WILLIAMS, Robert, clergyman, born in England about 1745; died in Norfolk county, Virginia, 26 September, 1775. He was a local preacher in John Wesley's society, and from him received permission to preach in this country under the direction of the regular missionaries." Arriving in New York city in October, 1769, he began his labors in the chapel there, then received a general license from Joseph Pilmoor in Philadelphia, assisted Robert Strawbridge in evangelistic work, and in 1772 entered Virginia as the apostle of Methodism. When he began by singing and preaching on the courthouse steps in Norfolk, his ecstatic manner caused the citizens to suspect his sanity, yet he soon made converts and organized a society. He was received into the travelling connection at the first general conference, which was held at Philadelphia in June, 1773, and in the following year married and located, he was the first to print Methodist books in this country, and gave a wide circulation to Wesley's sermons until the conference that admitted him appropriated the right of publication.