William Paul Daniels

William Paul Daniels was born in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on August 20, 1864.¹ He and his father, William Carl, both went by the surname February for many years, a reference either to William Carl’s diminutive stature or his short temper (February being the shortest month of the year).²

William Paul came of age in a highly racialized culture, and was identified as “coloured,” a word used in South Africa to refer to people of mixed racial descent. South Africa was once part of the Dutch slave trading network, which stretched from the coasts of Africa to the Indonesian archipelago. Later colonized by the British, South Africa had a racially diverse coloured population that reflected this complicated history. Daniels claimed that his father’s family was European and that his mother descended from enslaved Malay who were taken from Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) by the Dutch East India Company.³ He also appears to have acknowledged having Black African ancestry.⁴

In 1893, William married Clara Elizabeth Carelse, a coloured woman from Cape Town.⁵ The two had four children who survived to adulthood.⁶ Although a culture of discrimination against his race limited many of his opportunities, William became a small business owner in Cape Town, operating a tailor shop, a cab business, and a small farm.⁷ Following his parents’ example, William was a devout Christian. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church and served as a deacon, an elder, and a member of the brass band for the congregation at the St. Stephen’s church in Cape Town.⁸

William was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his sister, Phyllis Sampson. She and her husband were baptized and moved to Utah in 1911. William’s son Abel also traveled with his aunt and uncle and was baptized in Utah.⁹ At first, William showed no interest, but he soon struck up a friendship with mission president Nicholas G. Smith, who was one of his clients at the tailor shop. His conversations with Smith and other missionaries piqued his interest in the Church, but their explanation of the restriction preventing the ordination of men of Black ancestry concerned him. William determined to travel to Utah to learn more about the Church and appeal to its leaders.¹⁰

While in Utah in 1915, William met with President Joseph F. Smith, who affirmed the restriction but gave him a blessing, urging him to be faithful and stating that he would eventually be ordained to the priesthood.¹¹ William was baptized in Clearfield, Utah, along with his son Simon, who had traveled with him. William returned home with both of his sons later that year.¹²

He soon discovered that life as a coloured Latter-day Saint in Cape Town at that time brought challenges as well as blessings. On the one hand, South African culture in the years leading up to Apartheid favored white South Africans, who were increasingly reluctant to associate with Black and coloured people. Daniels and his family felt unwelcome among the mostly white branch in Mowbray. They would sit alone in the back and sneak out at the end of meetings.¹³ On the other hand, William often testified of the blessings of the gospel in his life. He especially treasured the opportunity to call upon the faith and priesthood of missionaries and local members to receive healing blessings for his various health issues. He testified that the power of God had healed him on numerous occasions.¹⁴

William attended Sunday meetings regularly, bore his testimony, defended the Church in local newspapers, and shared the gospel with his family and friends.¹⁵ Clara was baptized in 1918 along with another coloured family friend, Emma Beehre.¹⁶ William’s daughter, Alice, and his son William Carl were baptized in 1920.¹⁷ William and his family helped raise money for an organ for the new Church building in Mowbray, started a weekly Bible class in their home, and finished among the leaders in mission-wide contests to read the scriptures and share copies of the Book of Mormon.¹⁸ William and Clara frequently hosted missionaries and branch members in their home for meals. For many years, attending a dinner at the Danielses’ home was a rite of passage for new missionaries.¹⁹ These meals were an important way the family contributed to the Latter-day Saint community in South Africa, and Clara gained a reputation as an excellent cook.

William (front left) and Clara (third from the right) host all of the missionaries in the South African Mission at a special dinner, ca. 1927.

William continued to long for priesthood ordination and the blessings of the temple. In 1920, he expressed frustration to mission president Nicholas G. Smith that his brother-in-law David had been ordained in Utah. David evidently appeared to be white though his mother was a coloured woman.²⁰ Like David, many people of mixed racial ancestry at that time presented themselves as belonging to a different racial group, a practice known as ”racial passing.“²¹ Around this same time, William himself claimed to have only European and Malaysian ancestors.²² Though clearly discouraged at times, William continued to look forward patiently to the day when he would be ordained and his family would be eligible for temple blessings, whether in this life or the next.²³

In the years following William’s conversion, the Daniels family continued to hold the Monday night Bible study class. The meetings were a way for his family to remain actively involved as Latter-day Saints even as they felt increasingly unwelcome in other local branch activities. While William’s sons all eventually distanced themselves from the Church, William, Clara, and Alice continued to actively participate.²⁴ William ensured that meticulous minutes of the Bible class were kept and sent to Salt Lake City so they could “go down in Church History.”²⁵

In November 1931, mission president Don McCarroll Dalton created a branch out of the Bible study class. Named the “Branch of Love,” it consisted of the Daniels family and Emma Beehre. Other coloured friends attended along with missionaries and some white members from Cape Town. William was set apart as branch president, the only man of Black African ancestry known to serve in that capacity prior to 1978.²⁶ Clara was called as Relief Society president and Alice as branch clerk.²⁷

William viewed the branch as a blessing for his family. Dalton felt that giving William the “privilege to perform a specific labor” in the Church was a fitting way to recognize his contributions and devotion. Like many Latter-day Saints, Dalton hoped the Lord would soon give further revelation concerning the restriction.²⁸ He had become convinced that through the faith and devotion of William and others, “the barrier [would] be lifted,” and he believed “that the time [would] come when this little home and the regular Monday night meeting and [William’s] faithfulness [would] be pointed to in Africa as [examples] of faith.”²⁹

William’s health declined in the early 1930s. Despite medical care, priesthood blessings, and the faith and prayers of both Black and white Latter-day Saints in Cape Town, William died on October 13, 1936. Local Church members mourned his death at the Mowbray branch meetinghouse.³⁰ Before his death, William published his testimony in the mission newspaper: “I know Joseph Smith to have been a Latter-day Prophet of God,” he declared, “and know he was instrumental in re-establishing the Church of Jesus Christ, and that the restored Gospel contains nothing but the teachings of Christ Himself.”³¹ After the revelation of June 1978 that lifted the racial restriction on priesthood ordination and full temple participation, William and Clara’s daughter, Alice, ensured that her parents’ temple work was completed, fulfilling President Smith’s promise that William would one day be ordained.³²

Related Topics: Racial Segregation, Priesthood and Temple Restriction