He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Knoxville, Tennessee.
[1] Williams was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seven Congresses.
He engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C. Williams was appointed judge of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court by President Abraham Lincoln, and served in that capacity from 1861 to 1865.
[3] Historian Doane Robinson wrote of Williams, and his contemporary B. P. Williston, that "[n]either Williston or Williams left a record, or made an impression from which any adequate judgment of their efficiency may be ascertained".
[4] Williams died in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 14, 1865 (aged 55 years, 52 days).