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Pioneer Database

1847–1868

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Birth Date
29 September 1838
Death Date
30 November 1910
Gender
Male
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William David Williams

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  • Death date is confirmed by his head stone.

    William initially traveled with his family to the Salt Lake Valley around 1854.  More research is needed to confirm which company he traveled with.  In his autobiography, William states that “Dr. Richard” was captain.  It is possible his family traveled with the Darwin Richardson Company of 1854. 

    According to his autobiography, his family left Wales and set out from Liverpool on 4 February 1854 aboard the ship “Golconda,” and arrived in New Orleans on 18 March 1854.  According to William’s account, his family lost three members to Cholera.  In St. Louis, his brother Robert Williams died as a result of it, as well as his mother, Mary Jones Williams, and sister, Charlotte, near Kansas City.  William also mentions in his autobiography that his brother Elias traveled with him.  William had seven siblings that possibly traveled with the family.

    In the Spring of 1864, William left on a mission to Europe.  At the end of that mission, in 1866, William traveled home with the Thomas E. Ricks Company according to two Deseret News article in August 1866.  He also returned with a wife, Letitia Cousins Williams, whom he married before his return, as indicated in a Deseret News article of 16 August 1866.

Darwin Richardson Company (1854)

  • Age at Departure: 15

Thomas E. Ricks Company (1866)

  • Age at Departure: 27
  • Returning Missionary

Sources

  • 1856 Utah Census.
  • Find a Grave (Website)
  • "List of Names in Incoming Passenger Trains," Deseret News, 16 August 1866, 1.
  • Missionary Department Missionary Registers, 1860-1959, Volume 1.
  • Perpetual Emigrating Fund, Financial Accounts 1849-1886, Ledger B, p. 295.
  • Perpetual Emigrating Fund, Financial Accounts 1849-1886, Ledger B, p. 4.
  • "Returned Missionaries," Deseret News [Weekly] 30 Aug. 1866, 317.
  • Williams, William D., Autobiographical sketch. [Welsh Mormon History website]