Two days after Christmas, on Thursday, December 27, 1832, ten high priests met in the “translating” or southeast upstairs corner room of the Newel K. Whitney store in Kirtland, Ohio.1 The minutes of that meeting record that Joseph Smith taught the brethren how to prepare themselves to receive a revelation from God. Those present included Joseph Smith Sr., Sidney Rigdon, Orson Hyde, Joseph Smith Jr., Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Newel K. Whitney, Ezra Thayer, John Murdock, and Frederick G. Williams, who, as clerk, wrote up the minutes. The brethren did exactly as they were instructed, which resulted in the receipt of the revelation2 designated by the Prophet as “the ‘olive leaf’ which we have plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord’s message of peace to us.”3 The minutes read:
Commenced by prayer, then Bro Joseph arose and said, to receive revelation and the blessing of Heaven it was necessary to have our minds on God and exercise faith and become of one heart and of one mind. Therefore he recommended all present to pray separately and vocally to the Lord for [Him] to reveal His will unto us concerning the upbuilding of Zion & for the benefit of the saints and for the duty and employment of the Elders. Accordingly we all bowed down before the Lord, after which each one arose and spoke in his turn his feelings and determination to keep the commandments of God. And then proceeded to receive a revelation [D&C 88] concerning the duty [not legible] above stated. 9 o’clock P.M., the revelation not being finished, the conference adjourned and commenced by prayer [and] thus proceeded to receive the residue of the above revelation. And it being finished and there being no further business before [the council], the conference closed the meeting by prayer, in harmony with the brethren and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the great manifestation of His Holy Spirit during the setting of the conference.
This experience, which occurred little more than two years after his baptism, can be useful to highlight four important aspects of Frederick G. Williams’s attitude about and service to the Lord’s Prophet and Church, which were amply demonstrated throughout his life: (1) Although eighteen years older than Joseph Smith and well established in life, Elder Williams was an obedient servant, willing to take direction from the younger man. (2) Brother Williams was humble and full of faith; when he bowed himself before the Lord in prayer, he did so with the proper mind-set and with sufficient faith to expect a heavenly manifestation. This sacred experience of receiving a revelation from the Lord in conjunction with the Prophet and others was not the first occurrence, nor would it be his last. (3) F. G. Williams’s calling as clerk for the Prophet’s Church-related activities was already well established by this time; his scribal duties would include not only serving as clerk for the Kirtland Council (and at times for the Far West Council) but also working as scribe for the Prophet’s history, for his sermons, for his revelations, for the translation of the Bible, and for the drawings of the Independence Temple and the Kirtland city plat. (4) As these council minutes state, after the individual prayers to the Lord were expressed vocally, each arose and in turn spoke “his feelings and determination to keep the commandments of God.” Williams had made a similar covenant at his baptism, as well as with the Prophet soon after their first meeting, in Missouri. The renewing of that covenant would be repeated again on January 23, 1833, in a dramatic setting of washing of feet and speaking in tongues.5
Frederick Washes the Prophet’s Feet
Joseph Smith Jr. presided over a two-day conference held in the council room in Kirtland, which began on Tuesday, January 22, 1833. High priests and elders, male and female members, all joined together in fasting and prayer to witness and participate in the gift of tongues and other glorious divine manifestations. The clerk of the proceedings was Frederick G. Williams, and he noted that the activities of the first day of the “conference adjourned at a late hour in the night to meet next morning at 9 o’clock.” Although the winter weather continued cold on Wednesday morning, January 23, 1833, the assembled members of the Church again felt the warmth of the Spirit’s outpourings. The session opened with prayer by President Joseph Smith, “and after much speaking, praying and singing, all done in tongues,” the brethren washed their own hands, faces and feet in the name of the Lord, as commanded of God in Doctrine and Covenants 88:127–41, “after which the president girded himself with a towel and again washed the feet of all the Elders, wiping them with the towel.” After the sacred ordinance of washing of feet, the Prophet received a blessing under the hands of his father, Joseph Smith Sr. “At the close of which scene Br F G Williams being moved upon by the Holy Ghost, washed the feet of the president as a token of his fixed determination to be with him in suffering or in rejoicing, in life or in death and to be continually on his right hand, in which thing he was accepted.”6
Calling to the First Presidency
The promise to continually be at Joseph Smith’s side was not merely a demonstration of love and friendship, but it also reflected Williams’s new calling as the Prophet’s counselor in what would come to be called the First Presidency of the Church. In March 1832, a revelation was received by the Prophet at Hiram, Ohio, for “Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith, Jr., containing instruction concerning the Bishops of my church and what is their duty in the church.” The revelation also stated, “And unto the office of the presidency of the high Priest hood I have given authority to preside with the assistance of his councellers over all the concerns of the church.”7 In a subsequent revelation received by Joseph Smith on March 15, 1832,8 the Lord called Jesse Gause to become a high priest and counselor to the Prophet, but “when he failed to continue in a manner consistent with this appointment, the call was subsequently transferred to Frederick G. Williams. . . . Brother Gause served for a time, but was excommunicated from the Church in December 1832. Brother Williams was ordained to the specified office on March 18, 1833.”9
This revelation calling Gause to the Presidency was recorded in the Kirtland Revelation Book by Joseph’s scribe, Frederick G. Williams. The name Jesse was later crossed out, and above it was written Frederick. We cannot state with certainty the date when Williams began serving as a counselor to Joseph Smith (it could have been in December 1832, after Gause’s excommunication, or even earlier), but judging by the language used to describe Williams’s promised relationship with Joseph, his “fixed determination to be with him in suffering or in rejoicing, in life or in death and to be continually on his right hand,” it would seem that the January 22–23, 1833, conference could be used appropriately as the official date when Williams began his service as counselor.10
On March 8, 1833, the revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants section 9011 was received by Joseph Smith Jr. in which the Lord forgave the Prophet’s sins, “for thy prayers and the prayers of thy brethren have come up into my ears” (verse 1). The Lord also spoke of Frederick G. Williams as the Prophet’s “counselor and scribe” (19), also calls Sidney Rigdon the Prophet’s “counselor” (21), and declares, after forgiving both of them of their sins, that Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams are accounted “as equal with thee in holding the keys of this last kingdom” (6), as well as the “keys of the school of the prophets, which I have commanded to be organized” (7). There is no doubt that the three brethren formed the Presidency over the Church and High Priesthood, for the Lord commands them to “continue in the ministry and presidency” (12). He also instructs that when Joseph (and Frederick too, for he was the scribe for the Old Testament) finishes “the translation of the prophets you shall from thenceforth preside over the affairs of the church and the school” (13). The following three verses of the same revelation provide the Lord’s description of the duties of the Presidency of the Church. They are to receive revelation, set in order the churches, preside in council, study languages and books, and learn about people.
And from time to time, as shall be manifested by the Comforter, receive revelations to unfold the mysteries of the kingdom;
And set in order the churches, and study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people.
And this shall be your business and mission in all your lives, to preside in council, and set in order all the affairs of this church and kingdom.12
Ordination, Keys, and a Vision
The official ordination to hold the keys of the kingdom and their callings as counselors to Joseph Smith in the Presidency of the High Priesthood came to Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams a little over a week later on March 18, 1833, at a meeting of high priests and others. At the conclusion of the proceedings, and in fulfillment of a promise by Joseph that “the pure in heart that were present should see a heavenly vision,” angels and the Savior himself appeared unto them. The minutes of the proceedings were recorded by Frederick G. Williams and state:
This day an assembly of the High Priests met at the school room of the Prophets and were organized in due form by solemn prayer to the Most High by Sidney Rigdon[; after which they] then proceeded to ordain Doctor Hurlbut to be an Elder under the hand of Sidney Rigdon; after which Bro Sidney arose and desired that he and Bro Frederick should be ordained to the office that they had been called to [receive,] Viz [that] of President of the High Priesthood and to be equal in holding the Keys of the Kingdom with Brother Joseph Smith Jr according to a revelation given on the 8th day of March 1833 in Kirtland, saying thus, “and again verily I say unto thy brethren Sidney and Frederick, their sins are forgiven them also and they are accounted equal [with thee] in holding the keys of this last kingdom, and again I give unto you a commandment that you continue in this ministry and presidency and when you have finished the translating of the prophets, you shall from thenceforth preside over the affairs of the Church and the School [and] from time to time as shall be manifest by the Comforter, receive revelation to unfold the mysteries of the kingdom and set in order the Church”. Acordingly, Bro Joseph proceded to [obey the commandment] and ordained them by the laying on of the hands to be equal with him in holding the keys of the Kingdom and also the Presidency of the High Priesthood, after which several exortations were given to faithfulness and obedience to the commandments of God and much useful instruction given for the benefit of the saints, with a promise that the pure in heart that were present should see a heavenly vision, and after remaining for a short time in secret prayer, the promise was verified to many present, having the eyes of their understandings opened so as to behold many things. After which many of the brethren saw a heavenly vision of the Saviour and councourses of angels and many other things of which each one has a record of what they saw &c.
Frederick G. Williams was now officially a member of the Presidency of the High Priesthood, a President of the School of the Prophets, a President over the Church as a whole, and was “accounted equal in holding the keys of this last kingdom,” or in other words, a President over the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.14 The appearance of the Savior and of concourses of angels suggests that the Heavens approved and recognized this action.
A handwritten certificate dated March 20, 1833, and signed by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon attests to Williams’s ordination to the Presidency of the High Priesthood.
A Conference of High Priests of the Church of Jesus Christ certify that Frederick G. Williams the bearer of this after due examination of his moral character and Christian attainments was found worthy to receive this testimonial, from under our hands. We therefore certify that he has been regularly ordained to the Presidency of the High Priesthood under the hand of Joseph Smith Jr after the holy order of God according to a commandment given the 8th day of March AD 1833 to preside over the affairs of the Church and Kingdom of Jesus Christ as established in these last days.
Given under our hands at Kirtland Geauga Co Ohio North America the 20th day of March 1833
Certificate indicating that Frederick G. Williams had been ordained a counselor in the Presidency of the High Priesthood. Courtesy Church History Library.
Two aspects of this First Presidency are unique and noteworthy. First, as prescribed in the revelation (and unlike presidencies in the Church today), all members were equal in holding the keys. Second, the three were ordained to preside over this last kingdom, which in spite of subsequent shortcomings and loss of standing, we may assume continues in force today beyond the veil.16
Assistant President
An interesting side-note in the establishment of the First Presidency involves the title of Assistant President, which on more than one occasion was used to describe the calling held by both Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, but which has usually been reserved to describe Oliver Cowdery (and later Hyrum Smith). Cowdery’s position, as it pertained to the First Presidency, changed over the years—from Second Elder, to Assistant President, and then to Assistant Counselor. In the beginning, in a revelation read at the organization of the Church in 1830, Joseph was called the First Elder and Oliver the Second Elder:
The rise of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, it being regularly organized and established agreeable to the laws of our country, by the will and commandments of God, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called April—
Which commandments were given to Joseph Smith, Jun., who was called of God, and ordained an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the first elder of this church;
And to Oliver Cowdery, who was also called of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the second elder of this church, and ordained under his hand.17
Seven years later, at a conference held in Kirtland on September 3, 1837, Oliver Cowdery and three others were sustained as Assistant Counselors. Taken together, the three members of the First Presidency and the four Assistant Counselors constituted the heads of the Church.
Minuits of a Conference assembled in committee of the whole Church on the 3rd of Sept. 1837 9 O Clock A.M. G. W. Robinson was called upon to take the minuets of the conference, S. Rigdon then presented Joseph Smith Jr to the Church to know if they still looked upon & would still receive & uphold him, as the Prest. of the whole Church And the vote was unanymous in the affirmative: Prest Smith then presented S. Rigdon & F. G. Williams for his councilors and to constitute with himself the three first Prest of the Church. Vote unanymous in the affirmative, Prest. Smith then introduced O. Cowdery, J. Smith Sen.-Hiram Smith & John Smith for assistant Councilors. These last four together with the three fi<r>st are to be concidred the heads of the Church, Carried unanymously.18
Midway between 1830 (when he was sustained as Second Elder) and 1837 (when he was sustained as an Assistant Counselor), Oliver Cowdery would be given a third title, that of Assistant President. When the First Presidency was initially organized in 1833, Oliver’s position and relationship to the Presidency were not mentioned. On December 5, 1834, however, he was ordained an Assistant President of the High Priesthood, a position that was regarded above that of Counselor. Hence when the Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1835, Oliver Cowdery’s name appears on the title page immediately after Joseph Smith’s and ahead of Sidney Rigdon’s and Frederick G. Williams’s. Immediately below their names, these four men were identified as the “Presiding Elders of said Church.” Joseph’s Manuscript History (1834–36) gives an account of Cowdery’s ordination in Oliver’s own handwriting. It is of interest to point out that the minutes refer to both Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams as assistant presidents as well.
5 December 1834 – Friday
According to the direction of the Holy Spirit, President Smith, assistant Presidents Rigdon and Williams, assembled for the purpose of ordaining first High Counsellor Cowdery to the office of assistant President of the High and Holy Priesthood in the Church of the Latter-Day Saints.19
The entry continues with an explanation of the office and duties of President and of Assistant President, and sets forth the order and rank of the four Presidents within the Presidency.
It is necessary, for the special benefit of the reader, that he be instructed into, or concerning the power and authority of the above named Priesthood.
First. The office of the President is to preside over the whole Church; to be considered as at the head; to receive revelations for the Church; to be a Seer, Revelator and Prophet—having all the gifts of God:—taking Moses for an ensample. Which is the office and station of the above President Smith, according to the calling of God, and the ordination which he has received.
Second. The office of Assistant president is to assist in presiding over the whole Church, and to officiate in the absence of the president, according to his rank and appointment, viz: President Cowdery, first; President Rigdon Second, and President Williams Third, as they were severally called. The office of this Priesthood is also to act as Spokesman—taking Aaron for an ensample.
The entry further explains why Oliver Cowdery had not been previously ordained to this office in the Presidency.
The reader may further understand, that the reason why High Counsellor Cowdery was not previously ordained to the Presidency, was, in consequence of his necessary attendance in Zion, to assist Wm. W. Phelps in conducting the printing business; but that this promise was made by the angel while in company with President Smith, at the time they received the office of the lesser priesthood. And further: The circumstances and situation of the Church requiring, Presidents Rigdon and Williams were previously ordained, to assist President Smith.20
Based on these minutes, B. H. Roberts, in a footnote to the Prophet’s History of the Church, posits that Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams had been ordained Assistant Presidents to Joseph Smith.
This meeting of the 5th of December was a most interesting occasion. The minutes of it are found in the hand writing of Oliver Cowdery in the back of Record A, Ms. It would appear, according to these minutes, that the express purpose of the meeting of the brethren named in the Prophet’s history was to recognize Oliver Cowdery in his station as the second Elder in the Church, a position for which he was designated in the revelations of God, and to which he was ordained under the hand of the Prophet, (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 20:3, 4). It is explained in the minutes that the reason why he had not been able to officiate in his calling as said second Elder in the Church was because of his necessary absence in Zion (Missouri) to assist W. W. Phelps in conducting the printing business of the Church, etc.; hence Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams had been ordained as assistant-presidents in the Church during this necessary absence of Elder Cowdery.21
One wonders if B. H. Roberts meant that the ordination of Rigdon and Williams as Counselors is another way of saying Assistant Presidents, or whether in fact there was an additional and separate ordination for the second title. There is some justification for the latter interpretation. When the Kirtland High Council was organized on February 17, 1834, the members of the First Presidency of the Church were acknowledged presidents of that body as well. In addition, twelve high councilors were chosen. To distinguish between the two “counselors” in the Presidency (Rigdon and Williams) and the twelve “councilors” on the high council (Oliver Cowdery and others), the first were designated “assistants.”
The president of the Church, who is also the president of the Council, is appointed by the voice of the Saviour and acknowledged in his administration by the voice of the Church, and it is according to the dignity of his office that he should preside over the High Council of the church, and it is his privilege to be assisted by two other presidents, appointed after the same manner that he himself was appointed, and in case of the absences of one or both of those who are appointed to assist him, he has power to preside over the Council without an assistant, and in case that he himself is absent, the other presidents have power to preside in his stead, both or either of them.22
Two days later, on February 19, 1834, the high council again met. After the Prophet’s instructions to the assembled group, he referred to his two counselors as “Assistant presidents,” whereupon he laid his hands upon their heads and blessed them, and then in like manner, blessed the high councilors.
After much good instruction, Joseph, the President, laid his [hands] upon the heads of the two assistant presidents and pronounced a blessing upon them, that they might have wisdom to magnify their office, and power over all the power of the adversary. He also laid his hands upon the twelve councilors and commanded a blessing to rest upon them, that they might have wisdom and power to counsel in righteousness upon all subjects that might be laid before them.23
Toward the end of the meeting, Joseph Smith charged the two Assistant Presidents and the twelve councilors to do their duty in righteousness.
The President then gave the assistant presidents a solemn charge to do their duty in righteousness and in the fear of God. He also charged the twelve councilors in a similar manner, all in the name of Jesus Christ. We then all raised our hands to heaven in token of the Everlasting Covenant, and the Lord blessed us with His Spirit. He then said the Council was organized according to the ancient order, and also according to the mind of the Lord.24
Although it may be interpreted otherwise, I believe that in this instance Counselor and Assistant President are interchangeable terms, just as they are in the minutes of the organization of the high council in Far West.25 In the case of Oliver Cowdery, however, the title Assistant President denotes his unique calling as the Second Elder in the Restoration, just as the minutes explained. With his ordination to Assistant President in December 1834, Oliver Cowdery now occupied his rightful position next to Joseph in the First Presidency, ahead of Rigdon and Williams. This would continue to be the ranking within the Presidency until such time as Oliver would be demoted to Assistant Counselor in September 1837, just a few months before his excommunication from the Church on April 12, 1838.26
With Frederick G. Williams’s ordination as Counselor in the First Presidency he became a member of the Church’s highest governing body. His duties and obligations expanded to include the supervision of every facet of Church administration and ministration, from organizing branches, ordaining brethren, and printing materials, to sitting in council, teaching, and caring for the welfare of the members. These new and heavy burdens did not replace those he already carried, however, but were add-ons, for he was not released from his other responsible and time-consuming activities. Besides having to provide and care for his wife and children, President Williams kept up his medical practice and continued to be the Prophet’s full-time scribe. Later he would add justice of the peace, editor of a newspaper, and officer of a bank to his list of responsibilities, while still retaining his medical practice, and serving in the First Presidency.
Setting Our Homes in Order; Teaching Our Children Light and Truth
The most frequently quoted revelation involving President Frederick G. Williams is found in Doctrine and Covenants 93:41–43, given on May 6, 1833.
But verily I say unto you, my servant Frederick G. Williams, you have continued under this condemnation;
You have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments; and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your affliction.
And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.27
In the next verse, 44, the Lord chastises First Counselor Sidney Rigdon in a similar vein; and in verses 45–49, the Lord chastises the Prophet Joseph Smith regarding the same subject. In verse 50, the Lord gives the same admonition to Newel K. Whitney, the bishop. Hence, all the leadership of the Church was called on the carpet in this one section, and then the Lord adds: “What I say unto one, I say unto all.”28 It becomes clear that regardless of the position we hold in the Church (even the First Presidency) or how busy and involved we are in good causes (Frederick was a doctor and Newel ran the storehouse for the needy Church), our first responsibility is to teach our families.
In May 1833, the ages of the four Williams children were as follows: Lovina Susan was nearly seventeen; Joseph Swain, said to be an invalid,29 was fourteen; Lucy Eliza was nearly twelve; and Ezra Granger was nine and a half. We cannot know precisely at this distance in time what the family problems might have been which the Lord characterized as “many things that are not right in your house,” but I will offer two possibilities. One could be that Ezra, notwithstanding the commandment to teach and baptize children “when eight years old,”30 was not baptized until he was nine and a half, and the ordinance was not performed by his father, but by the Prophet, who found Ezra and William Kimball playing down by the Chagrin River and invited them to be baptized.31 Another potential problem in the Williams household may have been Lovina’s social life.
Lovina’s Suitors: Doctor Philastus Hurlbut and Burr Riggs
Lovina was apparently a very beautiful young lady, and as the daughter of one of the Presidents of the Church, a marriage to her would have been a much sought-after prize. One of her suitors was Doctor Philastus Hurlbut (1809–1883). Doctor was not his title, but his first given name. On March 18, 1833, the day Frederick G. Williams and Sidney Rigdon were set apart as Counselors to Joseph Smith in the First Presidency, Hurlbut was ordained an elder. He was not in the Church long, however, before he was brought up on a charge of “unchristian conduct with the female sex while on a mission to the East” and excommunicated from the Church.32 He appealed the decision when he returned to Kirtland on June 21, 1833, and his repentance brought about the restoration of his membership. But two days later, on June 23, 1833, he was again excommunicated, because he had deceived “Joseph Smith, God, or the Spirit by which he is actuated.”33 Hurlbut soon became a bitter enemy to Joseph Smith: he threatened the life of the Prophet (Hurlbut was convicted of the charge in court in April 1834), obtained the Solomon Spalding manuscript from the author’s wife and hinted that it was related to the Book of Mormon (though he never published it), and was responsible for the collected statements that formed the basis of Eber D. Howe’s Mormonism Unvailed (1834), the first anti-Mormon publication.
Joseph E. Johnson, in a communication to the Deseret Evening News published on December 28, 1880, gave the following description of D. P. Hurlbut and his intentions to marry into one of the first families of the Church.
He was a man of fine physique, very pompous, good looking, and very ambitious, with some energy, though of poor education. Soon after his arrival he came to my mother’s house to board, where he remained for nearly a year, while he made an effort to get into a good practice of medicine, sought position in the church and was ever striving to make marital connection with any of the first families.34
Before his mission to the East, the twenty-four-year-old Hurlbut had apparently proposed to sixteen-and-a-half-year-old Lovina Susan Williams, using what is by now a worn cliché in Mormondom, but it didn’t work then either. According to William R. Hine, “I became acquainted with D. P. Hurlbut before he left the Mormons. He courted Dr. Williams’ beautiful daughter, and told her he had a revelation to marry her; she told him when she received a revelation they would be married. Everybody about Kirtland believed he had left the Mormons because she refused him. Other Mormons and Black Pete claimed to receive revelations to marry her.”35
Black Pete, another suitor named by Hine “claiming to receive revelations to marry” Lovina, was one of the first African-Americans to join the Church. He was part of a group of early members in Kirtland who engaged in bizarre behavior and attributed it to the Spirit of God. Joseph Smith corrected their mistaken beliefs when he arrived in Kirtland, and those who did not repent were cut off from the Church. The Prophet, as editor, gave a lengthy treatise entitled “Try the Spirits,” published in the Times and Seasons, where he made mention of these early misguided practices.
The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have also had their false spirits. . . . Soon after the gospel was established in Kirtland, and during the absence of the authorities of the church, many false spirits were introduced, many strange visions were seen, and wild enthusiastic notions were entertained; men run out of doors under the influence of this spirit, and some of them got upon the stumps of trees and shouted, and all kinds of extravagances were entered into by them; one man pursued a ball that he said he saw flying in the air, until he came to a precipice when he jumped into the top of a tree which saved his life, and many ridiculous things were entered into, calculated to bring disgrace upon the church of God; to cause the spirit of God to be withdrawn; and to uproot and destroy those glorious principles which had been developed for the salvation of the human family. But when the authorities returned the spirit was made manifest, those members that were exercised with it were tried for their fellowship; and those that would not repent and forsake it were cut off.36
Apostle George A. Smith gave more details about the strange behaviors and identified the member who fell over the precipice by name: Black Pete, one of the “revelators.”
There was at this time in Kirtland, a society that had undertaken to have a community of property; it has sometimes been denominated the Morley family, as there was a number of them located on a farm owned by Captain Isaac Morley. These persons had been baptized, but had not yet been instructed in relation to their duties. A false spirit entered into them, developing their singular, extravagant and wild ideas. They had a meeting at the farm, and among them was a negro known generally as Black Pete, who became a revelator. Others also manifested wonderful developments; they could see angels, and letters would come down from heaven, they said, and they would be put through wonderful unnatural distortions. Finally on one occasion, Black Pete got sight of one of those revelations carried by a black angel, he started after it, and ran off a steep wash bank twenty-five feet high, passed through a tree top into the Chagrin river beneath.37
Another of Lovina’s Mormon “revelation-suitors” was Burr Riggs (1811–1860), whom she ultimately married. His bizarre behavior was the worst of all, according to Levi Hancock, who had joined the Church in that early day.
All that part of the country appeared to be awake to listen to the new doctrin those Elders ran into all manner of doings Receiving Revilations seeing Angels Falling down frothing at the mouth. One of them who acted the worst was Burr Riggs I have seen him jump [up] from the floor, strike his head against the joist in Mr Balwins new house and swing some then fall like he was dead after an hour or two he would come to then prophesy and tell what he had seen at other times he appeared to be so honest I was led to believe all said but concluded that all could not be blest and perhaps I was not as pure as those young men and what I had received was enough for me.38
James Rollins, another early Kirtland convert to the Church, described more of Burr Riggs’s strange behavior. When the four original missionaries to the Lamanites, plus Frederick G. Williams, departed for Missouri in November 1830, they placed some recent converts in charge of the newly established Kirtland branch. The new leaders were unprepared to deal with the spiritually bizarre activities of individuals such as Burr Riggs.
Brothers Cowdery and Pratt put some elders in charge and they were afraid to denounce the actions of individuals who were at that time operated upon by different kinds of spirits such as receiving revelations on parchment, and professing to receive them from heaven; others lying like they were dead, in meetings, on coming to rushing to the river and going through the form of baptism in the flowing ice until they had to be taken out, as was the case with Burr Riggs. After seeing all these, I pleaded with the Lord to show me if this spirit which was operating on certain individuals was His spirit.39
I do not wish to cast aspersions or make improper assumptions, but Lovina may have already been chummy with twenty-two-year-old Burr Riggs, who was faltering in his commitment to the gospel. Three months before the May 6, 1833, revelation admonishing Frederick G. Williams to teach his children light and truth, “for there are many things that are not right in your house,” Riggs had been excommunicated from the Church. On February 26, 1833, he was “accused of neglecting to make satisfaction to the Church as he had agreed, and disgracing the High priesthood by neglect of duty, and saying he did not care how soon he was cut off from the Church. He was cut off by a unanimous vote of the council.”40 Lovina and Burr were married a year and a half later on November 19, 1834, by Justice of the Peace J. C. Dowen.41
It Appears That President Williams Asked for and Received a Revelation
I used to wonder why Frederick was singled out first for chastisement among the members of the First Presidency. I think the answer is found in Doctrine and Covenants 93:42. It appears that Frederick was feeling uncomfortable to the point of affliction. He undoubtedly asked himself, what more can I do? He may have searched the scriptures, but evidently found no relief. Rather than suffer in silence, he apparently went to the Lord for an answer to why he felt conflicted. In verse 42 we learn that the Lord answered Frederick, for he says, “This is the cause of your affliction.” Not only did the Lord explain the origin of his discomfort, but in verse 43 he gave him the key to being delivered, which was a commandment to set his house in order and to teach his children light and truth.
The importance of teaching our families above all else is not taught in the Old Testament; it is not taught in the New Testament; nor is it taught in the Book of Mormon. But because a humble but overwhelmed servant sought the Lord for relief in our dispensation, a commandment was given to the whole Church, which sets our priorities among the three principle responsibilities we have in this life; family comes before Church and before profession.
There is an interesting epilogue to this story. The Lord did not free President Williams from any of his responsibilities. Rather, he added to them. At the end of the chastisement, the Lord reiterated the importance of finishing the translation of the scriptures and called Frederick and Joseph on a mission. He also told them to get busy studying to obtain a knowledge of history, countries, and more:
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.
And, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.42
It is interesting to note that as the years went on, the Lord gave more assignments to Frederick G. Williams but without releasing him from those he already had as a doctor, as a member of the First Presidency, and as a husband and father. He became a justice of the peace and hence the first member of the Church to hold an elected office, a trustee of a school, a member of the Kirtland Temple building committee, the editor of a newspaper, the publisher of the Doctrine and Covenants and of the first edition of the Church hymnal, and more. I believe he was able to discharge these and other assignments because the Lord increased his capacity to juggle appropriately.
Notes
1. This room was the headquarters of the Church from September 1832 to December 1833, while Joseph Smith lived at the Whitney store. Some eighteen meetings and conferences were held at the Whitney store between December 3, 1832, and June 21, 1833. Here, too, Joseph Smith received seventeen revelations, continued with the translation of the Bible until its completion, conducted the School of the Prophets, and organized the First Presidency. See Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland: Eyewitness Accounts, 2d ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 53.
3. In Joseph’s letter to William W. Phelps, dated January 14, 1833, at Kirtland, he states: “I send you the ‘olive leaf’ which we have plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord’s message of peace to us.” Joseph Smith Jr., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2d ed., rev., 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 1:316 (hereafter cited as History of the Church). In the section heading introducing Doctrine and Covenants 88 is written: “It appears from the historical records that portions of this revelation were received on 27 and 28 December 1832, and 3 January 1833.”
4. Fred C. Collier and William S. Harwell, eds., The Kirtland Council Minute Book, 2d ed. (Salt Lake City: Collier’s Publishing, 2002), 3; italics added.
5.History of the Church, 1:323. In addition to his baptismal covenant in late October or early November 1830, his covenant to the Prophet in Missouri occurred upon their meeting in late July or early August 1831 (alluded to by Nancy C. Williams but not documented), and the more dramatic renewal of the covenant, symbolized by the washing of the feet, was made to the Prophet on January 23, 1833. Frederick G. Williams publicly renewed his promise before all those present at a conference held on October 25, 1831, in Kirtland. “Br. Frederick G. Williams said that he renewed again the covenant before the Lord to give all to him.” Donald Q. Cannon and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., Far West Record (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), 21.
6. Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 5–6; History of the Church, 1:323.
7. Revelation found in the Newel K. Whitney Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Univeristy, Provo, Utah, but not published in the Doctrine and Covenants; see H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1999), 199–200. According to a note copied into the Kirtland Revelation Book, 10–11 (by Frederick G. Williams), Joseph Smith ordained Jesse Gause and Sidney Rigdon as his counselors in the presidency of the High Priesthood on March 8, 1832. See Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile edition, first volume of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009), 432–35.
8. Doctrine and Covenants 81. See introductory heading.
9. Doctrine and Covenants 81. See pages 139 and 140 of the Book of Commandments and Revelations (Relvelation Book 1) and pages 17 and 18 of the Kirtland Revelation Book (Relvelation Book 2), both of which show that the name of Jesse Gause was crossed out and the name of Frederick G. Williams was added. These pages are reprinted in Jensen, Woodford, and Harper, Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile edition, 254–57, 446–49. When the Book of Commandments went to press in 1833, this revelation was not included in the portion that was printed before the press was destroyed. When the Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1835, Frederick G. Williams’s name was substituted for Jesse Gause’s in section 89, page 207, and in every subsequent edition. For more information on Jesse Gause, see Robert J. Woodford, “Jesse Gause: Counselor to the Prophet,” BYU Studies 15, no. 3 (1975): 362–64; D. Michael Quinn, “Jesse Gause: Joseph Smith’s Little-Known Counselor,” BYU Studies 23, no. 4 (1983): 487–93; and, especially, Erin B. Jennings, “The Consequential Counselor: Restoring the Root(s) of Jesse Gause,” Journal of Mormon History 34 (Spring 2008): 182–227.
10. In the minutes of the first day of the conference held on January 22, 1833, Williams, as clerk, noted the names of some of the leading brethren who were present, together with their callings: “Joseph Smith, Jr., president, Sidney Rigdon, chief scribe and high counselor, Frederick G. Williams, assistant scribe and counselor.” Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 5.
11. Kirtland Revelation Book, 51–55, recorded by Frederick G. Williams. See Jensen, Woodford, and Harper, Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile edition, 514–23.
13. Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 9–10; History of the Church, 1:334–35. There are two additional extant accounts of this appearance of the Savior, one by Zebedee Coltrin and the other by John Murdock, cited in Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland: Eyewitness Accounts (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 109–10.
14. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in August 1830, we read: “Unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fullness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (D&C 27:13). See also Rand H. Packer, “Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Mamillan, 1992), 1:387–88.
15. “License to F. G. Williams March 20, 1833,” Frederick G. Williams file, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City.
16. This is mere speculation, of course, and the fact that both Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams lost their positions to others, goes counter to the possibility. But there is some basis for this conjecture. In a revelation given in the Kirtland Temple, dated January 21, 1836 (part of which is now D&C 137), Joseph Smith writes of the original First Presidency, “And I saw in my vision all of the Presidency in the celestial kingdom of God, and many others that were present.” History of the Church, 2:382. As to overcoming the sins they committed (which caused them to be dropped from the Presidency and from the Church), Joseph taught on January 23, 1833, after washing and ordaining several brethren, including Rigdon and Williams, “that the Elders were all clean from the blood of this generation, but that those who among them who should sin willfully after they were thus cleansed and sealed up unto eternal life, should be given over unto the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption.” Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 6. See also History of the Church 1:323. In 1966, on one of my frequent researching trips to the LDS archives in Salt Lake City, I visited with Elder Spencer W. Kimball, who stated to me his opinion that Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams—the only ones ordained equal in holding the keys of this last kingdom—were still in charge.
18. “Joseph Smith’s Missouri Journal,” in The Papers of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989–92), 2:217.
19. Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 1:20. Oliver Cowdery had been called previously as a high councilor in the first high council of the Church, organized on February 17, 1834 (see D&C 102).
22. Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 27. See also Doctrine and Covenants 102:9–11.
23. Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 30.
24. Collier and Harwell, Kirtland Council Minute Book, 31.
25. Similar distinguishing language was used on July 7, 1834, when the high council at Far West was organized by Joseph Smith, who, after giving instructions, “then proceeded and ordained the three Presidents,” David Whitmer as “President of the Church in Zion” and William W. Phelps and John Whitmer as his “Assistants” together with their twelve high “Counsillors.” It seems clear that W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer were counselors to David Whitmer, but since twelve high councilors were also ordained at that meeting, the minutes distinguished the “Presidents” from the “Counsillors” by calling the former “Assistants.” Frederick G. Williams was the clerk for that meeting. See Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, 72–73.
26. See minutes of the proceedings in Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, 162–69. Frederick G. Williams was one of ten brethren called upon to testify in the case: “F. G. Williams testifies that Oliver Cowdery told him that there was a certain man in the Church who could compound metal and make dies, that he could make money so that it could not be detected and if it was the case it was no harm to take that money and pass it. The man’s name was Davis. Also three men came to him to take out a writ to take some persons who had passed some Bogus (counterfeit) money, viz: John Boynton, Warren Parrish and Burton H. Phelps. Also that it was reported that Oliver was engaged in the Bogus money business. Also he did not disapprove of the principle of Davis’ making the dies and money.” Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, 168–69.
29. In the patriarchal blessings given on September 14, 1835, by Joseph Smith Sr. in Kirtland to Frederick and Rebecca, references to their son make it clear that Joseph Swain Williams, who died at age nineteen (see History of the Church, 3:33), was an invalid. In President Williams’s blessing, we find such reference as “thy afflicted son,” “thy son to begin to amend.” In Rebecca’s blessing, the patriarch stated, “Thy son shall be restored to health, for whom thou has wept, and for whom thou has so often prayed.” Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:31–32, quoted in Early Patriarchal Blessings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, comp. H. Michael Marquardt (Salt Lake City: The Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2007), 44–45.
35. Statement by William Riley Hine in the Oakland, California, newspaper Naked Truths about Mormonism, January 1888, 2. Hine stated that he was born on February 11, 1803, at Colesville, Windsor Township, Broome County, New York, and had known Joseph Smith.
36. “Ladies Relief Society, ‘Try the Spirits,’” Times and Seasons 3 (April 1, 1842): 747.
37. George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–86), 11:3–4 (November 15, 1864).
