# Levi Williams

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{{Short description|American minister and militia officer (1794-1860)}}
{{distinguish|Levi Williams (American football)}}
'''Levi Williams''' (1794–1860) was an American [Baptist](/source/Baptist) [minister](/source/Minister_(Christianity)) and a member of the [Illinois](/source/Illinois) [militia](/source/militia). He was active in opposing the presence of the [Latter Day Saint](/source/Latter_Day_Saint)s in [Hancock County, Illinois](/source/Hancock_County%2C_Illinois), during the 1840s. He is one of five defendants who were tried and acquitted of the 1844  [murder](/source/Death_of_Joseph_Smith) of [Joseph Smith](/source/Joseph_Smith), founder of the [Latter Day Saint movement](/source/Latter_Day_Saint_movement).

In the early 1830s, Williams, his wife (Mary "Polly" Reid), and three sons John Reid Williams, Henry Clay Williams and Rice Williams moved from Kentucky to Hancock County, Illinois. Southeast of [Warsaw](/source/Warsaw%2C_Illinois), in Green Plains, Williams became a [farmer](/source/farmer) and a [cooper](/source/Cooper_(profession)). He also occasionally worked as a Baptist minister. Williams served as a county commissioner to establish roads.

In 1835, he was commissioned a [captain](/source/Captain_(United_States)) in the 59th [Regiment](/source/Regiment) of the Illinois militia and in 1840 was commissioned [colonel](/source/colonel) and commanding officer of the same regiment. Williams was a veteran of the [War of 1812](/source/War_of_1812), and was the son of a veteran of the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) who served in [Virginia](/source/Virginia).

When [Latter Day Saint](/source/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 militia that captured [Mormon](/source/Mormon) [Daniel Avery](/source/Daniel_Avery_(Mormon)) and his son and threatened them with guns and knives before releasing them in [Missouri](/source/Missouri).<ref>Joseph Smith, [B. H. Roberts](/source/B._H._Roberts) (ed.), ''[History of the Church](/source/History_of_the_Church_(Joseph_Smith))'', '''6''':99–100, 108–10, 145–48.</ref>

==Murder trial==
{{see also|Death_of_Joseph_Smith#Responsibility_and_trial|label 1=Death of Joseph Smith: Trial}}
After [Joseph Smith](/source/Joseph_Smith) and his brother [Hyrum](/source/Hyrum_Smith) were killed at [Carthage Jail](/source/Carthage_Jail) on June 27, 1844, Williams was accused of having ordered his 59th Regiment to take part in the storming of the jail. At trial, Williams and four other defendants<ref>[Thomas C. Sharp](/source/Thomas_C._Sharp), [Mark Aldrich](/source/Mark_Aldrich), [Jacob C. Davis](/source/Jacob_C._Davis) and [William N. Grover](/source/William_N._Grover).</ref> were acquitted of the murders by a jury.

According to ["Wild Bill" Hickman](/source/%22Wild_Bill%22_Hickman), Williams told him that because the Mormons "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."<ref>Bill Hickman (1872). ''Brigham's Destroying Angel'' (New York: George A. Crofutt), p. 39.</ref>

Williams served as postmaster of Green Plains, Illinois, after his acquittal. He died of a stroke on November 20, 1860, at his farm in Green Plains. Previously a member of the Whig Party, Williams joined the Republican Party before his death.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[Dallin H. Oaks](/source/Dallin_H._Oaks) and [Marvin S. Hill](/source/Marvin_S._Hill) (1975). ''[Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith](/source/Carthage_Conspiracy%3A_The_Trial_of_the_Accused_Assassins_of_Joseph_Smith)''. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press)
* [Marvin S. Hill](/source/Marvin_S._Hill). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40193635?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith"], ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'', Summer 2004.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090530041318/http://www.carthage.lib.il.us/community/churches/primbap/MormonTrouble.html ''A Study of New Harmony Church, Colonel Levi Williams, the Militia Companies Under His Command, and the Expulsion of the Mormons from Hancock County, Illinois'']

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Levi}}
Category:1790s births
Category:1860 deaths
Category:Farmers from Illinois
Category:People from Hancock County, Illinois
Category:Military personnel from Illinois
Category:Mormonism-related controversies
Category:People acquitted of murder
Category:Place of birth unknown
Category:Date of birth unknown
Category:Baptist ministers from the United States
Category:American military personnel of the War of 1812
Category:Illinois postmasters
Category:Illinois Republicans
Category:Illinois Whigs
Category:19th-century American Christian clergy

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Levi Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Williams) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Williams?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.