After graduation, Williams was ordained as a
Baptist minister. He held several pastorates, including the historic
Twelfth Baptist Church of
Boston. Williams served a pastorate in Washington, DC. While there, with support from many of the leaders of his time, such as
Frederick Douglass and
William Lloyd Garrison, Williams founded
The Commoner, a weekly journal. (This had no relation to
William Jennings Bryan's later publication of the same title). Williams published eight issues. Williams moved with his family to
Cincinnati,
Ohio, where he continued as a preacher. In addition, he studied law under
Alphonso Taft (father of President
William Howard Taft), reading the law with an established firm. He passed the bar. He became the first African American elected to the Ohio state legislature, serving one term from Cincinnati for 1880 to 1881. According to his biographer, historian
John Hope Franklin, he offended his constituents by offering a bill that "threatened to deny members of a local African Methodist church the right to bury their dead in what was becoming an exclusive suburb" of the river city. Although the bill died in committee, Williams was not re-elected and his state political career abruptly ended. He turned to practicing law. Franklin noted Williams' ability to persist and pick up new endeavors after he had closed off some fields. Thompson was confirmed by the Senate. In 1887, Williams was given an honorary doctorate of law by
Simmons College of Kentucky, a
historically black college, where he spoke at a commencement ceremony. In 1888, Thompson was a delegate to the World's Conference of Foreign Missions at London. Although he failed to gain entry as a delegate to an anti-slave trade conference in Brussels in the spring of 1890, he made other arrangements to visit the city and the continent. (See below)
Historian Williams' most substantial achievement was as a historian. He wrote groundbreaking histories about African Americans in the United States:
The History of the Negro Race in America 1619–1880 was published in 1882. It is considered to be the first overall history of African Americans, showing their participation and contributions from the earliest days of the colonies. In addition, he wrote a history of the
United States Colored Troops and African-American participation in the
American Civil War,
A History of Negro Troops in the War of Rebellion (1887). In this letter, he condemned the brutal and inhuman treatment of the Congolese at the hands of Europeans and Africans supervising them for the Congo Free State. He mentioned the role played by
Henry M. Stanley, sent to the Congo by the King, in deceiving and mistreating local Congolese. Williams reminded the King that the crimes committed were all committed in his name, making him as guilty as the perpetrators. He appealed to the international community of the day to "call and create an International Commission to investigate the charges herein preferred in the name of Humanity ...". The King and his supporters tried to discredit Williams, but he continued to speak out about the abuses in the Congo Free State, helping to generate actions in Belgium and the international community. Eventually the Belgian government took over supervising the Congo Free State and tried to improve treatment of the Congolese.
Death in England ,
Blackpool, England While travelling back from Africa, he became ill in
Cairo and travelled back to London with his fiancée Alice Fryer as he was living separated from his wife. Williams died in
Blackpool, England, on August 2, 1891, from
tuberculosis and
pleurisy. He is buried in
Layton Cemetery, Blackpool. In 1975, a tombstone was placed at his grave by an American historian and local supporters, commemorating Williams as an "Afro-American historian". ==Legacy and honors==