Williams was a painter, etcher and watercolorist. Williams began his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy summer school at Chester Springs, Pennsylvania in 1922, and returned there for further study in the summer of 1925. He also studied at the National Academy, first under Ivan Olinsky and Charles Hawthorne (1924-27) and then later under Karl Anderson (1932-33). He also studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grand Chaumiere and Academie Collorassi.
In 1929 Williams was appointed head of the department of fine arts at the Brooklyn Central Branch of the YMCA. In 1930 he had a one man show of his watercolors done in Nova Scotia, and that same year was included in the Brooklyn Museum exhibition of works by Brooklyn and Long Island Artists.
Williams married Ruth Moore in 1932, and the couple maintained a summer home in Cambridge, New York. During the second World War, Williams served as a sergeant in the camouflage division of the army.
Williams' awards include the Hallgarten Prize from the NAD in 1935; a gold medal from Allied Artists in 1938; the bronze medal from Allied Artists in 1940; and the purchase prize at the Library of Congress in 1946.
Williams was a member of the Salmagundi Club, the Society of American Etchers, the National Arts Club, the Chicago Society of Etchers, the American Watercolor Society, Allied Artists and Artists Equity.
Williams was nominated to the NAD by C.S. Chapman. The diploma portrait of Williams is by Charles S. Chapman.
