Leonard Rich (1800–1868) was an early leader in the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

and one of the inaugural seven Presidents of the Seventy. Rich was born in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in 1800 and was a farmer. He was married to Kezia Rich (1805–1853) and they had four children. In 1833, he

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

Truman Angell, future architect of the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

. In 1834, the Kirtland High Council rebuked him for "transgressing the word of wisdom and for selling the revelations cripturesat an extortionary price." That same year he was part of

Zion's Camp Zion's Camp was an expedition of Latter Day Saints led by Joseph Smith, from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon sett ...

. In January 1837, Rich signed the new constitution of the

Kirtland Safety Society The Kirtland Safety Society (KSS) was first proposed as a bank in 1836, and eventually organized on January 2, 1837, as a joint stock company, by leaders and followers of the then-named Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 " ...

. On April 6 of that year, he and other presidents of the Seventy who were ordained high priests prior to their call were released. That fall, he dissented from the church and in December the church excommunicated him. Rich remained a resident of Kirtland for the rest of his life. In 1845, Reuben McBride reported that Rich was a leader of rioters who broke into and took possession of the

Kirtland Temple The Kirtland Temple is the first temple built by adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement, located in Kirtland, Ohio, and dedicated in March 1836. Joseph Smith, the movement's founder, directed the construction following a series of reported ...

. In January 1847 Rich, along with William E. McLellin and Jacob Bump, organized the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

at Kirtland.Biography
of Leonard Rich, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed January 13, 2012) Rich's first wife died in 1853 and he married Marina Bassett at Kirtland March 7, 1858. He died in Kirtland in 1868.

Footnotes

1800 births 1868 deaths American Latter Day Saints Converts to Mormonism Former Latter Day Saints Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People excommunicated by the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Presidents of the Seventy (LDS Church) Religious leaders from Connecticut 19th-century American farmers {{LDS-stub