Williams, William, American political leader

Williams, William, 1731–1811, political leader in the American Revolution American Revolution, 1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called the American War of Independence.
..... Click the link for more information. , signer of the Declaration of Independence Declaration of Independence, full and formal declaration adopted July 4, 1776, by representatives of the Thirteen Colonies in North America announcing the separation of those colonies from Great Britain and making them into the United States.
..... Click the link for more information. , b. Lebanon, Conn. He served in the French and Indian War and held many public offices before becoming a Connecticut delegate (1776–78, 1783–84) to the Continental Congress.

Williams, William, American painter

Williams, William, c.1710–c.1790, American painter, b. England. He probably led a seafaring life before settling (c.1747) in Philadelphia, where he was Benjamin West's first instructor in painting. He designed the building and in 1759 painted scenery for the first Philadelphia theater. After painting in New York City in 1775, Williams probably returned (c.1780) to England. He died in a Bristol almshouse, leaving a partly autobiographical manuscript, The Journal of Llewellin Penrose; this was published in 1815. His richly colored paintings have a lively naïveté and romantic charm; among those known to be his are portraits of Deborah Hall (Brooklyn Mus., N.Y.) and Benjamin Lay (Historical Society of Pennsylvania).

Bibliography

See study by D. H. Dickason (1970).

Williams, William (c. 1727–c. 1791) painter; born in Bristol, England. A seaman, he arrived in Philadelphia (1747), painted, and constructed a theater in Philadelphia (1759). He wrote an autobiographical novel, The Journal of Llewellyn Penrose, a Seaman (1776), and produced fine portraits, such as Deborah Hall (1766). He returned to Bristol (1776), and died in an almshouse.