She was the daughter of Connecticut Royal Governor Jonathan Trumbull, who later served as the second speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

[6] On July 1, 1774, one month after the enactment of the Coercive Acts to punish Boston, Williams pseudonymously published an address "To the King" from "America" in the Connecticut Gazette.

The document, an angry satire, read in part: "We don't complain that your father made our yoke heavy and afflicted us with grievous service.

Though he arrived at Congress on July 28, much too late to vote for the Declaration of Independence, he signed the formal copy as a representative of Connecticut.

Williams's sole overt objection to the document was the clause in Article VI that bans religious tests for government officials.

[11] The Reverend Charles A. Goodrich writes:[12] [Williams] made a profession of religion at an early age, and through the long course of his life, he was distinguished for a humble and consistent conduct and conversations.