A Legacy That Has Lasted Seven Generations

"GOLD" IN THE WEST

In 1883, Thomas Whitton Williams  and his wife Phoebe, moved their young family to Perth, Western Australia.  They second-oldest child, Arthur Bakewell Williams, my next direct ancestor, was then nine  years old. 

When Arthur was 22, he sought his fortune at Kalgoorlie, a gold-mining boom town some 370 miles (600 km) east of Perth. There he read some literature published by the International Bible Students, as Jehovah's Witnesses were then known. He also subscribed  to Zion's Watch Tower. Fascinated by what he read, Arthur began sharing his new found knowledge with others  and holding meetings for Bible study. From those humble beginnings sprang the modern activity of Jehovah's Witnesses in Western Australia.

Arthur also told the family about what he was learning. His father, Thomas Whitton, supported Arthur's association with the Bible Students but died soon afterward. His mother Phoebe, and his sisters, Violet and Mary, also became Bible Students. Violent became a full-time evangelizer, or pioneer. Arthur said that she was the "the finest and the most zealous and earnest pioneer Western Australia produced." Arthur was probably biased, but Violet's zealous example greatly influenced the next Williams generation.

In time, Arthur married and moved to Donnybrook, a fruit-growing town in southeast Western Australia. There he was nicknamed "Old Mad 1914!" because of his zealous proclamations of Bible prophecies pointing forward  to that year.  The teasing stopped when World War I broke out. Arthur regularly witnessed to customers in a store that he owned, where he displayed Bible literature prominently in the window.  The window also displayed a sign that offered 100 pounds to anyone who could prove the Trinity-an un-scriptural doctrine that Arthur firmly rejected. No one ever collected the money.

The William's home became a focal point for group Bible study and congregation meetings in Donnybrook. Later, Arthur build a Kingdom Hall, or meeting place, in town-one of the first in Western Australia. Well into his 70's, he would don a suit and tie, saddle up his old horse named Doll, and go preaching far and wide throughout the Donnybrook district. 

Arthur's children were deeply affected by their father, who was quiet and dignified, yet zealous. Hid daughter Florence served as a missionary in India. His sons, Arthur Lindsay and Thomas, like their father, served as longtime congregation elders.  

Next time:A Legacy That Lasted Seven Generations - SWEET LADY WILLIAMS

From the Watchtower magazine, 2015