Frederick’s death was undoubtedly hard on Rebecca, not only from a financial standpoint—for example, her difficulty in paying the final $8.50 in rent and the $15 coffin bill—but from the loss of the companionship and support from her confidant, friend, and husband of twenty-seven years. Her two daughters, Lovina and Lucy, were married and on their own, so she would naturally depend more and more on Ezra, who was not yet nineteen years old when his father passed away.
Joseph Smith’s Pleasure Trip to Quincy, with Lunch at the Williamses’
Soon after taking ownership of the steamship Maid of Iowa, Joseph Smith began hosting large numbers of friends on what he called “pleasure voyages” down and up the Mississippi River, complete with a band for musical entertainment. One such trip to Quincy occurred on Saturday, June 3, 1843.
Saturday, 3.—This morning, I, with my family and a large company of brethren and sisters, started for Quincy, on a pleasure voyage on the steamboat Maid of Iowa, had a fine band of music in attendance, and arrived there at about one p.m. . . .
At five p.m. started on our return, but tied up at Keokuk, at one a.m. on account of a severe storm until daylight, when we started home and were glad to arrive in Nauvoo at seven a.m. of the 4th.1
One member of the party, Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, daughter of Vilate and Heber C. Kimball, gives more details on the excursion, provides the names of some of the passengers and the name of the band, and informs us that the group ate “dinner” at the home of the widow of Dr. F. G. Williams and their son Ezra in Quincy.
There is another little incident which I had missed jotting down in the right place. It was near the first of June 1843, just previous to my father’s starting east, that the Prophet called and invited him to ride with him and William Clayton, his private clerk, as he was going around to give invitations to his friend, to take a pleasure trip with him down to Quincy, in the little “Nauvoo” boat which, previous to its being purchased, was called “Maid of Iowa.” I was also invited to go along. . . .
Our babe being very sick prevented my parents from going and I went with my brother. It was a lovely June morning, and animated with the lovely airs, played by William Pitt’s Brass Band, every heart was made glad, and everything looked bright and hopeful for the excursionists, as we started on the little steamer bound for Quincy.
We had a most enjoyable trip down, took dinner, with others, at the house of the widow of Dr. F. G. Williams and his son Ezra, who were old Kirtland friends.2
One would hope that the food had been planned and prepared beforehand and that a group of travelers didn’t just show up at Rebecca’s doorstep at lunchtime, asking to be fed. Perhaps they brought their own food and simply ate it at the Williams home; but that too would require some advance planning. It may be that Rebecca, who was used to cooking for boarders and patients alike, had begun to provide meals at her home to people working downtown, as a means of making ends meet. This was not an uncommon service in a day when there were relatively few places to get a bite to eat. For example, there is an advertisement in the Quincy Whig that announced openings for gentlemen to take their meals at a location across from where the Mormons held their church meetings, on the corner of Fourth and Jersey streets.
BOARDING—Four or six single gentlemen can be accommodated with Board at the corner of Fourth and Jersey street opposite the Mormon meeting house.
Whatever the case, these Nauvoo excursionists were “old friends” and members of the Church, and undoubtedly they would have been accommodated by the Williamses, whatever the needs. The incident also points to the close association the Williams family still maintained with Joseph and Emma.
Helen Mar Kimball Whitney provides additional details about the storm on their return and its effect on the passengers.
But on our return trip a heavy thunder storm came up, and Judge Elias Higbee being taken very ill we were obliged to stop over night at Keokirk [sic]. The cabin was small and the judge being so sick the majority stayed on deck, where we sat all night; umbrellas being our only protection from the beating storm. The heat had been very excessive, and being thinly clad, many were made sick, and I was among that number. Judge Higbee continued to grow worse, and only lived a few days after his return home.4
Medical Practice Continued by Son-in-Law and Son in Quincy
I have noted that Dr. Frederick G. Williams and his son-in-law Burr Riggs had joined forces and worked at the same address where Dr. Williams had earlier practiced medicine when he first arrived in Quincy, on Hampshire Street, opposite the American Tavern.5 On Wednesday, May 31, 1843, six months after the death of his father-in-law, Burr Riggs began running an announcement for his own medical practice, using almost the identical notice used by his father-in-law, with the same methods and in the same location.
B. RIGGS, INDIAN AND GERMN ROOT DOCTOR,
Who distinguishes disease by an exmination of the urine.
OFFICE on Hampshire street, opposite the American Tavern. Dr. Riggs would notify the citizens of this county, and the public at large, that he still continues the practice of medicine on the Indian and German system of distinguishing disease by an examination of the urine; and that he will always apply vegetable medicines, which are perfectly free from those deletrous effects which are always the result from the use of mineral medicines. Dr. Riggs’ medicines are procured from the field and the forest, carefully selected and prepared in such a manner that he can recommend them to the afflicted to operate in harmony with all the laws of animal life, removing all the excretions and secretions of the system; dislodging all the worn out matter, which by its being retained in the system, produces disease and death. His medicines are peculiarly calculated for the cure of liver complains, dyspepsia, fever, fever and ague, affections of the lungs and kidneys, weakness of the stomach, loss of appetite, indigestion, costiveness, nervous affection, coughs and colds, rheumatism, impurities of the blood, fever sores, ulcers, white swelling, cancers, general female debility, and the whole train of disease that afflict the human frame. He will warrant a perfect cure in all cases of cancers, white swellings, fever sores, ulcers and scrofula, in all their various forms, together with any old sore of any kind whatsoever.—
All kinds of country produce will be received in exchange for medicine; also any quantity of ginsing root, nervine, blood root, golden seal, but no credit given. In all inward complaints patients are requested to bring or send some of their urine, (in a clear vial) taken immediately after rising in the morning.
N.B. All those that are indebted to me will please call and settle immediately.
All kinds of vegetable medicines kept constantly on hand, and for sale by
Little more than a year later, on June 19, 1844, Ezra G. Williams teamed up with his brother-in-law Burr Riggs to form the medical firm of Riggs and Williams. The announcement of their partnership ran fifteen successive times through September 25, 1844, in the Quincy Whig.
RIGGS & WILLIAMS BOTANISTS Quincy, Illinois
The subscribers having associated themselves in the Botanical line at the old stand of Dr. B. Riggs, on the N.E. cor. of the square, where they will keep a good assortment of pure and genuine Vegetable medicines constantly on hand. The community at large are respectfully invited to call and try the virtues of our medicines, as they are warranted to be purely vegetable, and acting harmoniously with all the laws of Animal Life.
N.B. We will expect the cash for all medicines sold at the office.
June 19 B. RIGGS,
E. G. WILLIAMS.
NOTICE is hereby given, that all those indebted to me are expected to call and sett’l by note, or otherwise, immediately. B. RIGGS.7
In the next edition of the newspaper, following the last installment of the announcement of the firm of Riggs and Williams, there appeared a new advertisement in the Quincy Whig announcing the dissolution of the firm of Riggs and Williams and the creation of a new partnership between W. Bibbins and E. G. Williams. This new announcement was printed twenty-three successive times through March 5, 1845, and cost very little money.8
THE Co Partnership existing between the undersigned, under the firm of B. Riggs and E. G. Williams, expires this day by mutual consent: and all notes and accounts will be settled by Riggs and Williams. The firm will continue by W. Bibbins and E. G. Williams.
We get further details on these medical partnerships many years later from a response letter dated October 26, 1904, written by Frederick G. Williams (1853–1918) in Ogden, Utah, to his siblings Lucy Ellen Williams Godfrey (1848–1942), Mary Elizabeth Williams Gardner (1851–1933), and Hyrum Royal (1858–1927), on behalf of their father Dr. Ezra Granger Williams (1823–1905), son of Dr. Frederick G. Williams (1787–1842).
Oct 26 [1904] wrote to Lucy, Mary, Hyrum. Victor and Lizzie
Did Burr Riggs own the drugstore when father [Dr. Ezra Granger Williams] began practice?
Father was 18 y 10 m 16 day when his father [Dr. Frederick G. Williams] died. He was running a job wagon doing well making from 4 to 6 dollars a day. But the work was hard on him and Burr Riggs made him a proposition to put their medicines in together and father do the compounding and take care of the shop or store and Burr Riggs do the riding. They did so. When grandfather died he left quite a stock of herbs and medicine such as he used in his own practice. Burr Riggs studied with Grandfather and practiced with him so that their stock of medicines were similar Riggs built up a good practice but he took to drink which broke him up. Father was not with Burr long, he don’t remember why, but it was proposed that he and a man by the name of Bibins on the same terms as he and Burr went in together, so he did the compounding for Bibins a short time and then began visiting the sick. He can’t remember how long he was with either of them. They kept no medicines for sale, [it was] for their own compounding, not a regular drugstore as we have them today.10
Ezra G. Williams’s memory of names and the sequence of events that had taken place sixty-two years earlier is remarkably accurate, for the information contained in the letter to his children is confirmed, as we have seen, by the several medical advertisements that appeared in the Quincy Whig. We learn that Burr Riggs continued to practice medicine on his own, probably until his death in 1860, from several sources, including the 1850 U.S. Census, which lists him as “physician” and includes Adeline and Lucy Riggs, his two children by Lovina.
The 1850 U.S. Census also lists Eunice Stone as a member of Riggs’s household, a twenty-five-year-old “Housekeeper” born in Pennsylvania, as well as four others named Stone. Burr Riggs married Eunice M. Stone on March 8, 1851,12 but it was a short-lived marriage, for they divorced less than two years later, on October 26, 1852.13
Paying Property Taxes in 1843
I have made reference previously to the fact that Ezra was assessed taxes on property in Quincy in 1843, as were his two brothers-in-law. Included in the information taken is the location of the property and its assessed value, plus the value of any horses and cattle. The abbreviation “pd” for paid, appears next to Nathan’s and Ezra’s names. The assessment was likely made at the end of March or beginning of April.14
List of Real Estate & Personal Property Appraised for Taxation City of Quincy, Illinois 1843 By A. M. Harris, City Appraiser, Copied by Leech, City Clerk, for Andrew Wood, City Marshall Collector
In addition to Rebecca taking in boarders, Burr and Ezra compounding drugs and practicing medicine, Lovina caring for her young daughter Adeline, and Nathan and Lucy working with horses, members of the family were also involved in buying, selling, and leasing property. For ease of consultation, I have abbreviated the transactions, included the source, and arranged them in chronological order.
Date: May 21, 1844
Amount: $38
Place: Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: John Tillson, Jr., Pres. of The Quincy House Co. of Adams Co., Ill.
Grantee: Nathan Pinkham of Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Note: This was a lease agreement that stated: “In consideration of $38 dollars, seven and one half front on Fourth Street off the South side of Lot No. Four (4) in Block No. Nineteen (19), that is the space between the South line of said lot and the stable on said lot, be the same more or less, until the first day of April 1849.”
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. X, 1845, p. 524. FHL #967545
Date: May 23, 1844
Amount: $500
Place: Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: Nathan Pinkham and wife, Lucy Pinkham, of Adams County, Ill.
Grantee: Gershom B. Demock of Adams County, Ill.
Description: Part of Lot No. 4 in Block No. 23, Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Note: On the same day that Lucy and Nathan Pinkham sold the above property, they purchased a new place, right next door. Lot 4 in block 23 had been purchased from Nathan’s sister and brother-in-law, Elmira and Elbridge Tufts, on June 1, 1842.16
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. V, 1842–1844, p. 597. FHL #967544
Date: May 23, 1844
Amount: $500
Place: Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: George W. Brown and wife, Lucy E. Brown, and G. B. Demock of Adams Co., Ill.
Grantee: Nathan Pinkham of Adams County, Ill.
Description: Part of Lot No. 5 in Block No. 23, Quincy, Adams County, Ill. (original plat).
Note: An earlier deed, found in vol. V, p. 655 (#967544), with the same date and by the same parties, was declared null and void because the wrong block number was given, Block 25 (which did not then exist), instead of the correct Block No. 23.
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. W, 1844–45, pp. 414–15. FHL #967544
Date: December 17, 1844
Amount: $175
Place: Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: C. A. Warren of Adams County, Ill.
Grantee: Burr Riggs of Adams County, Ill.
Note: This was a lease agreement that required an additional $45 from Burr Riggs by January 1, 1846. A handwritten note was added to the record that reads:
Received August 11th 1845 of Burr E. Riggs a release from the annulled bond, the lot described therein being again the property of C. A. Warren and this bond cancelled.
C. A. Warren [signed] B. Riggs [signed]
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. X, 1845, p. 550, FHL #967545
Hostile Actions against the Leaders and Members of the Church in 1844
During the summer of 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were arrested and confined in Carthage Jail. While they awaited arraignment for trial, they were murdered by members of a mob on June 27, 1844. The news of the death of the Prophet swept over the Saints like a pall. The Quincy Herald, rival of the Quincy Whig, printed an extra edition with the news and denounced the deed as “cold-blooded” murder. The article was reprinted in History of the Church. “It will probably never be known who shot Joseph and Hyrum Smith, but their murder was a cold-blooded, cowardly act, which will consign the perpetrators, if discovered, to merited infamy and disgrace. They have broken their pledges to the governor, disgraced themselves and the state to which they belong. They have crimsoned their perfidy with blood.”17
Sherriff J. B. Backenstos, who made the anti-Mormons angry with his even-handed approach, provided the names of the Carthage Greys and officers who were supposed to have protected the Smiths. He also provided the names of “those active in the massacre at Carthage” and listed fifty-seven people, among them Sylvester M. Bartlett, editor of the Quincy Whig, and Thomas C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal.18
We do not have any record of the effect that Joseph’s death had on Rebecca, but her continued commitment to the restored gospel was again demonstrated by the performance of proxy baptisms for her kindred dead.
More Baptisms for the Dead in 1844
Notwithstanding the dangers from anti-Mormons, with the baptistry completed and dedicated in the basement of the temple, the Saints were invited to come to Nauvoo and continue the work of redeeming their dead. Rebecca, and undoubtedly Ezra, traveled to Nauvoo on at least one occasion for a week, where she served as proxy for the baptism of more family members. We don’t yet know the order or the exact dates of all the work Rebecca performed, but we do know that on August 29, 1844, she was responsible for having the ordinance of baptism performed again for her husband, Frederick G. Williams (1787–1842), with Heber C. Kimball as the officiator.19 Then on September 2, 1844, she had the work done for her husband’s mother, Ruth Granger Williams (1767–1832?); for his father, William Wheeler Williams (1760–1831); for his brother, Joseph Williams (1794–1816?); and for his sister-in-law, Lovina Dibble Williams (1793–1816), the first wife of William Wheeler Williams Jr., Frederick’s brother. Lovina Dibble Williams’s death in childbirth had been a great motivator for Frederick G. Williams to study medicine. Heber C. Kimball was the officiator in each instance.20
Besides her husband’s family, Rebecca also performed the work for her British-born sisters, Maria Swain Taylor (1786–1825) and Susannah Swain Hitchcock (1790–1828).21
The Discharge of Civic Responsibilities, 1844–1845
Another activity in which the family was engaged, a civic duty required of citizens, involved Lucy, Nathan, and Burr, who served as witnesses in court or on the grand jury. For ease of consultation, each case and the role the family member played in it, is presented in chronological order. The information is taken from the Early Records Index, Adams County, Illinois, which includes such things as fee bills, people’s case files, jury lists, and law case files.22
Date
Name
Role
Case
May 29, 1844
Nathan Pinkham
witness
“Threats”
February 10, 1845
Burr Riggs
witness
“Larceny”
April 24, 1845
Lucy Pinkham
witness
“Adultery & Fornication”
April 24, 1845
Nathan Pinkham
witness
“Adultery & Fornication”
April 25, 1845
Lucy Pinkham
witness
“Keeping a Lewd House”
April 25, 1845
Nathan Pinkham
witness
“Keeping a Lewd House”
April 25, 1845
Burr Riggs
witness
“Larceny”
April 30, 1845
Nathan Pinkham
witness
“Larceny”
May 13, 1845
Nathan Pinkham
juror
“Placed on jury list”
September 17, 1845
Nathan Pinkham
witness
“Larceny”
February 28, 1846
Burr Riggs
complainant
“Transcript”
Death of Lucy Eliza Williams Pinkham
Three months after Lucy Pinkham served in court, the notice of her death, on Saturday, July 26, 1845, appeared in the Quincy Whig, with no details to indicate the cause of her death.
[DIED] In this city on Saturday last, Mrs. Lucy, daughter of the late F. G. Williams, and consort of Mr. Nathan Pinkham.23
There is a brief note on page 276 of Dr. Williams’s medical ledger, likely written years later when genealogical information on members of the family was added, which says the Pinkhams had a “child 3 months old,” meaning it died in infancy at the age of three months. A brief note by Nancy C. Williams states that the Pinkham’s child was named Ellen and that the mother died soon after, suggesting Lucy died of complications associated with childbirth. “Eliza had married Nathan Pinkham and had one child, Ellen, who died when two months old. The mother died soon after.”24
Painting of Lucy Eliza Pinkham
Sometime during the nearly three years between their marriage on September 18, 1842, and her death on July 26, 1845, Lucy Pinkham had her portrait painted by an unknown artist. As early as August 17, 1839, portrait painter P. O. Jenkins announced in the Quincy Whig that he had located in Quincy. His notice continued in the paper through March 13, 1841. On January 25, 1843, the notice of R. E. Letton, a portrait painter who had located in Quincy, began appearing in the Whig. His studio was located over the office of the city clerk.
Portrait Painting R. E. Letton From Cincinnati has permanently located in Quincy—Studio in brick building one door north of the post office directly over the city clerk’s office. Feb 125
Of course it is possible that the portrait was painted at a later date, perhaps from a daguerreotype photograph taken of Lucy. But whether produced while she lived or done later, the painting is undoubtedly a token of Nathan’s love for his young wife. The portrait of Lucy Pinkham, identified in the accompanying notes as the daughter of Frederick G. Williams, appeared for sale on eBay’s website in 2007.26
Birth of Lucy Riggs, 1845
In the midst of the commotion, Lovina and Burr Riggs would become parents once again with the birth of their daughter Lucy Riggs, born August 7, 1845, in Quincy, Illinois.27 I have already noted that after the death of her mother and father, Lucy Riggs appeared in the household of her uncle Nathan Pinkham as a fourteen-year-old “domestic” in the 1860 U.S. Census.28 Years later, Lucy married Charles Ames on April 23, 1866, in Quincy. He died soon after, on August 14, 1866. Lucy remarried on November 24, 1870, to Wardell Bunting. Lucy Riggs Bunting died on February 9, 1901, in Santa Cruz, California.29
Quincy Citizens Support Expulsion of the Saints
The hostile actions of many Illinois citizens towards the Church did not abate with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum; rather, the threats intensified against the members living in Nauvoo and surrounding communities, including Quincy. On October 1, 1845, the leading citizens of Quincy passed a resolution supporting the removal of the Saints by the spring deadline, which included sixteen components. The first two read as follows:
First, Resolved, That we accept and recommend to the people of the surrounding counties to accept the proposition made by the Mormons to remove from the state next spring: but we accept it as an unconditional proposition to remove. We do not intend to bring ourselves under any obligations to purchase their property or to furnish purchasers for the same, but will expect them to dispose of their property and remove at the time appointed.
Secondly, That we do not endorse the enumeration of grievances made by the Mormons in their printed proposition to remove, or in any degree yield our assent thereto: that we do not believe them to be a persecuted people, but believe whatever grievances they may suffer to be the legitimate consequences of their own conduct.30
The sixth resolution called for the removal of Sheriff Backenstos.
Sixthly, Resolved, That in our opinion the peace of Hancock county cannot be so far restored as to allow the desired progress to be made in preparing the way for the removal of the Mormons while J. B. Backenstos remains sheriff of said county and that he ought to resign said office.31
It was also resolved that a committee be organized to raise a volunteer military force in Adams County “without delay, to be used to preserve the peace of this and the adjoining counties.”32 It is interesting to point out that Nathan Pinkham had signed up for military service a few months before with the Quincy Riflemen, a uniformed outfit. Their deployment lasted until May 1846.33
Ezra Is Ordained a Seventy
On another trip to Nauvoo, Ezra was ordained a seventy in the Melchizedek Priesthood by Joseph Young, president over all the seventies,34 on October 10, 1845.35 The seventies had begun a series of meetings in Nauvoo on January 8, 1845, in preparation for the move west and to consider what to do about the threats from their enemies, including those from Quincy.
A general meeting of the seventies at 8 a.m.; twenty-two members were ordained for the thirty-first quorum.
Thursday, [January 9, 1845]—The seventies met in general conference. President Joseph Young counseled the seventies to pay strict attention to the call of their presidents and strongly exhorted them to pray unto the Lord day and night, and trust in him for deliverance, for the fervent prayers and faith of the saints would accomplish more than the strength of their arms, for the Lord holds the destinies of all men in his hands and he will control them according to his will and he has power to deliver us.
General Hardin has pledged himself to the mob that he will come to Nauvoo with his troops and either arrest Orrin P. Rockwell and some others of the brethren or he ‘will unroof every house in Nauvoo’. Three hundred of our enemies have volunteered to come with him from Quincy and they expect to be joined by others on the way.36
Sale of Quincy Property
In 1845, Ezra, on behalf of his mother, Rebecca, also engaged in the sale and purchase of property. We do not know what their thinking was, but the Lima property was sold37 (or traded) and lot 7 of block 30 in Quincy was purchased, the same property that had once belonged to Burr Riggs and then to Frederick G. Williams. Perhaps they felt it would be better to have their own place rather than live with family or rent, and the sale of the Lima property was a way to accomplish their goal.
Date: May 30, 1845
Amount: $500
Place: Lima, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: Ezra G. Williams of Adams County, Ill.
Grantee: Joseph D. Denson of Cedar County, Iowa
Description: Lots No. 7 and 8 in Block No. 6 in Lima, Adams County, Ill.
Note: The same day he sold the Lima property for $500, he purchased the Quincy property (Lot 7 in Block No. 30) his father had sold four years before for the same amount.
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. X, 1845, 407–8, FHL #967545
Date: May 30, 1845
Amount: $500
Place: Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: John C. Wood of Adams County, Ill.
Grantee: Ezra G. Williams of Adams County, Ill.
Description: Lot No. 7 in Block No. 30 in original Quincy, except for 10 feet off the West side, which has been deeded for an alley.
Note: This was the property Frederick G. Williams had purchased from his son-in-law Burr Riggs on July 10, 1840, and later sold on November 6, 1841.
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. X, 415–16, FHL #967545 [Only six months after purchasing lot 7, block 30, in Quincy, they sold it. During that time much had changed. Their daughter and sister, Lucy Pinkham, had died, and tension and hostilities against the Mormons were mounting. It was nearing the time when they should depart the state.]
Date: November 24, 1845
Amount: $100
Place: Quincy, Adams County, Ill.
Grantor: Ezra G. Williams of Adams County, Ill.
Grantee: John Schell, Sen. of Adams County, Ill.
Description: Lot No. 7, Block No. 30, in Quincy (original, now city), except for 10 feet off the West side, which has been deeded for an alley.
Source: Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. Y, 1845–1846, 151, FHL #967545
In this last transaction, Ezra G. Williams, who had purchased the property for $500 on May 30, 1845, sold it for only $100 six months later, a loss of $400! This is a good indication that the buyer knew the seller was in a difficult bind and would have to sell the property for a reduced price, for Ezra and Rebecca were being forced to leave the state, along with the other Mormons, a situation not unlike the one Frederick and Rebecca had faced when driven from Missouri six years before.
A Sealing for Eternity, a Marriage for Time
It is well known that the Saints worked continuously to finish the temple, even though they were preparing to leave Illinois in the spring of 1846. It is also well known that the Saints worked around the clock performing endowments and sealings in the nearly completed temple before leaving Nauvoo. Brigham Young records the following regarding the tempo of performing the ordinances.
Monday January 12—One hundred and forty-three persons received their endowments in the Temple. I officiated at the altar. Such has been the anxiety manifested by the saints to receive the ordinances [of the temple], and such the anxiety on our part to administer to them, that I have given myself up entirely to the work of the Lord in the Temple night and day, not taking more than four hours sleep, upon an average, per day, and going home but once a week.
Elder Heber C. Kimball and the others of the Twelve Apostles were in constant attendance but in consequence of close application some of them had to leave the Temple to rest and recruit their health.38
Although it was very cold, those among the faithful seeking these temple ordinances were Rebecca and Ezra, who received their endowments on January 27, 1846, as members of that day’s first company.39 With the pressure from their enemies to depart, Brigham Young had decided on February 3, 1846, to discontinue any more ordinances, but so many members wanted to receive them that he relented.
Tuesday [February] 3—Notwithstanding that I had announced that we would not attend to the administration of the ordinances, the House of the Lord was thronged all day, the anxiety being so great to receive, as if the brethren would have us stay here and continue the endowments until our way would be hedged up, and our enemies would intercept us. But I informed the brethren that this was not wise, and that we should build more Temples, and have further opportunities to receive the blessings of the Lord, as soon as the saints were prepared to receive them. In this Temple we have been abundantly rewarded, if we receive no more. I also informed the brethren that I was going to get my wagons started and be off. I walked some distance from the Temple supposing the crowd would disperse, but on returning I found the house filled to overflowing.
Looking upon the multitude and knowing their anxiety, as they were thirsting and hungering for the word, we continued at work diligently in the House of the Lord.40
Lovina Riggs was among those seeking for her temple blessings and was endowed on February 6, 1846, as a member of the sixth company.41 The next day, February 7, 1846, at 1:15 in the morning, Rebecca Swain Williams was sealed to her deceased husband, Frederick G. Williams, by President Brigham Young, with Heber C. Kimball acting as proxy for Frederick.42 Five minutes later, at 1:20 a.m., Brigham Young married Rebecca Williams to Heber C. Kimball, but only “for time.”43
Since Rebecca’s sons-in-law were not members of the Church at this time, neither Burr Riggs nor Nathan Pinkham participated in these sacred temple ordinances. It is interesting to point out, however, that Nathan Pinkham’s mother, Elizabeth “Betsey” Bradford Pinkham, and his two sisters, Elmira Pinkham Tufts (with her husband, Elbridge) and Caroline Pinkham Nichols (with her husband, Jesse K. Nichols), were endowed in the Nauvoo Temple.44 Nathan’s widowed mother, Elizabeth, following the pattern Rebecca would follow, was also sealed for eternity to her deceased husband, Nathan Pinkham Sr., on January 27, 1846, and on the same day was married “for time” to Isaac Morley.45
The Exodus Begins from Illinois
Brigham Young and his family departed Nauvoo on February 15, 1846, and reached “Sugar Creek” camp in Iowa, some eight miles from the border, at 8:00 p.m. He noted that “the roads were very bad.”46 The movement of large groups of Saints leaving Nauvoo and crossing the Mississippi River into Iowa Territory was reported in the Quincy Whig on February 18, 1846. “Important from Nauvoo. We learn that a company of about two thousand Mormons commenced crossing the Mississippi preparatory to their starting for California. They are young men, and go out to put in early vegetables for the rest when they arrive.” The Whig also included a notice that had appeared in the Warsaw Signal, whose editor, Thomas Sharp, was one of the more vocal supporters for the immediate removal of the Mormons. Rather than applaud the move, he attacked it as foolish for leaving in the winter season.
“The Saints are Leaving”
The Warsaw Signal states that during the last week the saints have been crossing the River in a perfect army; and were still crossing up to Wednesday.
. . . .
We regret that so large a group has started at this season of the year could only lead to folly.47
Second Anti-Mormon Resolution by Quincy Citizens, 1846
The leading citizens of Quincy assembled at the courthouse on Thursday evening, April 23, 1846, to discuss how best to insure the removal of the Mormons, now that spring had officially arrived. The result was a resolution that was published in the Whig on April 29, 1846, entitled “Anti-Mormon Meeting, in Adams County.” This resolution used more aggressive language than the one published on October 1, 1845. The preamble included an ominous warning. “And whereas, if the Mormons or any part of them pursue their present and intended suicidal course of remaining in the State beyond the time agreed on for their removal, a most fearful and deadly strife will be the certain and inevitable consequence—a strife that will be marked by all the desolating horrors of a civil feud.”48
The fifth resolution included the word “extermination” as a consequence of not moving out of the state by the specified deadline. “5th, Resolved, That it would be the height of madness and folly for the Mormons or any portion of them to attempt a violation of their pledge to remove, as such a course would with unerring certainty, bring down the retributive vengeance of the old citizens of Hancock, and the surrounding counties upon them, and lead to their summary expulsion from the State, and we fear to their extermination.”49
The seventh and final resolution warned the Mormons that they should not attempt to emigrate into Adams County, and for those Mormons already there, they should not think to remain, for Adams County was as keen on getting rid of them as was Hancock County. “7th, Resolved, That to suffer the Mormons to remove from Hancock into our own county, would be aggravating the evil, and we warn them against doing so; while we will assure those already arriv’d here, that this county is as deeply and sincerely desirous of getting rid of them as Hancock is of getting rid of those within her limits, and they are equally expected to remove with their ‘brethren’ and save us from any other turmoil or difficulty.”50
Some Saints crossed a frozen Mississippi River during the winter exodus,51 but most crossed by ferry. Historian William G. Hartley divides the 1846 exodus of some 15,000 Mormons from Nauvoo and surrounding communities into three time frames: winter, spring, and fall. “The dramatic, west-flowing story of some 15,000 Latter-day Saints vacating the Nauvoo area in 1846 involves three distinct movements. The initial movement is the well-known trek of Brigham Young’s Camp of Israel. This hurried Winter Exodus took place during February 1846, ahead of the planned schedule to leave in the spring, because of fears that federal troops planned to block the Saints’ move west and arrest Church Leaders.”52
The majority of Saints left Nauvoo and surrounding communities in the spring, as had been agreed upon, when the weather was milder and after having finished and dedicated the temple. “The numbers who left in the Spring Exodus dwarf the numbers in the Camp of Israel. Most of the Saints, living in and near Nauvoo left according to the original plan—in the spring. On May 1, Elder Orson Hyde and other leaders publicly dedicated the Nauvoo Temple, a ceremony thousands of Saints attended before leaving. Approximately 12,000 people.”53
The fall exodus involved the sick and the poorest of the Saints. It took place before and after the so-called “Battle of Nauvoo,” when the mob’s hostility pushed the remaining Mormons out of the state. These poor and famished Saints were witnesses of the miracle of the quail.
The final departures from Nauvoo were the Fall Exodus, which happened in September 1846 when armed anti-Mormons during and after the Battle of Nauvoo drove out the last few hundred Saints, most of whom were sick or otherwise ill-equipped for the trek. At their Poor Saints camps on the Mississippi’s west shore, they miraculously received unexpected food when flocks of exhausted quail flopped into their campground and tents. In Mormon history this is termed the miracle of the quail. LDS rescue teams from western Iowa retrieved many of these forlorn people.54
Large numbers of Saints, at various speeds (depending on the length of the company’s stopovers, which could be weeks, months, and in some cases even years), made their way across Iowa to the Missouri River and the Mormon settlement known as Kanesville, today’s Council Bluffs, and surrounding areas. It took Brigham Young’s company 131 days to make this journey.
We do not know precisely when Rebecca and Ezra left Illinois, but I posit that it was in the springtime of 1846, when the Williamses departed from their home in Quincy and, like hundreds of other Mormons, made their way downriver to St. Louis, Missouri, before eventually moving north to reach Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Notes
1. 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), 5:418 (hereafter cited as History of the Church).
2. Jeni Broberg Holzapfel and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, eds., A Woman’s View: Helen Mar Whitney’s Reminiscences of Early Church History (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997), 209–10.
3. “Boarding,” Quincy (Illinois) Whig, September 19, 1840, 3. This may well be the location of the Mormon meetinghouse where the Williamses had attended Church.
5. The notice, which first appeared in the Quincy Whig, August 24, 1839, 3, and which ran for six months, reads, in part, “F. G. Williams—Indian and German Root Doctor who distinguishes disease by an examination of the urine. Office on Hampshire Street, opposite the American Tavern.”
6.Quincy Whig, May 31, 1843, 3. The 335 words in the 48 lines of the notice appeared 26 successive times, from May 31 through November 23, 1843, with little variation except that it changed location on the page.
7.Quincy Whig, June 19, 1844, 3. The 127 words in the 21 lines of advertising appeared 15 successive times from June 19, 1844, through September 25, 1844; it moved from page 3 to page 1, and varied its location on the page.
8. In the “Terms of the Quincy Whig,” Quincy Whig, July 9, 1845, 1, the publisher lists the cost of a subscription ($2.50 per year) and the cost of publishing notices and advertising in the newspaper:
For 15 lines or less $1.00 for first insertion and 37½ cents for each continuance. A deduction will be made for those advertising by the year. All advertisements ordered to be inserted without specifying the number of insertions will be continued, until ordered out.
1 month
$2.12½
3 months
$6.00
6 months (1–4 columns)
$10.00
one year
$15.00
one-half column, one year
$30.00
9.Quincy Whig, October 2, 1844, 3. The 54 words in the 9 lines of advertising appeared 23 successive times from October 2, 1844, through March 5, 1845. The October 2 date is assumed since the date of the ad is October 1. Unfortunately the first two pages of that issue are missing in the microfilm version of the Whig that I consulted, so the date cannot be confirmed. The notice moved from page 1 to pages 3 and 4, and varied its location on the page.
It is interesting to note that the advertisement announcing the termination of the Riggs and Williams partnership began appearing in the very next issue of the Quincy Whig after the fifteenth and final advertisement appeared announcing their partnership.
10. Record of Frederick G. Williams (1853–1918), the son of Dr. Ezra Granger Williams (1821–1905) and grandson of Dr. Frederick G. Williams (1787–1842). The original was in the possession of Gwenivere Richards of Pleasant Grove, Utah, a daughter of Amanda Elizabeth Williams (1877–1964), the eldest child of Frederick G. Williams (1853–1918) and Amanda Burns Williams (1860–1943). A photocopy was obtained from her in February 1966.
11. Quincy North Ward, Adams Co., Illinois, of the 1850 U.S. Census, “enumerated on 22 Aug 1850.”
12.Marriages of Adams County, Illinois, 1825–1860, vol. 1, compiled by members of the Great River Genealogical Society (Quincy Ill.: Great River Genealogical Society, 1979), 101; the information was taken from “Index to Marriages, 1825–1890,” found at the Adams County Court House.
13.Divorce Index 1825–1922, Adams County, Illinois, compiled by Stephen D. Robison, vol. 2, (Quincy Ill.: Great River Genealogical Society, 1995), 133.
14. For example, the assessment of taxes for 1845 was announced for the end of March and beginning of April in the Quincy Whig, March 19, 1845, 3.
The notice not only gave the days it would occur for different cities and townships in the county but also described the kinds of things which would be assessed for taxation, which included clocks.
15. The tax assessment record for Ezra G. Williams also included $5 for “Time Pieces,” $60 for “Wheel Carriages,” and $50 for “Other Property,” which, together with the value of the horses and cattle, gave an aggregate appraised value of $225 and a total tax to be paid of $1.12½. See “List of Real Estate and Personal Property Appraised for Taxation, City of Quincy, Illinois, 1843,” 31, 34, and 47, respectively, for Nathan Pinkham, Burr Riggs, and Ezra G. Williams, microfilm #1,863,527, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City.
16. See Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. V, 1842–44, 44, microfilm #967544, Family History Library. Earlier, March 10, 1841, Nathan had sold the property to the Tufts. See Record of Deeds, Adams Co., Ill., vol. Q, 1840–41, 588, microfilm #967541, Family History Library.
19. Susan Easton Black and Harvey Bischoff Black, Annotated Record of Baptisms for the Dead, 1840–1845, Nauvoo Hancock County Illinois, 7 vols. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2002), 3852.
20. Black and Black, Annotated Record of Baptisms for the Dead, 3852–53.
21. Black and Black, Annotated Record of Baptisms for the Dead, 3851.
22.Early Records Index, Adams County Illinois, comp. Genealogical Society of Utah and Stephen D. Robison, vol. 3 (Quincy, Ill.: Great River Genealogical Society, 1993), 130, 160. Not all of the cases involving Burr Riggs and Nathan Pinkham have been included in this list.
24. Nancy Clement Williams, After 100 Years (Independence, Mo.: Zion’s Printing and Publishing, 1951), 126, but no source is given for the information. There is no record of the death of Ellen Pinkham or of any Pinkham child in the Quincy Whig six months on either side of Lucy’s death on July 26, 1845. Nor is there another Pinkham death recorded in Deaths and Marriages from Early Quincy Papers, 1835–1850, comp. Linda Kaufmann Parrick, Lillian Harris Frye, and Jeannie McCarl Kay (Quincy, Ill.: Great River Genealogical Society, 1979).
25. “Portrait Painting,” Quincy Whig, February 8, 1843, 4.
26. The sale ended on April 1, 2007, at 19:18:03 PDT. Lucy Eliza Williams Pinkham is buried next to her husband, Nathan Pinkham, and his second wife, Ellen L. Davis, in the Woodland Cemetery, Quincy, Illinois, block 10, lot 65. See Woodland Cemetery 3 (Quincy, Ill.: Great River Genealogical Society, Quincy Public Library, 1991), 20.
27. Frederick G. Williams, Medical ledger, 170, 272–73, Church History Library.
28. The 1860 U.S. Census for Quincy, Adams County, Ill. Nathan Pinkham is listed as the head of the family, with Lucy Riggs listed as fourteen years old, her birthplace Illinois, and her occupation “domestic.”
29. Frederick G. Williams, Medical ledger, 170, 272–73.
33. The Quincy Riflemen were organized in May 1843. Nathan was the twenty-eighth man to enlist. See History of Adams County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, Etc. (Chicago: Murray, Williamson, and Phelps, 1879), 300–301.
34. Joseph Young, brother to Brigham Young, was sustained on October 7, 1844, as “First President over all the quorums of the seventies” or, in other words, the senior president of the First Council of the Seventy as it was known. History of the Church, 7:297. Dr. Williams’s medical ledger records that Ezra was a member of the Third Quorum of Seventies, but incorrectly states that it was in Kirtland. See Frederick G. Williams, Medical ledger, 276–77.
35. There is a certificate attesting to the October 10, 1845, ordination of Ezra Granger Williams by Joseph Young, issued “by order of the Council of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventies” on January 7, 1885, book C, no. 173, signed by H. S. Eldridge, presiding, with Robert Campbell, clerk, a copy of which is in my possession. A confirmation of his ordination to Seventy is found in the Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846 (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Temple Records Index Bureau, 1974), 202, where Ezra’s endowment date is listed as January 27, 1846, and his priesthood is abbreviated “sev” for seventy.
37. Perhaps they thought it would be better to sell the Lima property and avoid trouble. The Morley settlement near Lima was often the target of harassment by the anti-Mormons. On September 10, 1845, eight houses were burned to the ground. History of the Church, 7:439–40. On October 18, 1845, two more houses and three stables were burned down. History of the Church, 7:488. One estimate places the number of buildings eventually burned at 175. See Donald Q. Cannon and Keith W. Perkins, Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites, vol. 3, Ohio and Illinois, ed. LaMar C. Berrett (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2001), 213.
42. Nauvoo Sealing and Adoptions 1846–57, book A, 55, microfilm #183374 9, Special Collections, Family History Library. Rebecca Williams is patron #2614, Frederick G. Williams is patron #4082, and Heber C. Kimball is patron #2610. The witnesses were C. P. Lott and George D. Watt.
43. Nauvoo Sealing and Adoptions 1846–57, book A, 16.
There is a case of mistaken identity regarding a conversation that took place in the temple. In H. Michael Marquardt, The Rise of Mormonism: 1816–1844 (Longwood, Fla.: Xulon Press, 2005), 555–56, the author recounts the story Luman Andros Shurtliff told in his autobiography regarding a conversation he had on polygamy with a brother and sister Williams. Although Shurtliff does not provide the first names, Marquardt assumes he is speaking of Frederick and Rebecca and inserts their first names in brackets. However, a close reading of the “Autobiography of Luman Andros Shurtliff” found at the Church History Library discloses that the Williamses referred to by Shurtliff are Samuel and Ruth Williams, an older couple he had been instrumental in converting at his home in Sullivan, Ohio. He baptized Samuel Williams on February 5, 1837 (p. 78). Luman and Eunice Shurtliff and Samuel and Ruth Williams moved to Kirtland together on December 1, 1837 (p. 85), well after Frederick and Rebecca had moved to Missouri.
To make their own move to Missouri, Luman Shurtliff and Leister Gaylord (his wife’s brother) traveled back to Sullivan on March 15, 1838, to pick up the teams and wagons Luman had requested of his debtors (p. 111). It was on this trip that they discussed the possibility of the Church embracing polygamy, the gist of which was later conveyed to Ruth and Samuel Williams, who were opposed to it, especially Ruth. Shurtliff reported on Ruth’s change of heart while conversing with her in the temple. Ruth and Samuel Williams received their endowments on December 15, 1845. The Shurtliffs received theirs on December 25, 1845. See Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 14, 66.
44. See Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 42, 46, 58 of the index, and 68 and 141 of the endowments.
45. Nauvoo Sealing and Adoptions 1846–57, book A, 407, 453.
51. Brigham Young recorded that on Tuesday, February 24, 1846, at 7:00 p.m., “Thermometer 12 degrees below zero, Fah. Mississippi river frozen over above Montrose.” History of the Church, 7:597.
52. William G. Hartley and A. Gary Anderson, Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites, vol. 5, Iowa and Nebraska, ed. LaMar C. Berrett (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2005), 23–24.
53. Hartley and Anderson, Sacred Places: Iowa and Nebraska, 25.
54. Hartley and Anderson, Sacred Places: Iowa and Nebraska, 25–26.
