33 Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 1849–1859

These last chapters, which cover the lives of Frederick’s widow, Rebecca, their son Ezra, and his wife, Henrietta, and children are essentially the autobiography of Henrietta, together with some contextual explanations. Although in general she wrote the “incidents” of her life in sequence, many events were recorded as they came into her mind. Those I have rearranged chronologically.

Rebecca would live a dozen years after the family arrived in Salt Lake City. She kept busy cooking for the men who worked on the Williamses’ nearby Mill Creek farm. She lived alone and moved about independently, driving her own horse and buggy. Her son Ezra played an important role in the community as surgeon general of Utah Territory. Among other duties and accomplishments, the doctor established the first hospital west of the Mississippi, ministered to the survivors of the Willie and Martin handcart companies of 1856, and served as surgeon colonel in the Nauvoo Legion during the Utah War of 1857–58. He also participated in several exploring missions, one with Brigham Young, and was called on proselytizing missions to the Lamanites at White Mountain, Nevada, and Elk Mountain, near Moab. Toward the end of the decade, Dr. Williams was asked to settle his family in the middle of another Indian territory, Smithfield, Cache County, where he built a sawmill, lived in the fort, and had several encounters with the Indians. Henrietta recorded these and other “incidents” in her autobiography, including the births of more children, the difficulties the family endured, and the dances they held to cheer themselves up during the early years when food was scarce and life was hard. Especially poignant are the incidents when families helped one another with food so no one went without. Henrietta was faithful to the gospel’s every requirement, including that of plural marriage, and assisted when her husband took a second wife, Electa Jane Barney. Her history is written succinctly, sometimes with humor and sometimes sarcastically.

First Day in Salt Lake City: 
Eating at the Kimballs’, Camping on City Creek

The Williams party arrived in Salt Lake City on October 28, 1849, and after eating dinner at President Heber C. Kimball’s home, set up housekeeping on City Creek. The Upper City Creek Fork was the last campground for all pioneers who entered the valley. It had been established by Lorenzo Dow Young, Brigham Young’s brother, on July 26, 1847, and included an area for gardens. The camp encompassed the area in Salt Lake City where the administrative buildings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are now located.¹ As the Williamses had done for the past three months on the journey west, they lived for four months out of their wagons until March 1, 1850, when they moved into a log house Ezra had built just north of where Brigham Young’s Lion House now stands.² Henrietta sums up their arrival and their moves during the first year in Great Salt Lake City in one succinct paragraph. “We arrived in [the] valley Sunday morning the 28th October 1849. Went to H. C. Kimball house for dinner. Then camped on City Creek till first of March, then moved into a new Log House on the Lot given by Bro Kimball, north of the Lion House. Next year built an Adobie House. A daughter Mary was born in the Log House.”³

She took more time and gave more detail when writing in her 1893 autobiographical sketch. Here Henrietta described what they had eaten at the Kimballs’ for their first meal in the valley and explained that they camped on City Creek opposite the home of William H. Kimball, Ezra G. Williams’s long-time friend. “Next day Sunday entered Salt Lake City, etc. Dined at Brother Heber Chase Kimball’s on fat beef stake & dried apple pie & that dinner tasted luscious to us rusty travelling emigrants. then camped on City Creek on a spot oppisite the Wm Kimball house, north of the Lion House, the other side where City Creek runs in 1893.”⁴

More details of their arrival, the greeting by President Brigham Young, and their living quarters are provided by Lucy Ellen Williams Godfrey, Ezra and Henrietta’s eldest child, who lived in these rustic accommodations as a toddler. Lucy wrote:

The next morning, Sunday, October 28, President Brigham Young, Newell K. Whitney, their wives and others came to meet them and welcome them into the Valley. What a joy to know their journey nearly done. They hurried to get into the city and camped on what is now North Temple Street by the creek. Their wagon boxes were set on the ground facing west. Posts were set at each end and the covers were loosened inside and drawn up over the pole that was fastened to the posts. A canvas was fastened securely at the east and another hung at the west end to answer for a door. Here they lived comfortably through the winter.⁵

The Salt Lake Valley was blanketed with snow that winter; nevertheless, Ezra went to the mountains and cut down trees to fashion logs to build their first home. Lucy wrote, “They lived in their wagon boxes all winter, snow two feet deep that winter. he went to the mountains got logs and built a log house north of the Lion house. They moved into that house March 1850.”⁶

In her 1884 autobiographical sketch, Henrietta gives a few more details about living conditions in Great Salt Lake City during their first few months, reveals what their attitude had been toward providing medical assistance free of charge on the trek west, and mentions their pride in having paid off the Welsh debt of $135 within a year of their arrival.

Entered the valley October 28th 1849. Camped on City Creek Salt Lake City, till March 1st 1850, then moved into a comfortable log house & then commenced to work & save to pay back the Welsh people 135 dollars that Bro Benson & George A. Smith had councilled them to send Dr. Williams, to help him in two weeks notice to get up & start for the valley, as there was no physician in the 3 companies, which was done freely with pleasure. His debt was paid off July 20th 1850. We then proceeded [to] build an Adobie House next [to] the Log House north of the Lion House Salt Lake City.⁷

A Child Born in Each of Their First Three Salt Lake Homes

In just a few lines, Henrietta indicates which house they were living in when their children were born. Her information gives us an indication of when they moved from one home to the next and where those homes were located. “Next year [1851] built an Adobie House. A daughter Mary was born in the Log House. A son Frederick G. was born in the Adobie House. 2 years after [1855], on the corner North of the Temple & Main, a son Ezra H. G. was born.”⁸

More details appeared in Henrietta’s 1884 autobiographical sketch, which included a notation on the April 6, 1853, celebration associated with laying the cornerstone of the Salt Lake Temple. From her window, she witnessed the procession, the flags, and the band playing.

Sunday February 2nd 1851 our little Mary Elizabeth came to see if the bear saw his shadow & staid out, she being content with us. After moving into the new house our son Frederick G. Williams arrived on the morning of the 29th of March 1853 (New day). April 6th the corner stone of the Salt Lake City Temple was laid. I ventured to the window & looked out to see the procession, hear the the [sic] Nauvoo band play & see the flags, wishing to be there.

Next moved north of Temple Block & built what is called the [Albert] Carrington House on the corner of North Temple & Main Street, where my son Ezra was born Tuesday April 16th 1855. His father being called on the White Mountain Mission, leaving when he was 5 weeks old.⁹

Still more details were provided by Henrietta in her 1893 account:

In 1850 built a Log House. Our 2nd child Mary Elizabeth was born February 2nd 1851. 1852 built an Adobie House. Our 3rd child Frederick Granger was born March 29th 1853. 1854 build a house of Adobie North of Temple on North Temple Street & Main Street Salt Lake City. April 16th our 4th child Ezra Granger was born in that house. 1858 sold to Albert Carrington & moved to West Main Street between 3rd & 4th South Temple Streets on East side, now owned by Bishop A. O. Smoot.¹⁰

For easier consultation, the names of Ezra and Henrietta’s first four children, together with their dates of birth and the homes in which they were born, can be schematically arranged as follows:

Endowment and Sealing

Ezra and Rebecca had had the privilege of receiving their endowments, and Rebecca had been sealed to her deceased husband, Frederick, in the Nauvoo Temple, in 1846. Henrietta, however, had not yet been endowed, nor had she been sealed to her husband. Before the first temple in Utah was completed and before the temporary Endowment House was dedicated on May 5, 1855, the temple ordinances for worthy members were performed at President Young’s office and in other locations. Although she was less than two months away from delivering her second child, Henrietta was endowed in the morning and then sealed to Ezra for time and all eternity by Apostle Willard Richards at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9, 1851.¹¹

Six-Week Exploring Mission with Brigham Young

On April 22, 1852, Dr. Williams was called on an exploring mission with Brigham Young to Iron County that lasted six weeks. Ezra’s mother, Rebecca, was ill at the time, and Henrietta resented her for staying in bed when she seemed to have a good appetite. Nevertheless, she dutifully listed the number of prominent people who came to visit Rebecca while she was bedridden.

Soon after moving into the Adobie House the Doctor was called as one of the escort for Brigham Young Exploring Company to Iron County, 22 Apr 1852, in a wagon horse team, one horse belonging to Edward Stevenson. Dr drove an iron gray mare and sulky. gone six weeks. Mother Williams was taken sick with a Light Fever, in bed 3 weeks, good appetite, though preferred to lie in bed and rest. I was tired & weary of constant working. I took the children for a walk. Burdick Family set up a horrible cry for leaving her alone for one half hour. So many times she had left me alone to do the best I could, nothing said about that part of it. Father John Smith, Zina Young, & Vilate Kimball, Sister Whitney & a host of others calling to see her while she was lying in bed.¹²

One discovery made on the Iron County Exploring Mission, which Henrietta noted in her history, was a deposit of soap substitute. “Another incident. When Dr Williams accompanied President Young on his trip to Iron County they came to a place called the soap mine, or a bank of clay like substance that was used in place of soap to wash hands, and clothes, which made a good substitute for soap, making the skin soft and smooth.”¹³

Other exploring and peace-keeping missions followed. “Next year Dr went in another Exploring Company to Tooele & Chamfit Valley, west of Jordan River. also called to go up in Snyders Mill Kanyon to bring in the bodies of James Quale & James Dixon, who were shot down by the Ute Indians. Also called to go to Box Elder County to help the settlers fight the Indians. he was at that time Surgeon General of the Nauvoo Legion.”¹⁴

Patriarchal Blessings

On August 12, 1853, Rebecca Swain Williams received a second patriarchal blessing, this time from Church Patriarch John Smith in Salt Lake City, with Bathsheba W. Smith acting as scribe.¹⁵ It was also recorded in Dr. Williams’s medical ledger on page 198. On the same day’s visit, Ezra and his wife, Henrietta, and her brother John Henry Crombie also received their patriarchal blessings from Patriarch John Smith. Those were likewise recorded in Dr. Williams’s ledger, pages 199–200.

Proselytizing Mission to the Native Americans at White Mountain

The first LDS missions to the Native Americans living within and just beyond Utah Territory were announced during the October 1853 general conference. It was the Church’s response to clashes such as the so-called Walker War and other difficulties with the American Indians and a recognition that they needed a more effective program to deal with local Indian problems. Most of those missions failed within a year, except the southern Utah mission near Santa Clara, with Jacob Hamblin. But the Church’s determination and resolve were not deterred.¹⁶

In 1855, the First Presidency focused all the Church’s missionary efforts on the Native Americans. Initially, some 139 missionaries were called at the April general conference to work in six different mission sites among the Indians, while only eight missionaries were called to the English mission. Historian Eugene Campbell states:

The success of the southern Indian mission at Santa Clara encouraged Mormon leaders, who were determined to expand the Indian missionary program the following year. At April conference in 1855, a number of missionaries were called to the different Indian missions. The initial report was: Shoshone Mission, 17; Elk Mountain, 34; White Mountain, 22; Carson Valley Mission, 9; Northern or Flathead Mission, 27; and Las Vegas Mission, 30. The same report mentioned only eight missionaries called to the English mission which gives some idea of the emphasis placed on work among the Indians that year.¹⁷

After the several exploring and medical missions—most likely in connection with his position as surgeon general of the Nauvoo Legion, Utah’s militia¹⁸—Dr. Ezra G. Williams was one of those 139 called on a proselytizing mission to the Native Americans. His assignment was the White Mountain Mission, near the border of Utah and Nevada in Central Utah. The blessing Ezra received at the hands of Apostle Orson Hyde, when being set apart, was recorded in his father’s medical ledger.

A blessing upon the head of Ezra Granger Williams setting him apart for his mission to the White Mountains, given in Great Salt Lake City April 28th 1855, under the hands of Elder Orson Hyde, Albert P. Rockwood, James Brown. Pronounced by O. Hyde.

Brother Ezra. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we lay our hands upon your head to confirm upon you all your former blessings and ordinations, and we say that the power and influence thereoff [sic] shall rest upon you, and we now set you apart unto this mission, and we pray God the Eternal Father to impart wisdom, knowledge and understanding, that you may be quick to understand and soon be able to teach the natives the principles of salvation, and that you may have great joy and rejoicing therein, and have great occasion to rejoice in the house of the Lord. All blessing that you desire in righteousness and to help you in the performance of this mission are and shall be yours through faithfullness. Therefore be humble and diligent in the discharge of your duties. Seek to have the spirit of the Lord ever with you, and you shall have influence and power to do good. We seal these and all other blessings which you need and require, we confer upon you by virtue of the Priesthood we hold and in the name of the Father, son and Holy Ghost. Even so Amen.

J. V. Long Reporter¹⁹

Henrietta Williams provided some details on their home life when the mission call came, including Ezra’s preparations (he took a wagon, a horse named Jack, and a cow named Cherry). She also mentions a made-up bedtime song by their two-year-old son, Frederick, and her failed attempts to collect on outstanding doctor bills.

After moving to the lot North of Temple Block he was called to the White Mountains. Set apart by Orson Hyde 22 April 1855. Brother Orson Miles & Nelson Empey, went with him in the same wagon. David Evans of Lehi, Captain of the company. . . . my son Ezra Henry Granger Williams was 5 weeks old when his Father left him to go to the White Mountains May 1855. On a mission he took a cow named Cherry. My eldest son Frederick G. would sing himself to sleep: “Pa’s gone on a mission with Jack and Cherry cow, way down to White Mountains, in a wagon.[”] he left me a book of accounts to collect. none seemed willing to pay, only on tithing. Still we got along without murmuring. I did the best I knew how under the circumstances.²⁰

Lucy E. Godfrey adds that her grandmother, Rebecca, Frederick’s widow, made two hundred pounds of hardtack and a hundred pounds of butter crackers for her son Ezra and the company. Lucy said: “In April he was called and set apart by Orson Hyde for a mission to the White Mountain in southeastern Utah and northern Arizona. His mother made two 100 lb. sacks of hardtack and 100 lbs. of butter crackers and other provisions to last a long time. Brothers Frank Rendall, Orson Miles, and Nelson Empey went with him; the four men provided a wagon, horses, and provisions, and Ezra Granger Williams took the only cow he owned. David Evans of Lehi was captain of the company.”²¹

Henrietta also recorded some of the experiences of Elder Williams’s White Mountain mission, including his shooting down of a crane for dinner and his climbing of “Williams Peak,” so named because he was the first white man to reach the top.

Another incident in the White Mountain Mission. My brother Wm. had [a] gun presented him by a young boy of his associate. We brought it to the valley. We did not know at the time it was presented Dr Williams would take it on that mission, 8 years. after one long days travel as they camped for noon, a crane passed over. Dr Williams tried his luck at a shot & brought it down into camp. they soon had it dressed for cooking in a hot frying pan, with some fat bacon, the breast being nice and tender, a favorite part with the Dr. that dinner cooked over a sage fire was delicious and ate with a relish, as they assured us on their return. 5 of the company ascended the mountain farther on, Dr taking a small tin cup in one hand climbing with the other. Filing the cup with snow after taking a sip from the cup, keeping himself fresh in drinking water, till he reached the top. The others scrambling to get there first, [he] taking the route slow and easy, not having to stop with the climbers to take breath. he stepped on the top first, the boys calling to him. Williams Peak, for the Name of the Mountain.²²

The leader of the party, Bishop David Evans of Lehi, was in Snake Valley on June 1 when he recorded his first sighting of White Mountain: “Here for the first time I got sight of the White Mountain, which lies from this place about 35 miles southeast. The lower the sun got the whiter this mountain appeared until about sunset or a little before it looked like a great pile of dirty snow.”²³ Clifford L. Stott posits that from David Evans’s vantage point, “the mysterious mountain peak would have been in the Wah Wah Range of western Millard County.” Stott uses Ezra’s own description to further reveal the identity of White Mountain. On June 6, Dr. Williams reached the foot of the White Mountain. Of this experience, Ezra wrote:

Here we halted a few moments to gaze at the mysterious wonder which was only known by a faint, meagre description by the Indians. This mountain is a white sandstone rock, interspersed with bastard diamonds. . . . These small diamonds almost cover the ground for some distance before we reach the mountain, so much so as to dazzle the eye of the traveler on a sunny day. There are some who say they have been to the White Mountain, but I think not excepting the red men. I claim that I was the first white man who ever stepped upon it and I have been the highest up its rugged slopes.²⁴

Clifford Stott concludes: “From the descriptions of Evans and Williams, there can be little doubt that the White Mountain was Crystal Peak in the Wah Wah Range. Williams’s ‘bastard diamonds’ eventually gave Crystal Peak its name.”²⁵

A fellow missionary in the group, Brigham Young Lamb, kept a succinct journal in which he recorded the places he traveled on his Indian mission. At one point he referenced his companions, Ezra G. Williams among them.

MAY, 1855

21st—Great Salt Lake City. I started my mission to the Indians with Bishop David Evans. . . .

JUNE, 1855

1st—traveled 12 miles and camped at Snipe Creek. 2nd and 3rd—at Mountain Spring; 4th and 5th—at Meadow Creek; 6th—I started east with Brother Ray, E. G. Williams, and George Nebeker with our Indian guide for the White Mountains.²⁶

Unfortunately, Ezra’s mission to the Indians in the White Mountain area was not much longer in duration than had been his father’s mission to the Lamanites in 1831. After little more than two weeks of reconnoitering the area (not finding much potable water) and being low on supplies, the mission was called off. In Ezra’s report to President Heber C. Kimball, he pointed out that the Indians were widely scattered, that they were fearful of the missionaries, and that there was a lack of drinkable water, “the same being found only in out-of-the way places known to Indian guides who accompanied them.”²⁷ According to Eugene Campbell, “Williams also described the Indians’ fear of the missionaries and the missionaries’ own attempts to instill confidence. Williams claimed to have been the first white man to ascend White Mountain. After making a limited effort to establish a mission among the Goshutes or Western Shoshone in the area, the missionaries returned home and reported that the project was impractical.”²⁸

As an addendum to the White Mountain Mission and its location, there is a typed letter from Anthony W. Ivins, First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, dated April 26, 1929, addressed to Nancy C. Williams, author of After 100 Years. In it, President A. W. Ivins corrects a mistaken idea that my grandmother held regarding the location of the White Mountain.

On the 10th of April just past you addressed a letter to President [Heber J.] Grant and you enclosed in it a clipping from some paper, the date of publication not stated, in which it was stated that prior to the time that Jacob Hamblin crossed the Colorado River at Lees Ferry and went in to the Indian country of the south, that Dr. Ezra Granger Williams had preceded him with a party of explorers who crossed the Colorado and reached a point as far south as San Francisco Peak, which they called the White Mountain.

You reach your conclusion from the record kept by Dr. Williams while he was upon this trip. Your conclusion in regard to the country explored by Dr. Williams in 1855 are not justified by the facts.²⁹

President Ivins then goes on to relate the facts of the mission, quoting twice from Ezra’s own report made to Pres. Heber C. Kimball.

On the 28th of May, 1855, a party was fitted out at Fillmore in Millard County, and upon that day started west to explore what was known as the White Mountain region. Three days later they crossed the Sevier River. Six days after leaving Fillmore, Williams in his report to President Heber C. Kimball, says:

“We left Snipe Creek in the morning and traveled a little south of west to the base of Pe –up Mountain, as the Indians call it, signifying Big Mountain. Here we found several springs, named Mountain Springs, camped for the night and laid over Sunday. It was thought best to ascend this mountain and thereby command a view of the whole country round about at a glance. We rode our horses three or four miles and sent the horses back to camp. We passed on and at last gained the summit. I tell you we were high up in the world. We felt first rate, but were very tired, as it was a long and hard climb. We were nearer the valley on the west, snow capped mountains to the east and west. This peak was called Williams Peak, as I was the first white man to gain its exalted summit.”³⁰

Pres. Ivins summed up his feelings on the location of the White Mountain and pointed out that one result of the expedition was a Mormon settlement at what is now Panaca, Nevada.

It will thus be seen that the party was out only fifteen days, a length of time which made it impossible for them to reach the Colorado River and cross to the San Francisco Mountain. A full account of this expedition was made by Dr. Williams. I have only copied the part which appears to refer to the particular question which is raised in your letter. The Williams party did not reach the confines of the State of Arizona at any point. The exploration made resulted in the establishment of a settlement in Meadow Valley, Nevada, where the town of Panacca now is, only a short distance from the old mining camp of Pioche.³¹

Ezra’s early release from the White Mountains portion of his mission and his return home on July 3, 1855, was a welcome surprise to the members of his family. Henrietta wrote:

You may judge of my surprise. When sitting in my bedroom, rocking my baby boy [Ezra] and remodelling some of my wardrobe to take my little ones out next day to celebrate the Fourth of July. A Man with a red flannel shirt should come up the walk to the open door. Little Mary was standing near by looking out she cried out, “It’s Pa.” She ran up stairs to her grandmama [Rebecca] & told her Pa’s come she came down as fast as her trembling limbs would let her, with an exclamation What did that child say. She was overjoyed, and she said I was writing a letter to you, now I will burn it for you will think it was too silly, so we did not get a peep at it.³²

Henrietta proceeded in her narrative with a description of what the circumstances had been at the time of Elder Williams’s departure for his mission to the Lamanites. Food was scarce, and Ezra’s concern for his family’s welfare while on the Lord’s errand brought tears to his eyes; yet he proceeded with his mission.

He was glad to find his family happy in trying to do the very best they knew how and not complain, for when starting out the door to go on that mission, Mary Jane Whitney came to borrow flour. that family was noted for borrowing. Quite fashionable in those days, more so with some parties. I told her I only had 3 pounds in the house. The Dr turned quick, “What?” The company hurried him off. at Whitney’s, folks were standing to bid good bye. Sarah Ann Whitney Kimball Smith said “Ezra’s crying, I am not going to cry.” he answered You would cry too if you were leaving your family without bread, not knowing when you would return. Wm. Snow lived way below Salt Lake he was indebted for medical service. he promised to bring flour to Salt Lake City in a wagon and let us have 3 sacks. he did so promptly.³³

A little more than a month after returning from the White Mountains Mission, Elder Williams was called to continue his mission to the Indians or, as his Elder’s certificate states, his mission to “Israel,” this time to the Elk Mountain Indian Mission.

ELDER’S CERTIFICATE

To all Persons to whom this Letter shall Come:—

THIS CERTIFIES that the bearer, Elder E. G. Williams is in full faith and fellowship with the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, and by the General Authorities of said Church, has been duly appointed a MISSION to Israel to PREACH THE GOSPEL, and administer in all the ordinances thereof pertaining to his office.

And we invite all men to give heed to his teachings, and counsels as a man of God, sent to open to them the door of life and salvation—and assist him in his travels, in whatsoever things he may need.

And we pray GOD THE ETERNAL FATHER to bless Elder Williams and all who receive him, and minister to his comfort, with the blessing of heaven and earth, for time and for all eternity, in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.

Signed at Great Salt Lake City, TERRITORY OF UTAH, August 31st 1855, in behalf of said Church.

(signed)
Brigham Young
Heber C. Kimball
JM Grant
FIRST PREISDENCY.³⁴

Elk Mountain Indian Mission

By September 13, Elder Williams and his White Mountain companions were on their way to the Elk Mountain Mission near Moab, Grand County. Henrietta recorded that at one of their camps, some thirty miles beyond Manti, they discovered a salt mountain. “On their trip to the Elk Mountain they entered a Kanyon, about thirty miles south of Sanpete County or Manti, they camped and discovered in a side kanyon, a mountain of salt, or a good portion of it, some of it in solid blocks, and some of it in blocks with specks of a clay like substance scattered through the blocks, and some clear and transparent without the specks.”³⁵

It was at this campsite that an Indian runner came to them at midnight from Manti to inform them that Indians had driven out the members of the Elk Mountain Mission, killing some and wounding others. Ezra’s group was ordered to return to Manti to await further instructions. Henrietta wrote: “Captain Alfred N. Billings of Manti led the Elk Mountain Mission, now Grass Valley one mile below present site of moab. September 23rd 1855. The Indians burned their grain in stacks. Stole their cattle. September 24 the party left their Fort & started for manti arriving a week later. The Indians killed James W. Hunt, Edward Edwards, Wm. Behunning. President A. W. Billings was shot in the hand. Dr. Ezra Granger Williams was one of the missionaries. He attended to the hand of A. W. Billings.”³⁶

In another telling of the incident, Henrietta wrote that while Dr. Williams was ministering to the wounded at Manti, word was received to abandon the Elk Mountain Mission. “Dr found Samuel Billings had been shot through the fore finger of the Right Hand while helping to carry the dead body of Brother Behuning into the fort. he cried out ‘Oh, I am shot.’ he thought he was hurt worse than he really was. Dr. Williams stayed at his house and dressed the wound. while remaining in Manti for orders from the First Presidency, the word was received to abandon the Mission.”³⁷

Scarcity of Food in the Valley, the Sharing of Rations

Of primary concern to the settlers was having a sufficient supply of food on hand to feed their families and to share with the ever-growing number of emigrants arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. Well known is the story of the crop-devouring crickets and the cricket-gorging seagulls; other stories tell of the Saints eating sego lily bulbs and other such items when food was scarce. Mothers, especially, were concerned with providing sustenance for their children, so it is little wonder that Henrietta devoted a significant portion of her history to incidents involving the lack of food.

While Henrietta and Ezra lived most of the decade near the temple block in the center of Salt Lake City, they also stayed at their Mill Creek farm, some five miles away. Lucy Godfrey wrote of her father, Ezra: “He also own[ed] several others lots in S. L. C. and a farm on Mill Creek 5 miles south of S. L. City.”³⁸ The farm had been purchased from Dustin Amy to help provide the family with food. Rebecca would often stay at the farm. “Lived on Mill Creek [left blank] years. Bought a farm of Mr. Dustin, east of State Road.”³⁹

Henrietta wrote about a number of instances where people helped one another when there was a shortage food. She rarely indicated the dates for these events, but judging by the age of the children, all the following stories would have occurred in the early 1850s and were most probably associated with the famine of 1855–56.⁴⁰

Blessed pancake flour. This incident involved three children; hence, it would have occurred sometime prior to April 16, 1855, when Ezra, the fourth child was born.

Another incident. Lucy had chicken pox. She could not eat barley pancakes. I went to Ruth Pack, asking her for one pound of flour ten cent dime. Money was money in those days. She sold me the flour, and gave me a biscuit to cook for the sick child. that night the wagon from Mill Creek Farm drove into the barn yard, with Dr. & Brother John, the hired man, for supper. I made pancakes for supper for those hungry hard working men. they were satisfied. but where was my share of the dish? the three children [Lucy, Mary, Frederick] must have one divided between them with a drink of milk before going to bed. next morning more pancakes were made from the remainder of the flour. I got a piece of one with a drink of milk. I told the circumstance to Brigham’s wives. Ellen Rockwood Young said that pound of flour was blessed.⁴¹

Digging peppermint roots. Henrietta’s brother John H. Crombie could not take the scarcity of food and the poverty that accompanied the initial stages of building a new civilization; after his mission to the Sandwich Islands,⁴² he moved to San Francisco.⁴³ She wrote: “At times provisions were scarce in the valley. Brother John went digging peppermint roots, which greatly humbled him, together with patched britches. When he left Zion he never returned. Preferred to stay in the Land of Plenty. Milk weed shoots early in spring were considered luscious. Any kind of greens were sought after.”⁴⁴

Making merry with a meal of peas and green currants. Henrietta wrote of an episode describing how she and a friend decided to cheer up Amasa Lyman’s wives, who had very little to eat, and treat them to a dinner of the vegetables they had picked. They all “heartily” enjoyed the dinner and visit and were rewarded with the music of a seraphim, evidently a musical instrument.

One day, I picked young early Marrowfat peas and young green currants, and started for Bishop Callister. Got Helen Mar, his wife, interested. She dug early beets, radishes, some other garden vegetables. We filed along in a procession towards Amasa Lyman’s himself on a mission at that time. his wives Paulina, Eliza, Caroline, Lydia, looked like they did not want company, as they had nothing to treat them. When they opened our budgets they were better satisfied and we heartily enjoyed our dinner and visit. Lydia played tunes on the seraphim, which was a double treat in those days.⁴⁵

Sister Orson Hyde invited the family for breakfast. Once, Henrietta invited the needy wife of a missionary over for breakfast and told Sister Orson Hyde about the woman’s lack of food predicament. Not only did Sister Hyde divide her provisions with the woman, she invited the Williamses for breakfast as well, knowing they had little food because people did not pay their doctor bills. Henrietta wrote:

Another incident. John Lyman Smith brother to Geo. A Smith was on a mission to Switzerland. Augusta Bowen Smith, his wife, was very short of provisions. I invited her to my house to breakfast. Acquainted Mrs Orson Hyde with her circumstances she divided with her till harvest. also invited our family to breakfast one morning, out of politeness, as she knew we had no way of getting any. People owing Dr Williams in promises that did[n’t] feed us. they did not realize when they were eating we were hungry and rightly owned some of their store.⁴⁶

Sister Kimball looks out for the Williamses, shares her rice. Another caring sister was Vilate Kimball, Heber’s first wife, who checked up on the Williamses and other needy families to see how their food supply was holding out. Henrietta continues: “Sister Vilate Kimball I saw every day, picking greens and came to see how much provisions I had a pint of barley. I showed her. She said Brother Kimball had given her a sack of rice to divide with those who were really needy. She sent three quarts to me. I sent half to the farm as Mother Williams was cooking for the men. I indulged in cooking some for myself and children.”⁴⁷

Another account of Vilate Kimball’s generosity was recorded by Henrietta’s second daughter, Mary Elizabeth Williams.

I was born February 2, 1851 in Salt Lake City. My father’s name was Ezra Granger Williams. My mother’s [Henrietta Elizabeth Crombie] My father owned several lots in Salt Lake City, also a farm five miles south of the City on Mill Creek.

I lived in the early hard times. We had to grind our own flour; barley or any kind of grain was used. At one time we had been without white flour for some time when Vilate Kimball, wife of President Kimball came and gave us a little white flour. It was so good! She was always helping in some way. My folks had a hard time during the time of the crickets.⁴⁸

Because Heber C. Kimball had stored many bushels of various grains, he was able to provide sustenance to hundreds. Orson F. Whitney describes Vilate’s delight in distributing food to the needy.

[The Kimballs] kept an open house, and fed from twenty-five to one hundred poor people at their table, daily, besides making presents innumerable of bread, flour and other necessaries, which were then literally worth their weight in gold.

It was Vilate’s chief delight to sally forth with a basket on her arm, filled with nicely cooked edibles and little domestic comforts, and seek out some poor, obscure person, in need of help, though perhaps too proud or timid to make it known. She would often go to the houses of such persons, on finding that they were away from home, and provide for their needs in their absence, in order that they might meet a glad surprise on their return, without knowing the good angel who had visited them.⁴⁹

Rebecca out of food at the farm. In 1855, food was scarce at the farm also, and one day Rebecca came into town to see if anyone had paid their doctor bills. No one had. Henrietta gave Mother Williams some young beet greens she had just picked from the Kimballs’ garden, a treat that delighted Rebecca. As she was writing down her memories at age seventy-one, Henrietta was proud that she had survived those lean years when she was twenty-eight, and stated it thus:

One day there was nothing to eat at the farm. Mother Williams rode up in the sulky to see if I had received from those who had promised to pay me the bills they were owing Dr Williams. none had paid. I had just arrived at the house as she drove up, with an Osneberg sack, holding a bushel and a half of young beet greens. Brother Kimball sent word to me I could go to the patch and thin them out, the gardener Father Tucker helping me. When Mother Williams saw them her eyes sparkled. she was particularly fond of anything to eat with vinegar. She wanted half, I gave her all, as they had to work in hot sun and wanted something to keep up their strength to work on. Sister Vilate [Kimball] sent 4 pounds of pork to cook with was a treat to the ploughmen & sowers of grain. I continued to pick weeds. With the milk they brought from the farm and skim milk Mrs Hyde gave me, I lived through all that to be 71 years old, though I was 28 at that time of life, not knowing of the future.⁵⁰

A hungry two-year-old Frederick asks for some bread. Another incident that occurred in 1855 involved Henrietta’s hungry two-year-old son, Frederick, who asked his mother for some bread and butter. His father, Dr. Williams, was away on the White Mountain/Elk Mountain missions at the time. Her plea to a neighbor was rewarded, and young Frederick got to enjoy his treat but gave most of it back to be saved for next time.

Life has many scenes, and many up and downs. 1855. One day my little [Frederick] said, give me a piece of bread and butter, I will be such a good boy. The Little Fellow was good all the time. he looked at mother with his big black eyes to see if the bread and butter was coming. he did not know Mother’s feelings. I went to the house of Enoch Reese, his wife Sarah gave me a slice thickly buttered. I took it home speedily, gave it to him, he danced with joy and capered around. At last gave most of it back to me & said Save it for next time. Soon, someone paid their debt in flour & we enjoyed our bread and rations.⁵¹

Henrietta cooked a splendid meal on a sawdust fire and shared it. In the first few years of farming in the valley, when the harvest was particularly critical, the men could not always take time off to go after firewood, so Henrietta learned how to cook with sawdust. She became creative in the manner she cooked as well. One meal included rice, eggs, shortbread, and barley brew. When her hungry bishop stopped by after visiting the afflicted in the ward, he and his wife and daughter were invited to partake. Henrietta stated that there seemed to be more food left over than when she began to serve it.

Sister [Perses] Richards showed me how to cook with sawdust and the scrapings of the chip pile. Men could not go into kanyons after wood in farming time. I built a fire on the hearth, put the Dutch oven on that sawdust fire, built one on top of the cover, put the big coffee pot, with parched barley, on top to boil. Put rice, eggs, milk, sugar very scarce articles, in a small tin pail, hung it inside the big camp coffee pot to cook, as the coffee boiled. Meantime Hellen Callister came to grind barley on the hand mill in the cellar. She smelt the cooking and sat down to pay a welcome visit. When Bishop Thomas Callister came in, white with exhaustion visiting the afflicted in the ward, I was about to take up the dinner, he came in, he looked at the fire place saw the arrangements he said well, that is a great contraption. the rice was cooked to a charm the coffee splendid, the short bread excellent. he staid to dinner. Blessed it. Libby, Helen’s 3rd daughter, came for [her] Mother. Her Father said come along Libby, we’ll have a dinner. some time, we ate our fill Seemingly there was more left than when we commenced to eat.⁵²

Dr. Williams’s Medical Practice

As noted, Dr. Ezra G. Williams was appointed surgeon general of the Nauvoo Legion, Utah’s militia, on March 30, 1850, a position that was listed in W. W. Phelps’s almanac⁵³ and mentioned from time to time by Henrietta in her history.⁵⁴ Undoubtedly, Ezra’s many exploratory trips and medical missions in the first part of the decade were occasioned by the fact of his post. We have seen that on those missions Dr. Williams treated people for gunshot wounds, and he recovered the bodies of men killed by Indians.

Death by drowning. One of the first accidents of 1850 involving Dr. Williams, received quite a bit of notice because of the age of the victim and the prominence of her parents. On Friday night, May 10, 1850, Henrietta had a foreboding dream of a child’s drowning death, which unfortunately came true. Dr. Williams was the attending physician. Henrietta wrote:

I dreamed a little girl was drowned. Next morning, I was on the crossing of City Creek, dipping up water in a pail. Some one stepped over me on the plank. I looked up & saw Oliver Buel, hat in hand, hurrying to his Mother. A thought struck me, Precindia is drowned. his mother rushed ahead of me. I heard her calling out to Dr Williams hold her face downwards, Ezra. I looked in the direction, saw my husband running from that branch of the Creek, crossing President Young Lot to our House with the drowned child in his arms. Soon Bro Kimball arrived. Zina Young, the Aunt to the Little Girl, Harriet Cook Young, with others at our house, did all they could to soothe the mother in her grief; Wm. Major painted the portrait of little Precindia Kimball, which proved a great comfort to her mother.⁵⁵

The drowned child was Presendia Celestia Kimball (1849–1850), the sixteen-month-old daughter of President Heber C. Kimball and Presendia Lathrop Huntington Kimball, a plural wife of Joseph Smith, who first married Norman Buell.⁵⁶ Although Presendia’s death date is listed as May 9, 1850, in family records and in a modern Heber C. Kimball biography,⁵⁷ three contemporary records indicate it was Saturday May 11, 1850. First, the Historian’s Office journal:

May 11—slight rain in night—cleared up—windy—T. B. in Garden all day W. R. in Garden—feels sick. The high water having washed away the dam across City Creek. 14 ward repair it. The little girl of Priscinda Buell, 14 months old, drowned in City Creek this A. M. at 9 a.m. she slipt off the footboard while attempting to cross the Creek by herself—her brother had run away to play & cut sticks—& left the child by itself, who is supposed to have attempted to walk on the water, same as dry ground—the child was washed down 2 or 3 rods & found by a girl, where the water was 2 or 3 feet deep, at the fence, near where the child was drowned when Pioneers were first here.⁵⁸

Patty Bartlett Sessions, who kept a very succinct but faithful daily record of her comings and goings as a midwife, recorded in her diary that the death of the child occurred on Saturday, May 11, 1850. “Thursday 9 [May 1850] worked on Marthas dress Friday 10 finished it Saturday 11 Mr Sessions came down Sunday 12 went to meeting then went home sister Buels [Kimball] child drowned yesterday.”⁵⁹

In the Salt Lake Tithing Office Journal, William Clayton likewise recorded May 11, 1850, as the date of the drowning death of Presendia. “Sat [May] 11 About 8 A.M. a little girl daughter of Heber C. & Priscinda Kimball was drowned in the creek between his house & Lorenzo Youngs.”⁶⁰

It was thirteen-year-old John R. Young, son of Lorenzo Dow Young, brother of Brigham Young, who jumped into the creek and retrieved the little girl’s body, then handed her to Dr. Ezra G. Williams. John Young later wrote:

After Presidents Young and Kimball moved onto their lots the path leading to this footbridge connected their homes. One day Aunt Prescinda Kimball’s little daughter Celestia, unknown to her mother, started to go to Aunt Zina’s. It was in the spring of the year, 1850 and City Creek was swollen by the melting snows. The child evidently slipped off the slab and was drowned.

As soon as the family missed her, a cry of alarm was given. I was confined to the house with a painful flesh wound in my left leg. Hearing the tumult, and seeing the excited people running along the creek, I surmised what had happened. Running to the slab, I dropped into the water and was carried by the swift current to Brother Wells’ lot, where the fence had caught flood wood, and formed a dam and eddy. I dove under the drift, and finding the body, brought it to the surface, and gave it to Dr. Williams; but the precious life was gone.⁶¹

Delivering babies. In 1851, Ellen Sanders Kimball, one of Heber C. Kimball’s wives, gave birth to twins, the first twins in the family.⁶² Dr. Williams, who gave the case “strict attention,” was the attending physician. That same year, Christeen Golden Kimball, another of President Kimball’s wives, gave birth to a girl.⁶³ Dr. Williams also attended that birth. Henrietta recorded:

One day 1851, Ellen [Sanders Kimball], one of Brother Kimball wives, gave birth to twins, a son afterward named Joseph Smith. A daughter named Augusta Harriet. Dr Williams gave the case strict attention, it was long and serious. Brother Kimball had them weighed, 19 pounds. he was very proud of the first pair of twins in the family. Then they were a week old, the Nauvoo Brass Band serenaded them. they died before the age of 12 years near the house. They were born in the 18th ward. in the 17th ward, another daughter a precious Little Flower named Cornelia Christine was born. A long tedious summer day gradually wearing out her mother & father & Dr Williams & others. At last the joyfull event of her arrival satisfied all hands and the cook. She was gladly received. She died at age of three years. her Mother [Christeen Golden Kimball] was the Mother [of] Jonathan Golden & Elias Kimball and another little sister.⁶⁴

Utah’s first hospital, and the Williamses host dances. In summer 1852, the Williamses converted their spacious two-story adobe home into a hospital, as the number of needy immigrants streaming into Salt Lake City increased. The home, a seven-room adobe structure, stood at 44 East North Temple.⁶⁵ Dr. Williams’s medical practice was large, and a sufficient number of people paid him that he was able to repay the $135 Welsh debt, construct a new home, and build a sulky (a two-wheeled, one-horse carriage). The Williams home had a smooth floor, which lent itself to dancing. Ezra and Henrietta, who taught music,⁶⁶ obliged their neighbors and opened their home up to dances. Henrietta wrote: “In the summer of 52, Emigrants rushed in. We gave our New House up for a hospital Dr Williams having a large practice, enabling him to pay the Welsh debt, build a house, & build a sulky to ride in visiting patients. We had many dances at our home on account of the smooth floors. those were days when people had to utilize all they had to make both ends meet, was a very great saying among the populace.”⁶⁷

In Lucy Godfrey’s account, we learn that the majority of the patients in the hospital were “forty-niners” who had contracted mountain fever on their way to California’s gold fields. “[In] 1852, he built a two story adobe house close by there, his son Frederick Granger was born 29 Mar 1853. They made many dances in that house the first winter. The first summer they used it as a hospital for the sick emigrants that were going through to California to seek their fortunes in the gold mines. So many people were taken with Mountain Fever in early day in the valley.”⁶⁸

Five-year-old Lucy E. Godfrey slept with her grandmother Rebecca in that adobe house. She recalled a fire in her bed on the night her brother was born. Lucy later wrote:

The family moved into the adobe house before it was completed, four rooms were finished and three unfinished rooms were above. Here I (Lucy) slept with Grandmother. One night on March 28, 1853 I was put to bed but did not want to go. So grandmother left the candle burning by the bed, the wind blew the teaster curtains into the flame and set the bed on fire. I screamed and they took me down stairs to quiet me. Later father carried me back to bed. Next morning grandmother told me I had a new brother called Frederick Granger in honor of Grandfather.⁶⁹

Lucy also recalled the dances in the adobe house. “To help pay for the house as well as for pleasure, father and William H. Kimball held dances all winter of 1852–53. Some very enjoyable times were spent. The house stood on the present site of the L.D.S. School grounds, directly east of the Joseph F. Smith Memorial Building and was torn down to erect that building.”⁷⁰

Razing of the Williamses’ Adobe House-Hospital-Dance Hall

On April 1, 1919, the Williams/Kimball home was razed to make way for the athletic field of the L.D.S. University, whose name was later changed to LDS Business College. Church President Heber J. Grant spoke at the event, which was written up in both the Deseret Evening News and the Salt Lake Tribune, together with photographs. The Tribune wrote:

HISTORIC ABODE IS PILE OF RUINS
STUDENTS RAZE KIMBALL HOME

Dobe brick, pine timbers and balsam shingles which had withstood for almost seventy years the winter’s biting cold and the sun’s blistering rays fell yesterday before the ruthless onslaughts of students and teachers of the L.D.S. university. The building demolished stood at 44 East North Temple street, directly east of the new Joseph F. Smith Memorial building. In the ’60s, this residence, called the Kimball home, a story and a half, seven-room, of ’dobe brick, was considered one of the most “palatial” of its kind in the state. Early in the ’50s, Dr. Williams began its construction. He never completed it, but traded it to President Heber C. Kimball, who presented it as a gift to his eldest son, William H. Kimball. East of it were the grist, the linseed oil, the molasses mills and carding machines of the Kimball estate. Just back of it stood the wall that surrounded the old tithing yard and building.⁷¹

Crossing paths with a midwife.⁷² Patty Bartlett Sessions was very active in the community providing services as a midwife, prescribing a “course” of herbal medicines, comforting the sick, and giving the sisters blessings. Her diary indicates that she crossed paths with Dr. Williams, most often when they worked with the same patients. Sister Sessions also laid hands on and administered to Henrietta and to Rebecca Williams. She wrote:

October 1851
Wed 22 had a female meeting I was caled to Br Stowels put her to bed with a daughter born 7 P M Thursd 23 Julia Boyd sick staid there and to Br Wms all day took Br Wms through a course of medicine Frid 24 there again staid all day with Julia had the Dr there Sat 25 there again all day Sund 26 she died.⁷³

January 1853
Satd 8 went to the counsel of health then to see sister Tylor Sund 9 went to O Conners wife on Br Taylors farm Dr. Wms came I gave her up to him.⁷⁴

May 1853
Thursd 5 I go to fast meeting in the tabernacle I go to sister Keeler she miscarried Frid [6] visited her again as the after birth did not come away then went took sister Kamkin through a course of medicine Br Eldrige boy died Dr. Wms tended on him the last two weeks last Tuesd put sister Cannada to bed with pair of twins.⁷⁵

August 1853
Sund 21 we went to meeting in the afternoon went & helped wash & anoint sister Reece Mond 22 Sarah Ann went home Tuesd I was called to Jane Orman[d] she had Dr William[s] sister Daniels &c since last Thursday I took her through a course of medicine she was better.⁷⁶

October 1854
Wed 11 danish man dug beets Thursd 12 ditto Frid 13 finished my potatoes 80 bushels sister Wardrope brought her babe here I gave it Emetic Sat 14 I am sick afternoon better go and anoint sister Williams daughter.⁷⁷

April 1855
Sat 14 I went to sister Williams 13 ward she was salivated & had canker to[o] took her through a course of medicine then to the counsel of health sister Higbee apointed treasurer Br Bager came for me his wife is salivated she & sister Williams have both had med.⁷⁸

May 1857
Sund 17 went to meeting Mond 18 washed Tuesd 19 ironed Wend 20 white washed Jesess helped me Thursd 21 warped a carpet for Tripps wife went to the ward meeting Frid 22 Dr Williams wife and Sophia Tripp here visiting Sat 23 worked in the garden watering.⁷⁹

Patty Sessions, together with Presendia Buell Smith Kimball, also washed and changed Rebecca Williams and laid hands on her to bless her with health. Patty Sessions wrote:

July 1857
Sat 4 legion musterd I went to Br Roundys saw them on parade in the afternoon went to sister Fosses Mr Parry went with me I went from there with sister Precinda Kimbal washed & changed sister F G Williams anointed and laid hands on her.⁸⁰

October 1860
Wed 24 I went up to P Gs Thursd 25 set her web to work Frid 26 wove Satd 27 sold Br Williams a pair of mittens for potatoes came home went away to the 11 ward to get some one to go and weave for P Gs folks did not get any one.⁸¹

Willie and Martin handcart companies survivors. One of the most difficult medical challenges Dr. Williams faced was likely the service he performed among the survivors of the James G. Willie and Edward Martin handcart companies. These were the last Mormon immigrants to cross the plains in 1856. Because they had had their departures delayed while waiting for their handcarts to be built in Iowa City, “both groups were overtaken by early winter storms in Wyoming. Rescue teams sent out from Salt Lake City did not arrive in time to prevent many deaths from exposure to the severe weather, and of the 1,076 immigrants in these two companies, over 200 died.”⁸² One of the survivors, Mary Goble Pay, arrived in the valley in mid-December with frozen feet and in a near-starving condition, despite the assistance from the rescue parties that had met her group earlier. She wrote of her reception in Salt Lake, which included a visit by Brigham Young and Dr. Ezra G. Williams, who amputated her toes on the morning of December 12. Mary Goble Pay later wrote:

We arrived in Salt Lake City nine o’clock at night the 11th of December 1856. Three out of four that were living were frozen. My mother was dead in the wagon.

Bishop Hardy had us taken to a home in his ward and the brethren and the sisters brought us plenty of food. We had to be careful and not eat too much as it might kill us we were so hungry.

Early next morning Bro. Brigham Young and a doctor came. The doctor’s name was Williams. When Bro. Young came in he shook hands with us all. When he saw our condition—our feet frozen and our mother dead—tears rolled down his cheeks.

The doctor amputated my toes using a saw and a butcher knife. Brigham Young promised me I would not have to have any more of my feet cut off. The sisters were dressing mother for the last time. Oh how did we stand it? That afternoon she was buried.⁸³

Treating black canker. Henry and Catherine Simmons had joined the Church in England. After saving enough money for their passage to America, they sailed with their three little girls from Liverpool to New York in 1856. They stayed in the east working for a year before they made the trek west, arriving in Salt Lake City on September 11, 1857, in the Israel Evans handcart company. Their baby, Hannah, became ill with “black canker,” a gangrenous or ulcerous sore in the mouth. Someone calling himself a doctor suggested gunpowder as a remedy. When that proved too severe, they sought the help of Dr. Williams, and Hannah eventually recovered her health. A biography of the Simmons family recounts:

In Salt Lake they rented a small one-room adobe house. They had no stove, no chairs, no table, or bedding. Catherine was sick and Hannah had black canker which her mother had never heard of. She did not know how to treat it. As the baby grew worse, she took her to a man who called himself a doctor. He put gunpowder in her mouth which was to[o] severe. Catherine then took her to Dr. Williams. Under his treatment she began to get better but her top front teeth hung by thread-like nerves. Her mother took the scissors and clipped the teeth out and threw them [in] the fire. Hannah was a long time getting better.⁸⁴

1857 Reformation: 
Henrietta Is Rebaptized, Ezra Takes a Second Wife

From the day the pioneers entered the valley, they had backsliders among their members. The toilsome journey across the plains and the demanding task of building new homes and cultivating the desert was not always accomplished with complete fidelity to the gospel.⁸⁵ By the mid-1850s, the leaders of the Church felt a need to “wake up” the community to the covenants they had made and to urge the Saints to rededicate themselves to living the commandments. Only then could they merit the Lord’s blessings in the desert’s hostile climate. The principal architect for the “Reformation” was Jedediah M. Grant, counselor in the First Presidency and mayor of Salt Lake City. Historians Leonard Arrington and Davis Bitton wrote: “In 1856 and 1857, under the guidance of Brigham Young’s counselor Jedediah M. Grant, a major effort was made to ‘wake up the saints.’ Grant appointed reformation missionaries, who visited outlying wards, holding meetings reminiscent of Protestant revivals, with fiery sermons designed to make the listeners vividly aware of their personal sins. Such conferences were popularly attended, for the general authorities and their select corps of missionary-reformers were generally better preachers than the home bishop.”⁸⁶

Among those who heeded the call to rededicate themselves and more closely follow the counsel of the Brethren were Ezra and Henrietta. Henrietta wrote in her history: “Rebaptized 1857 in the Reformation in the 19th Ward by Nathan Davis 1st councillor to Thomas Callister of the 17th Ward. Confirmed in the evening 17 Ward.”⁸⁷

The couple also heeded the counsel to take a plural wife, and on February 19, 1857, thirty-three-year-old Ezra took sixteen-year-old Electa Jane Barney as his second wife; the ordinance was solemnized by President Brigham Young.⁸⁸ Henrietta recorded the following brief note in the journal of her son Ezra: “In 1857 February 19th his father married Miss Electa Jane Barney.”⁸⁹

Frederick G. Williams and Joseph Smith’s Plural Wife

The principle of plural marriage had been revealed to Joseph Smith as early as 1831,⁹⁰ probably in Kirtland, Ohio. But the practice was not widely implemented until a decade later in Nauvoo, where the Prophet and his close associates in the leading councils of the Church began to take plural wives secretly. In Utah, polygamy was lived openly, and the doctrine was announced publicly in Salt Lake City on August 29, 1852.⁹¹

Frederick G. Williams never practiced polygamy, but his wife, Rebecca, did become the plural wife of Heber C. Kimball in 1846, and, as noted, their son Ezra Granger married a plural wife in 1857. Subsequently, Ezra’s son Frederick G. would also marry plural wives, which I will refer to presently. Although not a participant in the principle himself, it appears that President Frederick G. Williams was aware of the doctrine and knew first-hand of the Prophet’s earliest plural marriages, at least according to the testimony of former Apostle and disaffected member William E. McLellin, as expressed in a letter to Joseph Smith III in July 1872. McLellin wrote:

Now Joseph [Smith III] I will relate to you some history, and refer you to your own dear Mother for the truth. You will probably remember that I visited your Mother and family in 1847, and held a lengthy conversation with her, retired in the Mansion House in Nauvoo. I did not ask her to tell, but I told her some stories I had heard. And she told me whether I was properly informed.

Dr. F. G. Williams practiced with me in Clay Co. Mo. during the latter part of 1838. And he told me that at your birth your father committed an act with a Miss Hill—a hired girl. Emma saw him, and spoke to him. He desisted, but Mrs. Smith refused to be satisfied. He called in Dr. Williams, O. Cowdery, and S. Rigdon to reconcile Emma. But she told them just as the circumstances took place. He found he was caught. He confessed humbly, and begged forgiveness. Emma and all forgave him. She told me this story was true!!

Again I told her I heard that one night she missed Joseph and Fanny Alger. she went to the barn and saw him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through a crack and saw the transaction!!! She told me this story too was verily true.⁹²

There are several corroborating documents attesting to Joseph Smith’s plural marriage to Fanny Alger (she is most often listed as the Prophet’s first plural wife, with the marriage taking place in 1833),⁹³ but none concerning a Miss Hill, which leads one to suspect that Hill and Alger are the same person, and that McLellin was simply confused in the retelling of the events. One interpretation of the Hill/Alger case, which is implied by Joseph having called on the highest ranking members of the Church’s leadership (Frederick G. Williams, Oliver Cowdery, and Sidney Rigdon) to talk to Emma, was not that they were trying to persuade Emma to forgive Joseph’s extramarital affair but to “reconcile” her (McLellin’s word) to the doctrine of plural marriage that had been revealed to her husband and shared with his counselors.⁹⁴

The Utah War: May 1857 to July 1858

On July 24, 1857, at the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the pioneers’ entry into the valley held at Big Cottonwood Canyon, Brigham Young learned that a military force was marching on Utah. Led by Colonel Albert S. Johnston, an army of some 2,500 soldiers was ordered by President James Buchanan to quell a supposed Mormon rebellion against the government of the United States and to ensure the protection and installation of the newly appointed governor of Utah, Alfred Cumming of Georgia. It was an ominous prospect for the Mormon community. Having suffered hostilities at the hands of militias in Missouri and Illinois, the Mormons and their leaders were unsure of what the real intentions of the expedition were. Brigham Young, in his capacity as territorial governor, called up the Utah militia, known as the Nauvoo Legion, and declared martial law. The strategy Governor Young and his advisors settled on was to buy time in order to negotiate a peaceful settlement. They used a three-pronged approach to the invasion. Historian Thomas Alexander wrote:

First, to obstruct and paralyze the army until the people could organize a satisfactory response, Governor Young and General [Daniel H.] Wells mounted a series of delaying tactics. Ordering the destruction of Fort Bridger and nearby Fort Supply, both of which they owned, Wells also ordered Maj. Lot Smith, Col. Robert T. Burton, Maj. John D. T. McAllister, Maj. Warren Snow, and Maj. Porter Rockwell to harass the army and, remembering Napoleon’s dictum that an army marches on its stomach, to cut its supply lines—torching wagons, rustling stock, and burning grass. . . .

As a second initiative, fearing that the army might attack Salt Lake City from their base at Fort Bridger, Wells sent Nauvoo Legion units to fortify Echo Canyon against such a thrust. Much to the relief of Utah’s people, however, the weather pinned the soldiers down at Camp Scott [Wyoming], and Wells recalled his troops.

As a third set of measures, Young and Wells mobilized the people at home.⁹⁵

Part of the mobilization plan was to evacuate Salt Lake City and other northern communities by ordering the inhabitants to remove to Utah County while leaving their homes ready to be torched by a skeleton crew should the negotiations with federal officials fail and the army choose to attack. Alexander continues:

Taking a page from the siege of Sevastopol (1854–55) during the recent Crimean War, the Mormons prepared to vacate northern Utah in advance of Johnston’s army. Searching for a permanent refuge, Young sent an abortive expedition to the White Mountains of Nevada. In the meantime, the church leadership ordered the people from Salt Lake Valley and northward to move to settlements in Utah County and southward, leaving a small company to torch the houses and outbuildings should the army attack. An extremely costly and disruptive exercise, the move south captured the public attention as reporters accompanying the army chronicled the plight of Mormon refugees as they had the Russians fleeing Sevastopol.⁹⁶

Surgeon Colonel of the Territorial Militia during the Utah War

Ezra was called up to serve in the militia and was appointed surgeon colonel of the Nauvoo Legion. He pulled guard duty at Echo Canyon, where he treated the sick and dressed the wounds of two men, one of whom was accidentally shot. Henrietta wrote:

About the 6th of October 1857, Dr was ordered out to Echo Kanyon by General Wm Kimball, Dr holding the Office of Surgeon Colonel of that Brigade, to attend the sick and wounded of Zion’s Camp. Dr arrived there two weeks when Orson Arnold was brought into Echo Kanyon Quarters, severely wounded by accidental discharge of his gun, several days previous, while on a scout in Lot Smith’s Company. The ball shattered the middle of the thigh. Several pieces of bone were so much out of place, he suffered greatly with pain as the leg very much swollen; but finally so far healed that he got on crutches, and when trying to cross a water sect. fell and broke what adhesions had taken place, and in two weeks Dr removed a portion of the thigh bone, 5 inches in length. The ends of the bone was necrossed, or decayed, with a circle in the middle of the entire bone retaining the full size of bone. This caused considerable shortening of the leg but finally healed, so as to have a very good use of it. Dr was discharged from camp to attend O. Arnold home on the 11th of December 1847 [should be 1857]. Wm Father[ing]ham was injured so as to have to be sent home to Salt Lake. Dr Williams attended to his wounds, so he could ride with a little ease and comfort.⁹⁷

Another member of Lot Smith’s team, James P. Terry, wrote of the Legionnaires’ activities, which consisted of commandeering and then burning fifty-one supply wagons belonging to the federal troops. At the end of his account of the raid made the night of October 4 and the morning of October 5, 1857, he listed the names of his comrades, including that of Orson P. Arnold, who a few days later would be shot accidentally.

We arrived at the wagons about 12 o clock midnight and upon examining them, we found instead of 26 wagons, there was 51 of them in 2 corals only a little distance apart. The most of the teamsters had gone to bed, but the wagonmaster [John M. Dawson] with those that was still up was just coming out from the trading post near by as we rode up when we took them prisoners although there was about 66 of the teamsters while there was only 26 of us. We placed guards around the wagons and got the men all up of which I (never) saw a scareder lot in my life until they found that they was not going to be hurt. Then they laughed and said they was glad the wagons was going to be burnt as they would not have to bull whack any more, as they called it. The teamsters was permitted to take their private clothing and guns out of the wagons and then they were burnt. Capt. [Lot] Smith was very (happy) to see that there was no ammunition or anything to explode to cause axidents. There was one wagon loaded with tar rope ostensibly, as it was said to hang Brigham Young and his danites. But suffice it to say the tar rope made a grand light. The country was lit up for miles around and we returned to Big Sandy and camped till morning. We got word about this time that Fort Bridger and Supply was burnt by our Boys. I will here insert the names of the boys or men that was together at this time. Lot Smith Captain. [Lt.] Horton D. Haight . . . Orson P. Arnold.⁹⁸

The Order to Move South Is Received Soon after Ezra’s Two Wives Give Birth to Boys

When recording the birth of her fifth child and the first child of “our wife” Electa, a resentful Henrietta could not keep from comparing the circumstances of the two births. With her sarcastic wit, Henrietta dismisses a mistaken notion regarding the patriarchal hierarchy in a plural household.

Joseph Swain Williams my 3rd son was born in the 14th Ward March 10th [1858]. I was alone, asked a Little Swiss Boy if he would go to Mrs D. Richardson and ask her to come over. She came in time to call Mrs Lamoreax to assist her. all was over in haste. Dr came from the farm at night bringing the children. Mother Williams got tired of them, packed them off home, in a time mostly unpleasant for the Nurse Mrs Sophronia Standage who was not always partial to children. While in bed, word came we were to leave our homes and move south taking everything with us. in 3 weeks the 2nd of April our wife Electa had a son born she was in better luck than myself. She had the Mother & sisters, and her Husband Dr Williams, and her Father and Brother in Law Nymphos Murdock to administer to her. I had none of those comforts, no Mother nor Father’s Home to go to. When her son was blessed his Father gave him the Name of Hyrum, saying the other boy’s name was Joseph. she spoke up is it a boy? I was told it was a girl. Her heart sank to her toes (her expression to me afterwards). Some very officious person, that knew more than the Prophet Joseph, had told her, the first son born in polygamy ruled the Father[’s] House, as though the Father was to turn imbecile and could not rule his own House, after that grand proceeding. What rubbish some people can invent, giving it for a principle of the gospel.⁹⁹

The wartime policy of reporting every visitor entering the community to the bishop within twenty-four hours was also the object of a humorous jab by Henrietta. She had been delinquent in reporting her newborn son Joseph’s appearance in the ward by a week. “March 18th [1858] while lying in bed, Bishop Hoagland came into the house inquired the age of the Boy Joseph. We had committed an indiscretion. Every bishop was to be apprised at the entrance of strangers in less than 24 hours into the city, as he was not an enemy prowling around, we did not think it was necessary, therefore neglected to inform the Bishop of his arrival into the ward.”¹⁰⁰

Vacating Their Salt Lake City Home and the Move South

Although both wives had recently given birth, the family departed Salt Lake City with as much as they could carry and traveled south in their ox-drawn wagons to American Fork in Utah County. Henrietta wrote simply, “Went south in the time of the move when Johns[t]on Army came into the Territory.”¹⁰¹ They lived in their wagons as they had while crossing the plains and during their first months in the Salt Lake Valley. Henrietta was still in a sarcastic frame of mind when she recorded the following actions of one of the camp leaders.

3 month[s] after, we journeyed south with ox teams and one horse buggy to camp in American Fork in our wagons. Abraham Romr[i]ell drove the team and Henry Lewis the other team. Captain Abraham bossing the camp as he was the youngest of the two, it suited his companion best. Accordingly he built a big sage brush fire put the only coffee pot on full of new milk to boil. The flames soon unsoldered the pot[. H]e got it off in time to save the milk, but the pot, alas, was minus lid, nose, handle & bottom. He took a chair from the load to sit in state, while in camp. Left it with other things we needed in camp, and journeyed toward stopping place.¹⁰²

While the family was camped in American Fork, Ezra took Henrietta to Provo to visit his cousin Mary Clark Bronson, daughter of Sarah Swain Clark, the older sister of Rebecca Swain Williams. Rebecca had been living in Sarah’s home in Michigan when Frederick courted and married her in 1815. Henrietta recorded: “While camping, Dr took me to Provo to see the place and visit with his cousin Mary Bronson, as it would be the last ride we would have in the buggy. he had sold it to Bishop Chancy Walker west of Ogden. Dr bought it of a Missionary sent by the Baptist Society from the East, to sell Bibles to the Western Natives or Mormon Heathen.”¹⁰³

During the three months the Williamses camped at American Fork, Rebecca spent much of her time living with her niece Mary Bronson in Provo.¹⁰⁴ Sarah Swain Clark and her two daughters had joined the Church in Michigan. The younger daughter, Mary, who married Edwin R. Bronson, came with her family to Utah in 1856. Her sister, Sarah, came to Utah in 1863, but she had to leave her antagonistic husband, Mr. Button, and two children behind in order to join with the Saints.¹⁰⁵

Lucy Ellen Williams Godfrey wrote of the move south, including details about what they packed and what they hid and how.

We girls, Mary and myself, stuffed horsehair into the saddle and father’s wives and his mother cooked and washed and sewed and packed things that were actually needed. They helped father to hide and bury as much of the rest as they could. A pit was dug in the yard and food stuff and other valuables buried in strong boxes, then a fire was kindled over the pit and the dirt tramped and scraped until no sign of a pit could be seen. We all got into the wagons and started at night for the south.

Well I remember traveling. As I lay looking out of the back of the wagon, some horsemen rode up behind us. Their horses’ feet striking fire on the rocks in the road, struck terror to my soul for I thought it was the soldiers after us. We camped in American Fork grove with others that had left the Salt Lake Valley. Others went to different settlements further south.¹⁰⁶

Return of the Refugees

In the end, the peace talks brokered by long-time friend to the Mormons, Col. Thomas L. Kane (who had sailed to Panama, crossed the Isthmus, sailed to California, and ridden overland to get to Salt Lake City by February 25, 1858),¹⁰⁷ were successful and war was averted. The new governor was officially installed, the army did not occupy Salt Lake City but marched through town to establish Camp Floyd, and the citizens of Salt Lake City and other communities returned to their homes. But the amount spent on men and material to fund this ill-advised expedition was seen as a costly blunder in Washington.¹⁰⁸ It was also a financial setback for the Mormons.¹⁰⁹

Henrietta wrote that upon their return from American Fork they lived on their farm. “We went south in June & staid till the move back again then lived on the farm on Mill Creek, south of the City.”¹¹⁰ Their second daughter, Mary Elizabeth Williams, was seven years old when they vacated their home. Years later she wrote a short autobiography in which she recalled their encampment in American Fork. In her mind, there was no question that the army had come to exterminate the Mormons. She remembered the excitement of seeing their home once again after their six-week exile. Mary wrote:

When Johns[t]on’s army came to Utah to exterminate the Mormons, my father was out doing guard duty in Echo Canyon most of the winter. In 1858 we were told to move south because Johns[t]on’s Army had entered the Salt Lake Valley, and they had said they would burn everything. We left our home and started but only went as far as American Fork. We stayed there six weeks; peace was restored, and we returned home. The grain was just turning ripe. It was a pleasant sight to see home once more with grass growing all around the house undisturbed.¹¹¹

Her older sister, Lucy Ellen, wrote that the “providence of God” had grown their crops for their sustenance, now ready to harvest. She also added that the construction of Camp Floyd provided the Mormons with a much-needed opportunity to earn money.

After the people returned to their homes, (in time to harvest their crops—otherwise being destitute) they were glad to help the soldiers build their fort, hauling timber and logs, lumber and wood, hay, grain, and vegetables and also butter and eggs which the saints had. They had planted before they had left their homes and by the providence of God crops had grown for their sustenance. What had seemed a calamity, proved a blessing, for the army provided labor that meant wages for the men. The soldiers also brought many things with them that the saints needed.¹¹²

In Lucy Godfrey’s account of their return, we also learn that before the move south to American Fork the Williamses had moved to a new home two blocks south of the temple block in Salt Lake City, where their son Joseph Swain was born. Seeing their home again and the wheat “just turning ripe” was a pleasant sight. “1857 moved 2 blocks south of Temple Block to the Dives house. In the spring of 1858, he moved his family to American Fork Grove, in [the] move south, when Johnston Army were coming to Utah to exterminate the Mormons. When peace was declared, he returned home in July to find the wheat just turning ripe and the grass knee high all round the house. it was a pleasant sight to see home once more after camp life in our wagons. Joseph Swain Williams born Mar 10 858 in the Dives house.”¹¹³