Nathaniel Williams was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1784. He was raised as a Unitarian, so he did not believe in the deity of Christ, and thus he was not a child of God. When still a young man, he was employed on one of his uncle’s ships which was sailing to Calcutta, India. When he arrived in the East, the English Baptists were already there, preaching Christ to anyone who would listen, and the Lord put in the heart of this American, visiting in India to listen to these men with the strong English accents. The Holy Spirit brought him under conviction for his sins, and he repented before God, putting his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He then returned home and, on this day (June 5) in 1808, he was baptized by Lucius Bolles, becoming a member of the First Baptist Church of Salem.
That church had been formed three years earlier with twenty-four constituent members, and it had been prospering ever since. Pastor Bolles was an excellent teacher, and Nathaniel Williams began growing spiritually. He became a deacon in the church and was later licensed to preach. He left the lucrative trading business and began to study for the ministry. After his ordination, in 1816, he pastored in Beverly, Massachusetts for nine years before moving on to New Hampshire, Vermont and then back to Massachusetts.
Brother Williams, with Thomas Baldwin, pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Boston, was appointed to the convention called to revise the constitution of Massachusetts, helping to bring that state towards religious liberty. In 1824 he was recognized by Brown University for his contributions and was given an honorary degree.
It is interesting that the Lord sent his future servant all the way to India to hear the gospel, then He brought him home again to use him in the United States.