He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky.
He received a limited education, but had learned the trade of brickmaker in Monticello when about fifteen years of age.
His sons included Thomas Hansford Williams, the former Attorney General of California from 1858 to 1862;[2] and George E. Williams (1835–1899), a former member of the California State Assembly's 15th District, from 1873 to 1875.
He served as chairman of the Committee on Invalid Pensions (Twenty-sixth Congress).
[4] He was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco, he was moved to Cypress Lawn Memorial Park.