Williams was born, the seventh of seven children, on his father's Pickens County farm and became totally blind as the result of two childhood accidents.
[1] Williams attended the South Carolina State School for the Deaf and Blind at Cedar Springs in Spartanburg County, graduated with honors, and was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of South Carolina.
"[3] In Greenville, Williams prospered in his legal practice and entered a partnership with classmate James A. Henry that continued until 1983.
[4] In 1936 Williams ran successfully for the South Carolina General Assembly and was reelected in 1938.
There he wrote a bill that created the State Agricultural Marketing Commission, inaugurating state support for farmers' markets; and he supported rural electrification, improvement of county roads, modernizing county record-keeping systems, and school equalization.