sentences:  In 1833 he founded the Phoenix Society, a mutual aid society for African Americans; that year he was also elected to the executive board of the interracial American Anti-Slavery Society.Williams was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Peter Williams, a Revolutionary War veteran, and his wife, an indentured servant from St. Kitts.After his family moved to New York City, Williams attended the African Free School, founded by the New York Manumission Society.