Ephraim Henry Williams was born 2 May 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois, the third child of Benjamin And Mary Ann Rock Williams.

After Ephraim's father died, in December of 1842, the family continued to live in Nauvoo until September 1846, when a company of armed men came to the house and said they had been promised "Booty or Beauty" by their commander and they would have it. They told Mary Ann that she and her three children would be protected if she would forsake the Mormons, and she told them that she had left her native land for the Mormons and intended to follow them as soon as possible. The armed men told her she must be out of her house in 20 minutes or suffer the consequences. Having no team, she could take but very little with her. She took a little bedding, about one-half bushel of meal, and a small piece of pork. and went with her three small children to the banks of the Missouri River to avoid the threats of the mobbers. On the bank of the river, she could several hundred brethren and sisters and their children. The first night, the mob would not allow them to be on the bank of the river but drove them down close to the water and they had to lie on the rocks. The next morning, Mary Ann and about forty women and children were sick with a fever. They were allowed to go farther up the bank and lay in the sun until night. The second night they were taken into a stone building where they lay on a rock floor. Mary Ann lay with her apron folded under her head for a pillow and her little son Ephraim with her. The next morning, they were taken across the river on flat boats so heavily loaded they almost sank. Through great perseverance they were landed safely on the west side of the river. By this time, the mobbers had possession of the Temple and had made a fortress of it.

Some of the brethren cut a pile of brush and made a bed on which Mary Ann lay for six weeks with the fever, with her three children half starved and crying for food.

Mary Ann and her children arrived in Utah in 1852 and settled in the Mill Creek section fo the Salt Lake County. Ephraim and his brother, George, later returned to Winter Quarters for other immigrants. His mother, Mary Ann, married Edward Pugh, and one son, Enoch, was born to this union. Ephraim worked on the farm and helped his stepfather run a threshing machine.

Ephraim Williams and Almira North were married in Salt Lake County, 31 December 1862. Ephraim purchased land and built a two-room log house with a sod roof and dirt floor for their first home.

Ephraim was active in the early settlement of the community and endured the hardships of the pioneers. During the Civil War he served in the Lot Smith company as a guard of the western mail route. After the war, he returned home and became a prosperous farmer. Ephraim was very active in the development of irrigation and was a zealous worker in the establishment of water rights.

He was also a devout Latter-Day Saint, being an active worker in the Church circles. He was a leader in Sunday School and also in amusements. He was a promoter and manager of dances in the Ward and he and Almira went to a lot of dances.

He filled two missions to England. When he went on his missions he had sons old enough to run the farm. He was set apart for his first mission 9 October 1882. In the fall of 1889, Ephraim and Almira went to Logan in a wagon, stayed a week and did Temple work for relatives and friends.

Nine children were born to Almira and Ephraim. They were: Henry Benjamin, Ephraim Oscar, Almira Eveline, Lucy Leona, Emily Lavina, Leonard Rock, Blanch, Mabel, and Lee Lawrence. Three of the children died from the effects of diphtheria.

Ephraim took two other wives. The second wife was Mary Ann Cook, and four children were born of this union. Mary Ann died when her fourth child was born and Almira raised the children, though two of them died in infancy. The third wife was Jane Elizabeth Finch. She had been working for Almira and Almira made her wedding dress. Jane was the mother of nine children and was killed by lightning in 1907 in Wanship, Utah, where she was living with her family. Ephraim had to hide during the underground days and he and Jane and their children first went to Mexico, then came back and went to Canada where four children were born. When they came back, Ephraim bought a farm in Wanship and took Jane and her family there to live. When Jane died she still had children at home. Four were taken to Almira two years later. By that time Almira was badly crippled with arthritis so the oldest girl took care of the house until she married.

Ephraim loved good horses. He was a proud man and always drove a prancing horse as he rode around in his cart. He owned and operated a horsepower threshing machine for years. In those days, the farmers had to feed the threshers one or two meals depending on how much grain they had. When the men were fed at Almira's house and school was out, all the grandchildren had to go there and have a meal. Ephraim was a good provider and all his families were taken care of very well. No one ever came to his door without being fed if they were hungry.

Ephraim outlived all his wives. He died in his home at 39th South and Highland Drive on 26 May 1919, after a lingering illness. Surviving him were seven sons, eight daughters, and a large number of grand- and great-grandchildren.