He is the grandson of George Huntington Williams (and Mary Clifton Wood), who was a Mineralogist, Petrologist, and Professor of Geology at Johns Hopkins University.[3] He is the great-grandson of Daniel P. Wood (and Lora Celeste Smith) who was an American Lawyer and Politician from New York.
He is the great-grandson of Robert Stanton Williams (and Abigail Obear Doolittle Williams[4]) who became President of Oneida National Bank in 1886[5] and helped found the Utica Public Library in 1893.
He is the great-great grandson of William Williams who served in the War of 1812 and was a Publisher and Journalist.[7] He is the great-great-great grandson of Thomas Williams (and Susanna Dana) who was a participant in the Boston Tea Party.[8]
Williams is a direct descendant of Robert Williams (1607-1693) who embarked for Boston from England on the ship "Rose".[9]
His great-great grandfather, John McKim, founded McKim's Free School.[10] Through his grandmother, Lydia Hollingsworth Morris, his great-great grandfather is Reverdy Johnson.
Williams's father in-law, Sydney William Britton,[11][12] was a British doctor and his mother in-law, Louise Weibel Britton,[13] was the first female receipt of a higher law degree at McGill University.
Williams's son, Huntington Williams III, is the former president of Merit Network, Inc., and previously served as the CEO of Community of Science Inc.[14]
Williams was elected Suffragan Bishop of North Carolina in 1990 and was consecrated on April 28, 1990, by Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning, in Duke Chapel.[18] He retired in February 1996.[19] Williams died on January 28, 2013, at The Stewart Health Centre of The Cypress in Charlotte, North Carolina.