Levi Williams

Who was Levi Williams?

Levi Williams was a member of the Illinois militia and a Baptist minister who was active in opposing the presence of the Latter Day Saints in Hancock County, Illinois during the 1840s. He is one of five defendants who were tried and acquitted for the murder of Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

In the early 1830s, Williams, his wife, and three sons John Reid Williams, Henry Clay Williams and Rice Williams moved from Kentucky to Hancock County, Illinois. Southeast of Warsaw, Illinois, Williams became a farmer 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 a captain in the 59th Regiment of the Illinois militia and in 1840 was commissioned colonel and commanding officer of the same regiment. Williams was a veteran of the War of 1812, and is a direct descendent of numerous veterans of the American Revolutionary War who served in Virginia.

When Latter Day Saints began settling in Hancock County in the late 1830s and early 1840s, Williams became a fierce opponent of their presence.