8 Meetings and Missionary Service: The Eleven Mission Calls of President Williams

Meetings

One of the most consistent activities of the First Presidency was holding many kinds of meetings, especially council meetings and conferences. These were held at various locations in Ohio and Missouri, but when they were held in Kirtland, they used the rooms above the Whitney store, the schoolroom, the printing office, the temple, a barn, and private homes (including Frederick G. Williams’s).¹ The business of the council meetings included a wide range of topics involving Church organization and administration, such as the establishment of the high council, the calling of the Twelve Apostles, ongoing ordinations to the priesthood, mission calls, Church publications, and more. The meetings also discussed a considerable number of complaints and charges brought by members against other members and leaders, from dereliction of duty, the breaking of the Word of Wisdom, and dancing to such weightier matters as sexual sin, questionable financial dealings, and the teaching of false doctrine. Instructions and training for the leaders were often part of the proceedings as well.

The halls the members met in were not always spacious. In fact, there was usually not enough room for all who wanted to be in the meeting, and latecomers had to go home. If one did get inside and managed to find a seat, the benches were not particularly comfortable. There was no air-conditioning for the summer heat and little protection against the cold during the winters. There were no microphones to carry the voices of the speakers and no electric lights when darkness fell; and sometimes the meetings lasted late into the night.² In addition, there were no water fountains and no restrooms. Altogether, the heat, the length of the meetings, the lack of facilities, and other factors, made for a difficult challenge, particularly for the women, whose heavy dresses added to their discomfort. The sisters also had children to care for, food to prepare for their families, and other chores that kept them from attending as long and as often as they would have liked. Nevertheless, the sisters did participate on numerous occasions.

One of the chief characteristics of these meetings involved fasting and praying by those assembled, as the members sought divine intervention on various matters. These petitions were often answered with miraculous visions and outpourings of the Spirit. The Kirtland Council Minute Book records a number of such occasions, but the record is incomplete. In 1835, the Prophet bemoaned the lack of minutes and instructed those assembled to henceforth keep a record of the things that God revealed.

After the company were assembled, and the meeting opened by prayer of President J. Smith Junr., he (President Smith) arose and said he had something to lay before the Council and he thought if he were heard patiently, he could lay before the Council an item which they would [consider] to be of importance. He had for himself learned a fact by experience, which on reflection, always gave him a deep sorrow. It is a fact (said President Smith) that if I now had in my possession every decision which has been had upon important items of doctrine and duties which have been given since the commencement of this work, I would not part with it for any sum of money. But we have neglected to take minutes of such thing, thinking, perhaps, that they would never benefit us afterwards, which, had we now, would decide almost any point of doctrine which might be agitated. But this has been neglected and now we cannot bear record to the Church and to the world, of the great and glorious manifestations which have been made to us, with that degree of power and authority we otherwise could. . . .

Here is another important item. If you [Quorum of the Twelve] assemble from time to time and proceed to discuss important questions and pass decisions upon the same and fail to note them down, by & by you will be driven to straits from which you will not be able to extricate yourselves, because you may be in a situation not to bring your faith to bear with sufficient perfection or power to obtain the desired information. Or perhaps, for neglecting to write these things when God revealed them, not esteeming them of sufficient worth, the Spirit may withdraw and God may be angry, and here is or was a vast knowledge of infinite importance which is now lost. What was the cause of this? It came in consequence of slothfulness or a neglect to appoint a man to occupy a few moments in writing all these decisions.³

Generally speaking, the minutes did not list the names of those present, not even the names of those who were presiding. However, those persons who spoke, prayed, acted as clerk, or were involved in some other way were often listed by name. Since Frederick G. Williams served as clerk for most of the meetings held throughout 1833, we can be confident of his presence at thirty-three of the thirty-seven meetings held. After he quit the duties of clerk towards the end of 1833, his presence is not listed in the minutes except occasionally when he spoke or prayed.⁴

Among the members of the First Presidency, Joseph Smith Jr. is the one featured most prominently, followed by Sidney Rigdon, and then Oliver Cowdery, with Frederick G. Williams a distant fourth. President Rigdon tended to speak the longest, while President Williams spoke the shortest, if he spoke at all. The following quote sums up the situation: “After this, the [high] councilors severally spoke and the complainant and the accused made their remarks. When the case was submitted, President Williams being short, President Rigdon spoke one hour, when President J. Smith Junr proceeded to give decision.”⁵ Joseph Smith himself described his counselor’s taciturn nature at the beginning of the character sketch he drew of him: “Brother Frederick G. Williams is one of those men in whom I place the greatest confidence and trust, for I have found him ever full of love and brotherly kindness. He is not a man of many words, but is ever winning, because of his constant mind.”⁶

The Eleven Mission Calls of Frederick G. Williams

Central to the mission of the restored gospel is the sharing of the good news with others—especially in an official capacity, as when one is called to serve a mission—and the members of the First Presidency were frequently assigned proselytizing endeavors. Besides his first mission (the long-term “Lamanite Mission” in Missouri, where he served primarily with Oliver Cowdery from November 1830 to July 1831), President Williams was called to serve a number of shorter missions, which usually took place during the spring and summer months. Since most of his eleven missions came during the first three years of his presidency, it is entirely possible that there had been other calls extended in 1836 and 1837 that were not recorded. It should also be noted that for half of his referenced missions, there are no supporting details, and therefore we can only presume that the missions were fulfilled.⁷

With these caveats in mind, President Williams’s second mission teamed him up with Joseph Smith Jr., according to the assignment given to him by the Lord. In a council meeting held on March 23, 1833, nine pairs of elders were called to journey together to preach the gospel. Among the pairs were Joseph Smith and Frederick G. Williams, who were “to visit the several churches as shall be given by the spirit.”⁸

Two months later, on May 6, 1833, Joseph and Frederick were again called as companions to preach the gospel; this would be Williams’s third mission:

Now, I say unto you, my friends, let my servant Sidney Rigdon go on his journey, and make haste, and also proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the gospel of salvation, as I shall give him utterance; and by your prayer of faith with one consent I will uphold him.

And let my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Frederick G. Williams make haste also, and it shall be given them even according to the prayer of faith; and inasmuch as you keep my sayings you shall not be confounded in this world, nor in the world to come.⁹

President Williams’s fourth mission, with companion Sidney Rigdon, took place about a month after the third mission, according to a letter written by President Rigdon on July 2, 1833. In the missive, President Rigdon reported that since the translation of the Bible was completed, he and Frederick G. Williams were about to depart on a mission to preach the gospel.

I, Sidney, write this in great haste, in answer to yours to Brother Joseph, as I am going off immediately, in company with Brother Frederick to proclaim the Gospel; we think of starting tomorrow. Having finished the translation of the Bible, a few hours since, and needing some recreation, we [do not] know of one way we can spend our time more to divine acceptance than in endeavoring to build up His Zion in these last days, as we are not willing to idle any time away which can be spent to useful purposes.¹⁰

For his fifth mission, Frederick G. Williams was to serve with Hyrum Smith, according to the revelation received on February 24, 1834.

It is my will that my servant Sidney Rigdon shall lift up his voice in the congregations in the eastern countries, in preparing the churches to keep the commandments which I have given unto them concerning the restoration and redemption of Zion. . . . Let my servant Parley P. Pratt journey with my servant Joseph Smith, Jun. Let my servant Lyman Wight journey with my servant Sidney Rigdon. Let my servant Hyrum Smith journey with my servant Frederick G. Williams.¹¹

President Williams’s sixth call was a humanitarian/military mission, popularly known as Zion’s Camp, which involved an eight-hundred-mile march from Kirtland, across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, to bring supplies and protection to the beleaguered Saints in Zion. It took place from May through June, with the return trip in July of 1834. We shall presently consider Zion’s Camp in greater depth.

Frederick G. Williams’s seventh mission began on October 16, 1834, when a party of six leading brethren departed Kirtland for Michigan to visit the Saints. “Having accomplished all that could be done at present, on the 16th of the month, in company with my brother Hyrum Smith, and Elders David Whitmer, Frederick G. Williams, Oliver Cowdery, and Roger Orton, left Kirtland for the purpose of visiting some Saints in the state of Michigan, where, after a tolerably pleasant journey, we arrived at Pontiac on the 20th.”¹²

Apparently, among the Saints they visited in Michigan was the Sarah Swain and John Clark family. Sarah was an older sister of Frederick’s wife, Rebecca. “They had a very pleasant and profitable journey and visit [to Michigan] and remained as long as time would permit. Although Rebecca was denied the pleasure of visiting with her sister and family on these occasions, she was made happy by the messages that Frederick brought from them.”¹³

Sarah Swain (1789–1859) was married on November 10, 1814, to John Clark, a widower with four small boys, and moved to Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan.¹⁴ She joined the Church in April 1832, and, in time, all five of her daughters joined as well.

When word was received that her eldest sister, Sarah Swain Clark from Wyandotte, Michigan, had joined the Church in April of that year (1832), she rejoiced greatly. Like Rebecca, Sarah had been disowned by their father for her new faith, but rejoiced in visits from the prophet and her brother-in-law, Frederick and other leaders as they would meet with the Saints in Michigan. Each of her five girls joined the Church as they reached the age of accountability. Two joined the body of the Saints. The boys, after their father’s death, carried on his large fishing business. He owned a number of large fishing boats and ships and was very prosperous. The boys did not join the church but they cared well for their mother and step-mother and treated her with the greatest of respect and love as long as she lived.¹⁵

Within a year of joining the Church in late 1830, Rebecca had written to her father regarding the step she and her husband had taken. Isaac Swain was angry and disinherited his daughter, even forbidding her to communicate with the family until such time as she renounced this new religion. Still she wrote, but her letters were returned unopened. She wrote her brother, but that letter was also returned with a plaintive message on the back. Nancy C. Williams wrote:

It was natural that she [Rebecca] was anxious that her own family hear and obey the gospel teachings, but she hesitated to write to her father. As soon as she felt that she could give him an intelligent reason for the hope within her she wrote a long letter to him and his family, bearing her testimony that she knew the Gospel was true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who had been raised up to establish God’s church upon the earth. She told of her happiness in being associated with great and good men and of how she thrilled in her husband’s mission [to the Lamanites]. Anxiously she watched and waited for her father’s reply and when the thin letter came she could hardly contain herself until it was read. What bitter disappointment was contained in the answer! He was very angry and forbade her to remain in the church.

She answered her father’s letter and told him she was more firm than ever in her conviction of the truth of Mormon doctrines and bore a stronger testimony of her faith to him. For this affront he disinherited and disowned her and forbade her to ever communicate with the family again until she could come to her senses and renounce this new religion. Still she tried to explain but to no avail. Her letters were returned unopened, even those to her brother John who placed a message on the outside of his letter saying, “Father forbids me read your letter, or to write to you. Goodbye and God bless you always. Your brother, John”¹⁶

President Williams’s eighth mission was also to Michigan and took place in August 1835, with Joseph Smith Jr. as his companion. We know of this mission because on August 17, 1835, an important conference was held in Kirtland to consider the recently prepared Doctrine and Covenants, which, if approved by the leadership and general assembly of the Church in Kirtland and Zion, would canonize the volume as scripture and thus make its content binding upon the members as a “law and a rule of faith and practice to the Church.” The minutes record that Joseph Smith and Frederick G. Williams—two of the four committee members who prepared the Doctrine and Covenants—were absent “on a visit to the Saints in Michigan” when the conference took place. The minutes state:

A general assembly of the Church of Latter-day Saints was held at Kirtland on the 17th of August, 1835, to take into consideration the labors of a committee appointed by a general assembly of the church on the 24th of September, 1834, for the purpose of arranging the items of the doctrine of Jesus Christ for the government of the Church. The names of the committee were: Joseph Smith Jun., Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery and Frederick G. Williams, who having finished said book according to the instructions given them, deem it necessary to call a general assembly of the Church to see whether the book be approved or not by the authorities of the Church: that it may, if approved, become a law and a rule of faith and practice to the Church. Wherefore, Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon, members of the First Presidency, (Presidents Joseph Smith, Jun., and Frederick G. Williams being absent on a visit to the Saints in Michigan) appointed Thomas Burdick, Warren Parrish, and Sylvester Smith clerks, and proceeded to organize the whole assembly as follows.¹⁷

A ninth mission call came to President Williams on November 2, 1835, when Joseph Smith received a revelation in answer to a query regarding whether Frederick or Oliver should go to New York to make arrangements for a bookbindery. In the revelation, the Lord says, “It is not my will that my servant Frederick should go to New York, inasmuch as he wishes to go and visit his relations, that he may warn them to flee the wrath to come, let him go and see them for that purpose, and let that be his only business, and behold, in this thing, he shall be blessed with power to overcome their prejudices, verily thus saith the Lord. Amen.”¹⁸

I have noted that Rebecca’s sister joined the Church, but not, apparently, any of Frederick’s relatives. However, his father, William Wheeler Williams (1760–1831), and his brother, William Wheeler Williams Jr. (1780–1852), were friendly toward its members, and his brother once invited the Prophet and his party—which did not include Frederick on that occasion—to dine with him when they were traveling through Newburgh, Ohio, near Cleveland, on their way to New Portage. Joseph’s history states: “April 18 [1834.] In company with Elders Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery and Zebedee Coltrin, I left Kirtland for New Portage, to attend a conference; dined at W. W. Williams’, in Newburg, and continuing our journey, after dark, we were hailed by a man who desired to ride.”¹⁹

President Williams’s tenth mission was to Medina, Medina County, Ohio, which began on April 6, 1836, with Sidney Rigdon as his companion. The LDS Messenger and Advocate reprinted a report of the mission written by Charles Olcott, a nonmember, which was first published in Medina’s Ohio Free Press. “Agreeably to appointment, Elder Sidney Rigdon, a preacher, of the new sect styling themselves ‘Latter Day saints,’ arrived in this Village on Wednesday the 6th inst.”²⁰ After detailing seven points of Mormon doctrine, as delivered by Sidney Rigdon in a series of lectures, Olcott concludes his report by noting that Elder Rigdon’s companion was Elder Williams, and that they had baptized one young lady, and probably more would ultimately follow.

And however strange, mysterious and marvellous, the thing nicknamed Mormonism may yet appear to most of the community, it is certain, that the belife in it as a solemn reality, has become firmly established in this place. One convert only, (a young lady who had adopted the new faith) was baptized by the Elder and his associate Elder Williams; but several others will probably ultimately pursue the same course.

CHARLES OLCOTT
Medina, April, 1836.²¹

The eleventh mission call came to Frederick G. Williams after he was no longer a member of the First Presidency. It was contained in a revelation received in Far West, Missouri, by the Prophet on July 8, 1838, in which the Lord made known that he and W.  W. Phelps had lost their former standings due to transgression. The revelation also made clear that from henceforth they were to preach the gospel.

Revelation given July 8, 1838, making known the duty of William W. Phelps and Frederick G. Williams.

Verily, thus saith the Lord, in consequence of their transgressions their former standing has been taken away from them, and now, if they will be saved, let them be ordained as Elders in my Church to preach my Gospel and travel abroad from land to land and from place to place, to gather mine elect unto me, saith the Lord, and let this be their labors from henceforth. Amen.²²

In the remaining four years of his life, Frederick G. Williams did travel from place to place in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois and labored among the scattered communities. We know from the extant documents that during those years Elder Williams was engaged as executor in overseeing the disposition of the estate of the deceased Sidney Gilbert (whose Church-supported store had been a main source of supplies for the Missouri Saints) and that in the Mormon exodus from Missouri he cared for the sick and dying and helped the displaced members of the Church gather together and establish themselves in Quincy and Nauvoo. Among his patients in Illinois, as noted earlier, were several widows, as well as non-Mormons. I suspect that together with rendering service and dispensing medical advice, Elder Williams also taught the gospel in words and by example to his clients. His charity toward the destitute, including Joseph Smith, made for a long list of unpaid bills at the time of his passing.²³