, and in 1783-84 was again a member of Congress.
He was also a member of the convention of
Connecticut that adopted the national Constitution.
Mr. Williams married a daughter of
Governor Trumbull.
He died in
Lebanon, Conn., Aug. 2, 1811.