No matter the heartache and pain Rebecca felt from her father's choices, she still loved him. She wrote: "My heart mourns for my relations according to the flesh. … I pray the Lord to comfort you in your last day with his Holy Spirit and may they be your best days. … I hope your mind will be composed concerning this work. Be assured that we feel firm in the cause knowing that the Lord is at the helm." 11
Rebecca had to contend not only with her father's disbelief but also with problems in her husband's commitment to the faith. During 1837 and 1838, her husband, Frederick, then a member of the First Presidency, was repeatedly at odds with other Church leaders. He even left the Church for a time and was excommunicated. However, not long after, Frederick humbled himself, rejoined the Church, and died in full fellowship. We do not have a record of Rebecca's feelings at the time, but she would not regret her allegiance with the Saints and remained committed.
When rumors of Frederick's dissent reached Rebecca's father in New York, Isaac hoped that Rebecca would renounce the faith as well. However, Rebecca sent him a letter that demonstrated her continued fidelity. After reading her response, Isaac slowly shook his head and said, "Not one word of repentance." 12
Rebecca remained stalwart in her defense of Joseph Smith and the restored Church. And in spite of the sacrifices caused by choosing the Church over her father, Rebecca continued to honor him. She valued what her father had taught her, and she expressed her love and gratitude for him. She closed her 1834 letter noting that she would "ever remember the instruction … I have received from my beloved Father." 13
In 1839 Rebecca's father died. Just three years later she lost her husband. Despite these painful difficulties, Rebecca's faith and courage endured. When the Saints trekked west to Utah, she traveled with her son Ezra's family and drove her own team. She later took charge of a farm on Mill Creek. When the Salt Lake Tabernacle was completed and the Saints were asked to donate what they could, she gave a set of silver spoons to be used in making trays for the sacrament table. And finally in 1860, though she was very frail, when President Brigham Young called upon her family to settle in remote Cache Valley, Utah, she willingly relocated once more—again driving her own team.
Rebecca died in Smithfield, Utah, on September 25, 1861. She stayed true to her beliefs, her knowledge of truth, and what she had experienced. She remained "steadfast and immovable" to the end (Mosiah 5:15).
Spelling and punctuation modernized.
Illustrations by Richard Hull
Rebecca Swain Williams to Isaac Fischer Swain, June 4, 1834, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
2.Biographical information comes from Nancy Clement Williams, Meet Dr. Frederick Granger Williams … and His Wife Rebecca Swain Williams: Read Their True Story in the First Introduction—after 100 Years (1951); and Frederick G. Williams, "Frederick Granger Williams of the First Presidency of the Church," BYU Studies, vol. 12, no. 3 (1972): 243–61.
3.Williams, Meet Dr. Frederick Granger Williams, 5.
4.Williams, Meet Dr. Frederick Granger Williams, 55.
5.History of the Church, 1:263.
6.Williams, Meet Dr. Frederick Granger Williams, 63.
7.See also Rebecca Williams letter of June 4, 1834.
8.Rebecca Williams letter of June 4, 1834.
9.Rebecca Williams letter of June 4, 1834.
10.In Williams, Meet Dr. Frederick Granger Williams, 63.
11.Rebecca Williams letter of June 4, 1834.
12.George Swain letter, Mar. 17, 1839, typescript, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
13.Rebecca Williams letter of June 4, 1834.
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