Henry Elliot Williams was born on December 27, 1888, in Linden, North Carolina. During World War I, Williams was commissioned a captain and assigned to the quartermaster corps; he served overseas from December 1917 to July 1919. A lawyer by training and profession, Williams served as city attorney and mayor (1920-1921) of Fayetteville, North Carolina. He died in Tampa, Florida, on April 8, 1959.