The first president of the Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University), Joseph Rickelson Williams, was born at Taunton, Massachusetts on November 14, 1808. Soon after his birth his parents moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Williams was the oldest son of Captain Richard and Rebecca (Smith) Williams and a lineal descendant on his father's side of the Puritan Governor Winslow. Richard Williams was a highly respected shipmaster and after his retirement from the sea, he held the office of Postmaster of New Bedford.

At the age of sixteen, after an unfulfilling two year apprenticeship in a Boston counting house, Williams entered Sandwich Academy where he studied under Luther Lincoln. Mr. Williams graduated from Harvard in 1831 with distinguished honors. After leaving college he studied law in the office of John Paris of Worcester, was admitted to the Bar, and began practicing law in New Bedford.

Because of ill health he relinquished his profession and came to Toledo in 1835 as the agent of a New England company seeking land investments. He remained in Toledo until 1839 when he moved to Constantine, Michigan where he invested heavily, particularly in the construction and operation of flour mills. While in Constantine, Williams became actively involved in politics; was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1850; twice the Whig candidate for Congress, and twice the Whig candidate for the United States Senate against Lewis Cass. In May 1853 he returned to Toledo and purchased the Toledo Blade, a local newspaper. Under his management the Blade became the leading advocate of Republican principles in Northern Ohio. He took prominent and influential positions in public affairs, especially in political matters. In 1856 Williams sold the Blade to Clark Waggoner and G.T. Steward and became President of the Michigan Agricultural College.

After holding this position for three years he was compelled to resign due to neuralgia, a painful nervous disease.

After spending a few months in the Bahamas, Williams returned in 1860 and was elected to the State Senate of Michigan, of which he was made the presiding officer. With the resignation of Lieutenant Governor, Hon. James Birney, Williams became the acting Lieutenant Governor of the State. He held this position until his death from a hemorrhage of the lungs on June 15, 1861 in Constantine, Michigan at the age of 52.

He left a wife, Sarah Rowland Langdon Williams, whom he had married on May 28, 1844 at Buffalo, New York. She was a daughter of John Langdon. Three daughters survived Williams: Charlotte Langdon, the wife of John F. Kumler; Sibyl, the wife of Kent Hamilton; and, Rebecca, the wife of William H. Cooper of New York.