- Levi Williams
Levi Williams (c. 1810–1858) was a member of the
Illinois militia and aBaptist minister who was active in opposing the presence of theLatter Day Saint s inHancock County, Illinois during the 1840s. He is one of five defendants who were tried and acquitted for the murder ofJoseph Smith Jr. , founder of theLatter Day Saint movement .In the early 1830s, Williams and his wife moved from
New York to Hancock County, Illinois. Southeast ofWarsaw, Illinois , Williams became afarmer and a cooper. He also occasionally worked as a Baptist minister. Williams served as a county commissioner to establish roads. In 1835, he was commissioned acaptain in the 59thRegiment of the Illinois militia and in 1840 was commissionedcolonel and commanding officer of the same regiment.When
Latter Day Saint s began settling in Hancock County in the late 1830s and early 1840s, Williams became a fierce opponent of their presence. In 1843, Williams led a mob that kidnapped aMormon named Daniel Avery and his son and threatened them with guns and knives before releasing them inMissouri . [Joseph Smith,B.H. Roberts (ed.), "History of the Church ", 6:99–100, 108–110, 145–148.] AfterJoseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum were killed by an armed mob atCarthage Jail onJune 27 ,1844 , Williams was accused of having ordering his 59th Regiment to take part in the storming of the jail. At trial, Williams and four other defendants [Thomas C. Sharp ,Mark Aldrich ,Jacob C. Davis andWilliam N. Grover .] were acquitted by a jury of the murders.According to
"Wild Bill" Hickman , Williams told him that because theMormon s "ruled the county [and] elected whom they pleased ... the old settlers had no chance". Killing the Smiths, Williams claimed, "was the only way they could get rid of them." [Bill Hickman (1872). "Brigham's Destroying Angel" (New York: George A. Crofutt) 39.]Williams died at his farm in Green Plains, Illinois.
Notes
References
*
Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill (1975). "Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith". (Urbana: University of Illinois Press)
* Marvin S. Hill. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3945/is_200407/ai_n9408752/pg_1 "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith"] , "Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society", Summer 2004.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.