Charles Coulson Rich (August 21, 1809 – November 17, 1883) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He led one of the first groups of Mormon pioneers west from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

under the leadership of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

after

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, h ...

's murder. Rich was chosen and served as an apostle of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

(LDS Church) under Brigham Young after the Church settled in

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th sta ...

. President Young asked Rich to open up

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

for settlement in 1850, and Bear Lake Valley, located in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

, in 1863. Rich founded many communities in Bear Lake Valley, including

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, Montpelier, Fish Haven,

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the ...

, Georgetown, St. Charles, Bloomington, Bennington, Wardboro, Dingle, Glencoe and Pegram in Idaho, and Garden City, Meadowville, and Laketown in Utah.

Biography

Personal life

Rich was born in on August 21, 1809 in Campbell County, Kentucky, to Joseph Rich and Nancy O'Neal. As an adult he reached six feet, 4 inches in height, and was considered a tall man for the time period. Rich was baptized into the early

Latter Day Saint church The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in Sm ...

on April 1, 1832, after having been taught by Lyman Wight in 1831. In 1838, Rich married Sarah D. Pea, whom he had previously proposed to by letter, the two never having met. Rich followed the church's principle of plural marriage, taking six wives and fathering a total of 51 children. In 1863, Rich led a party of early Mormons to colonize parts of southeastern Idaho, which at the time was thought to be part of

. The communities of

and

Geneva, Idaho Geneva is an unincorporated community in on the eastern edge of Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States, near the Wyoming border. Description The community's elevation is . Although Geneva is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZI ...

, as well as some other neighboring towns, were under his direction. Rich was one of the most prominent enslavers in the Utah territory and enslaved six humans.

Church leadership

Rich was a leader in Caldwell County, Missouri, and fought in the Battle of Crooked River. It was recorded that, during the battle, Rich "dropped his sword... and administered to wounded Apostle David W. Patten, then assuming command and winning the battle." Rich was also reported to have been shot "while carrying a flag of truce" around Far West, Missouri. His log house is the only structure from the Mormon period in 1836–38 in Caldwell County to have survived to this day. After the expulsion of the Latter Day Saints from Missouri, Rich settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, where he was made an original member of the Council of Fifty. He also served as a member of the Nauvoo High Council, and as Brigadier-General in the Nauvoo Legion. Charles C

After the death of Joseph Smith, Rich followed the leadership of

and the surviving Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He and his family migrated to what became Utah with the main body of the church in 1847, leading a pioneer company that arrived October of that year. When Young and the other apostles returned that winter to

Winter Quarters, Nebraska Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary ten ...

, Rich served as a counselor to

John Smith John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to: People :''In chronological ...

, who presided over the early pioneers in the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...

. In October 1848, Rich was made the president of the Salt Lake Stake. Brigham Young appointed Rich a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on February 12, 1849. Rich helped form a Latter-day Saint settlement in

. However, this settlement attracted many people who wanted to avoid Young and other leaders of the LDS Church. The members who supported Young were asked to return to Utah in 1857 at the time of the

Utah War The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US gov ...

. At the request of President Brigham Young, Charles C. Rich settled the Bear Lake (on the Utah–Idaho border) region and is the namesake of

Rich County, Utah Rich County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 2,264, making it the third-least populous county in Utah. Its county seat is Randolph, and the largest town is Garden City. The county ...

and St. Charles, ID. In the early 1860s, Rich served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of the British

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

of the church.

Death and legacy

After suffering from

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

, Rich died on November 17, 1883 in

Paris, Idaho Paris is a city and county seat of Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States. Located on the western side of the Bear Lake Valley, the city's population was 513 at the 2010 census, down from 576 in 2000. Paris was settled on September 26, 1863, by ...

. He has been remembered as "a man of strength and great power of endurance." His granddaughter, Ada May Rich, became the mother of

Laraine Day Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film sta ...

, who became an actress. File:Mill Burr 1 sold to Charles C Rich By Brigham Young.JPG, Mill burrs sold to Charles C Rich by Brigham Young in exchange for a pair of mules in 1876 to make flour for the people of Bear Lake Valley. File:Millstone 2 sold to Charles C Rich By Brigham Young.JPG, They were made in France and moved across the plains by Ox Cart and used in Salt Lake City prior to being sold to Rich. Currently located south of the Paris Idaho Tabernacle.

Sermons

*"Privileges Better Appreciated By Absence—Present Salvation," ''

Journal of Discourses The ''Journal of Discourses'' (often abbreviated ''J.D.'') is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The first editions of the ''Journal'' were published in England ...

'', vol. 4, pp. 353–54 *"Sufficiency of the Gospel—Obedience to Truth," ''

'', vol. 5, pp. 296–300 *"Present Opportunities of Obtaining a Knowledge of the Principles of Truth—Importance of Improving Them," ''

'', vol. 10, pp. 90–95 *''"Building the Temple—General Duties of the Saints," ''

'', vol. 10, pp. 160–63 *"Labor To Build Up The Kingdom," ''

'', vol. 12, pp. 3–5 *"Saints Should Be Whole-Hearted—Seek First the Kingdom," ''

'', vol. 19, pp. 26–30 *"Expectations Deferred," ''

'', vol. 19, pp. 161–68 *"Blessing the Result of Obedience to Law—Our Agency in the Flesh," ''

'', vol. 19, pp. 249–58 *"No Salvation in Ignorance," ''

'', vol. 19, pp. 371–76

Notes

References

*''2005 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2004). * Leonard J. Arrington, ''Charles C. Rich: Mormon General & Western Frontiersman'' (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1974) *John Henry Evans, ''Charles Coulson Rich: Pioneer Builder of the West'' (New York: Macmillan, 1936)

External links

* *
Charles C. Rich papers

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's speci ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gra ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Home missionary meeting minutes
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Rich's house in Caldwell County, Missouri is preserved by the Far West Cultural Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Charles C. 1809 births 1838 Mormon War 1883 deaths 19th-century American politicians 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in England American city founders American general authorities (LDS Church) Apostles (LDS Church) Converts to Mormonism Doctrine and Covenants people Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Missouri Latter Day Saints from Utah Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Mission presidents (LDS Church) Mormon pioneers Nauvoo Legion People from Campbell County, Kentucky People from Paris, Idaho People of the Utah War Religious leaders from Kentucky Religious leaders from Missouri Harold B. Lee Library-related 19th century articles