Clarissa S. Williams

Clarissa Smith Williams (April 21, 1859 – March 8, 1930) was the sixth Relief Society General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1921 to 1928. Williams was the first native Utahn to become Relief Society president.

Clarissa S. Williams
Photo of Clarissa S. Williams
6th Relief Society General President
April 2, 1921 (1921-04-02) – October 7, 1928 (1928-10-07)[1]
Called byHeber J. Grant
PredecessorEmmeline B. Wells
SuccessorLouise Y. Robison
First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
October 3, 1910 (1910-10-03) – April 2, 1921 (1921-04-02)[1]
Called byBathsheba W. Smith
PredecessorAnnie Taylor Hyde
SuccessorJennie B. Knight
Treasurer of the General Presidency of the Relief Society
1901 – October 3, 1910 (1910-10-03)
Called byBathsheba W. Smith
Personal details
BornClarissa Smith
(1859-04-21)April 21, 1859
Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States
DiedMarch 8, 1930(1930-03-08) (aged 70)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Cause of deathNephritis
Resting placeSalt Lake City Cemetery
40.777°N 111.858°W / 40.777; -111.858 (Salt Lake City Cemetery)
Spouse(s)William N. Williams
Children11
ParentsGeorge A. Smith
Susan E. West
Photo of Clarissa S. Williams
Clarissa S. Williams

Biography

Clarissa Smith was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Susan West, the seventh wife of LDS Church apostle George A. Smith.[2]

In 1901, Williams was asked to serve as treasurer of the Relief Society by Bathsheba W. Smith, Smith's first wife.[3] Williams served in this position until 1910, when she became the first counselor to president Emmeline B. Wells in the Relief Society general presidency. She held this position until 1921, when she was chosen to succeed Wells as president after Wells's death. Due to failing health, Williams asked to be released from her calling in 1928 and was succeeded by Louise Y. Robison. Williams died of nephritis in Salt Lake City[4] and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.[5]

Williams married William N. Williams on July 17, 1877 and was the mother of eleven children (including George Albert, Bathsheba, Lyman, Clarissa, Sarah, Eva, Georgia).[6]

Publications in the Relief Society Magazine

Articles
  • "Epistle to the Relief Society Concerning these War Times". Relief Society Magazine. 4 (7): 362–366. July 1917.
  • "A Word of Counsel". Relief Society Magazine. 4 (12): 705–706. December 1917.
  • "Report of Utah State Conservation Committee". Relief Society Magazine. 5 (1): 35–38. January 1918.
  • "Annual Greetings". Relief Society Magazine. 6 (1): 49–51. January 1919.
  • "Greeting". Relief Society Magazine. 9 (1): 1. January 1922.
  • "Resignation of Mrs. Susa Young Gates". Relief Society Magazine. 8 (8): 440. August 1922.
  • "Greeting". Relief Society Magazine. 9 (11): 564–567. November 1922.
  • "Relief Society Conference Address Saturday Afternoon". Relief Society Magazine. 10 (3): 137. March 1923.
  • "Response". Relief Society Magazine. 11 (11): 575–576. November 1924.
  • "Response". Relief Society Magazine. 11 (11): 575–576. November 1924.
  • "To Our Beloved Sisters". Relief Society Magazine. 11 (12): 601. December 1924.

References
  1. Ludlow, Daniel H, ed. (1992). "Appendix 1: Biographical Register of General Church Officers". Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. p. 1650. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
  2. Peterson, Janet; Gaunt, LaRene (1990). Elect Ladies: Presidents of the Relief Society. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book. pp. 97–109. ISBN 978-0-87579-416-7.
  3. Turley Jr., Richard E.; Chapman, Brittany A. (2014). Women of Faith in the Latter Days. Salt Late City, Utah: Deseret Book. p. 276. ISBN 978-1609075880.
  4. "Research Data". Utah State Archives. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  5. State of Utah Death Certificate Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. Binheim, Max (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. p. 180.
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