1787 - 1842

• Born 1787 Suffield, Connecticut
• Married Rebecca Swain 1815; four children
• Baptized 1830
• Ordained High Priest 1831
• Second Counselor in First Presidency 1833-1837
• Evidence of rebellion and apostasy by 1837
• Rejected as Counselor 1837
• Excommunicated 1839
• Rebaptized 1840
• Died 1842 Quincy, Illinois

    Frederick Granger Williams was one of the most influential members of the early Church. He was born October 28, 1787 in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut, the son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. On Christmas Day of 1815, he married Rebecca Swain. The Ancestral File lists four children of this union.

    He had just turned forty-three when he was baptized in October of 1830. He was ordained a High Priest October 25, 1831 by Oliver Cowdery.

    On March 18, 1833, revelation having been received, he was set apart as Second Counselor to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The zeal he exhibited for the work was later replaced by a spirit of rebelliousness and in 1837, at a conference held in Far West, Missouri, he was rejected as Second Counselor of the Presidency, being replaced by the Prophet's brother Hyrum Smith.

    The spirit of rebelliousness remaining, he was excommunicated March 17, 1839. Finally he was shocked by his spiritual losses and manifested evidence of repentance. He requested readmittance in April 1840 and his case was presented by Hyrum Smith. Approval was given and he was baptized.

    Frederick G. Williams died October 10, 1842 at Quincy, Illinois in full faith and fellowship in the Church. Rebecca remained faithful and joined the saints on the trek west, dying September 25, 1865 in Smithfield Utah.