Williamite Hymns

Following up on my previous post on Strangite Hymns, I thought I’d offer a selection of Williamite hymns.

After 1844, William the Unloved was the last surviving son of Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith Sr. Although sharing many qualities with his older brother Joseph Jr. — charisma, confidence, stature, zeal — their mixture in William never quite worked. William was one of the original apostles (his ordination had come at Joseph’s insistence) and he later was acknowledged as Presiding Patriarch of both Brigham Young’s and James Strang’s church organizations, albeit not simultaneously. After breaking with Young and Strang in 1845 and 1847, respectively, William decided to organize his own faction of Mormonism, with himself at its head. According to a pamphlet published by William, his title was “the First President, Prophet, Seer, Revelator, Translator, and Patriarch over the whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.”[1]

William was based in the hamlet of Palestine Grove in Lee County, Illinois, and his efforts had some initial success. Early conferences brought together former Strangites in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, along with Lyman Wight’s group in Texas and Isaac Sheen’s group in the Cincinnati area. Unfortunately for William, this combination was totally unstable. By the 1850s, contention over plural marriage was becoming the core conflict among the Saints who had not gone west. William had continued to practice and advocate plural marriage in private, while publicly denying the practice. Meanwhile, Lyman Wight’s group was more or less openly polygamous, but Isaac Sheen, the many Strangites-turned-Williamite, and William’s own followers in Palestine Grove were all virulently anti-polygamy. By 1853, William’s balancing act on polygamy failed catastrophically and his organization atomized.

In the meantime, however, the Williamites wrote and published a number of catchy hymns[2] — no doubt a testimony to William’s own skill as a rhymer. These are interesting for their general Mormon character, and for their uniquely Williamite slant.

As with the Strangite hymns, some of these are long, but I again guarantee that they are worth the read. First up is J. W. Crippen’s hymn, in which he assures us that despite the “scoff and frown” of the wicked, the Saints will endure — because the “Prophet William is the Man”!

A SONG OF ZION by J. W. Crippen

1. Come ye Saints with me rejoice,
Who have made the Lord your choice,
Who have bid this world farewell,
Determined with the Saints to dwell,
Then when the Savior comes again,
With Saints we’ll rise, with him we’ll reign.

2. Let the wicked scoff and frown,
In God’s name we’ll still go on,
Till our persecutors all
Beneath His wrath and judgements fall;
Then when the Savior comes again,
With Saints we’ll rise, with him we’ll reign.

3. Then let us all united be,
In time and in eternity,
A band of Brothers — Sisters too,
The righteous way we will pursue;
Then when the Savior comes again,
With Saints we’ll rise, with him we’ll reign.

4. Faithful be a few more years,
Bid sorrow flee, dry up your tears,
Zion will arise and shine,
In majesty and truth divine;
Then when the Savior comes again,
With Saints we’ll rise, with him we’ll reign.

5. Prophet William is the man,
The Elijah of the Gospel plan,
Like as Joseph who was slain,
The faith of Saints remains the same;
Then when the Savior comes again,
With Saints we’ll rise, with him we’ll reign.

6. With our Prophets we will meet,
And our joys will be complete;
When the earth shall be restored,
We’ll reign with martyrs of our Lord;
Then when the Prophet comes again,
With Saints we’ll rise, with him we’ll reign.

Building on the idea that William is “the Elijah of the Gospel plan,” is a Williamite hymn penned by William himself, modestly entitled, “The Elijah.” In it we see that William is Elijah to Joseph’s Elias.

THE ELIJAH by William Smith

1. The Prophet Elijah at last has appeared,
With gifts, and with blessings, which Saints have rever’d,
His plan of redemption in fulness is given,
With power to save both the dead and the living.

2. The mystery of God begins now to unfold,
As declar’d by the Prophets and Apostles of old;
While ’rapt in the vision of glory they see,
The prison doors open, the captives go free.

3. With the keys of this ministry, Elias was sent,
On a mission of mercy, that all might repent,
Endow’d with the same spirit the Prophet has come.
Baptising for the fathers that all may be one.

4. Glad tidings of great joy, a great revelation,
To preach’d to the kindred of every nation,
For the sick, the poor, the aged, and despis’d,
This plan of redemption, our Savior devis’d.

5. The gifts of the gospel, God’s order and plan,
Will now be restor’d to His church again;
For such is the power, the keys are revealing,
That the doom of this world, Elijah is sealing.

Next is a hymn penned by Ira J. Patten, a younger brother of Apostle David W. Patten who died in the 1838 Battle of Crooked River. I particularly like Ira’s imagery about the Pre-Existence. Ira also brings up the idea that underlay all William’s claims: priesthood is transmitted by lineal descent. To top it off, he correctly used the word “refulgently”.

[A FAREWELL HYMN] by Apostle Ira J. Patten

1. Farewell Brother William,
Farewell for a while,
We part with reluctance,
We’ll meet with a smile.
May Jehovah protect you,
Wherever you go,
Preserve you from evil,
From sorrow and woe!

2. With your Priesthood from Heaven,
From God it was sent,
Through the loins of your father,
By lineal descent,
’Tis the great link connecting,
The Earth with the Heaven;
Given great joy and gladness,
To dead and the living!

3. In the great war in Heaven,
’Tis plain to my mind,
Your father, six brothers,
All straight in a line;
In defense of King Jesus,
All valiantly stood,
Your watchword was order,
Through the Priesthood of God.

4. For the last dispensation,
In the fulness of times,
When the glory of Jesus,
Refulgently shines.
This Priesthood is given,
The war is began,
King Jesus will conquer,
We believe it. Amen.

Last is a hymn that is almost a patriarchal blessing given to the whole priesthood structure of William’s church, office by office from president down to deacon. Although anonymous, its character as a blessing and its rhyme scheme implies to me that it might also have been penned by William himself.

A SONG OF ZION (anonymously authored)

1. Oh may, I always serve my God,
Walk in His holy way,
Revere His name, do what is good,
Live for Him day by day.
Jesus, my Lord, always the same,
Thy grace is all my boast,
Preserve, O Lord, my soul from shame,
Nor let my hopes be lost.

2. Thy servant, Lord, endow with power,
To speak Thy truth and love;
Oh! give him grace for every hour,
To tell of things above;
Oh! spread Thy kingdom here below,
Let Zion quickly shine,
Thy Holy Spirit now bestow
For truly we are Thine.

3. Hast Thou not promised good to us?
Oh! keep us by Thy grace,
The arm of flesh we cannot trust;
But seek Thy glorious face.
Thy Seer,[3] O Lord, preserve his life,
To lead Thy church aright,
From wicked men, with malice rife,
Walking in Sin’s dark night.

4. His Counselors, O Lord, keep clean,
With wisdom fill their mind,
Such light on earth was never seen,
Let glory through them shine.
Uphold Thy Spokesman[4] through Thy love,
To expound Thy word aright,
With power Divine, sent from above,
Fill him with Heavenly light.

5. The Twelve Apostles[5] make a flame,
As minist’ring spirits are,
To bear abroad Thy Holy name,
Thy sacred truths declare.
Make them Lions in Thy cause,
Like thunder bolts in power,
To demonstrate Thy Holy Laws,
The glories of this hour.

6. The High Priesthood, fill with holy love,
Help them preside in grace.
Holy Ghost, sent from above,
Fill them with power and peace,
Help them defend Elijah’s God,
Them grace and wisdom show,
Keep Thou them safe in all that’s good,
As they the trumpet blow.

7. The Bishops, Lord, they are Thy own,
To execute Thy will.
God’s seed in them, Thyself hast sewn,
They cannot now be still.
Fill them with power and grace divine,
Love, peace, devotion too,
O, may they rise, in glory shine,
They’ve bid this world adieu.

8. The Seventies are Thy chosen bands,
To travel o’er the earth;
To preach the truth in distant lands,
And call the world from mirth.
Inspire them with the Holy Ghost,
Fill them with holy zeal.
Let not their works in Thee by lost,
Thou are their only weal.

9. The Elders, Priests, and Teachers, too,
And Deacons, are Thy own;
O! may their members not be few,
The Truth in them is sewn.
Grace, truth, and peace, be their regard,
The Spirit to them is given,
And crowns celestial their reward,
When they arrive in Heaven.

10. Thy Church, Thy Zion, Oh, my God,
The Savior of my race,
Show them the path the fathers trod,
And save them by Thy grace.
Thou art the God in whom we trust,
Like Abraham of yore,
Thou art our Christ, and Thee we must,
And Thee we will adore.

11. The Seer, William, God doth call,
His brothers to succeed,
He welcomes home good Mormons all,
He’s of the promised seed.
Come Zion’s children, come away,
The Spirit bids you come.
And live for Jesus day by day,
Say, will you longer roam?

12. Glory to God, e’en Joseph’s God,
And Jesus Christ His Son;
We’ll praise them while on earth we plod,
The Spirit three in one,
Let praises sound from every tongue
[Forever] may they ring,
[Let’s] complete the work He has begun,
[Then] should not Zion sing!

That William was a rhymer. More to the point: “he’s of the promised seed!” What more do you need to hear folks? Will you longer roam?

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[1] Joseph Wood, Epistle of the Twelve (Milwaukee: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [Williamite], 1851). See Kyle R. Walker, “William Smith’s Quest for Ecclesiastical Station: A Schismatic Odyssey, 1844-93,” in Newell G. Bringhurst and John C. Hamer, eds., Scattering of the Saints: Schism within Mormonism (Independence, Missouri: John Whitmer Books, 2007), 107. This title combined Joseph’s “Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator” title, emphasized by Strang (“Translator” has been dropped in the LDS tradition), along with William’s preferred title for the Presiding Patriarch “Patriarch over the Church.” In the LDS tradition the title of the Presiding Patriarch was rendered “Patriarch to the Church” before the position was ultimately eliminated.
[2] Wood, 24-26.
[3] I.e., William, cf. verse 11.
[4] William’s organization included the important role of “Spokesman,” seemingly a more formalized position for the role held by Sidney Rigdon in the early church. The “Spokesman” in William’s organization was Joseph Wood (Wood, 1).
[5] William’s Twelve Apostles were: WILLIAM P. ELDRIDGE, IRVIN CARTER, ANDREW BALENTINE, GEORGE BAILY, SPENCER SMITH, EDWIN CADWELL, JOSEPH D. GOODALE, ALVA SMITH, STEPHEN CURTIS, JASON W. BRIGGS, ORANGE L. WIGHT, and IRA J. PATTEN (Ibid.)