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 Willard Richards 1804 - 1854 Richards, Willard, second counselor to President Brigham Young, from 1847 to 1854, was the son of Joseph and Rhoda Richards, and was born June 24, 1804 at Hopkinton, Middlesex county, Mass.; and from the religious teachings of his parents, he was the subject of religious impressions from his early childhood, although careless and indifferent in his external deportment. At the age of ten years he removed with his father's family to Richmond, Mass., where he witnessed several sectarian "revivals" and offered himself to the Congregational church at that place at the age of seventeen, having previously passed the painful ordeal of conviction and Conversion, even to the belief that he had committed the unpardonable sin.
But the total disregard of that church to his request for admission led him to a more thorough investigation of the principles of religion, when he became convinced that the sects were all wrong and that God had no church on the earth, but that He would soon have a church whose creed would be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. From that time he kept himself aloof from sectarian influence, boldly declaring his belief, to all who wished to learn his views, until the summer of 1835, when, while in the practice of medicine, near Boston, the Book of Mormon, which President Brigham Young had left with his cousin Lucius Parker, at Southborough, accidentally or providentially fell in his way. This was the first he had seen or heard [p.54] of the Latter-day Saints, except the scurrilous records of the public prints, which amounted to nothing more than that "a boy named Jo Smith, somewhere out west, had found a Gold Bible."
He opened the book, without regard to place, and totally ignorant of its design or contents, and before reading half a page, declared that, "God or the devil has had a hand in that book, for man never wrote it." He read it twice through in about ten days; and so firm was his conviction of the truth, that he immediately commenced settling his accounts, selling his medicine, and freeing himself from every encumbrance, that he might go to Kirtland, Ohio, seven hundred miles west, the nearest point he could hear of a Saint, and give the work a thorough investigation; firmly believing, that if the doctrine was true, God had some greater work for him to do than peddle pills. But no sooner did he commence a settlement, than he was smitten with the palsy, from which he suffered exceedingly, and was prevented executing his design, until October, 1836, when he arrived at Kirtland, in company with his brother (Doctor Levi Richards, who attended him as physician), where he was most cordially and hospitably received and entertained by his cousin, Brigham Young, with whom he tarried, and gave the work an unceasing and untiring investigation, until Dec. 31, 1836, when he was baptized by Brigham Young, at Kirtland. He was ordained an Elder by Alva Beeman March 6, 1837. A few days later he left Kirtland on a mission to the Eastern States, from which he returned June 11th. On the day following he was blessed and set apart by the Prophet Joseph to accompany Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and others on a mission to England.
They started on the 13th. Having arrived safely in England, and the gospel door having been successfully opened in Preston, Doctor Richards was sent to Bedford, and surrounding country, where he labored with much success, notwithstanding bitter opposition. He returned to Preston in February, 1838, and on April 1st attended a general conference, where he was ordained a High Priest and appointed first counselor to Joseph Fielding, who was appointed to preside over the mission after Elders Kimball and Hyde returned to America. Elder Richards married Jennetta Richards, daughter of the Rev. John Richards, Sept. 24, 1838. During the following year he continued his missionary labors in Manchester, Bolton, Salford, Burslem, Preston and other places. After the arrival of the Apostles from America, Doctor Richards was ordained one of the Twelve Apostles April 14, 1840, to which high and holy position he had been called by direct revelation, and after the publication of the "Millennial Star" was commenced, he assisted Parley P. Pratt in its editorial department, and also performed the general duties of presiding over the mission.
In February, 1841, he removed his family from Preston to Manchester, and in the following April left England with others of the Twelve to return to Nauvoo, where he arrived Aug. 16th. Agreeable to the council of the Twelve, he located at Warsaw, Hancock county, Ill., for a short time. He was elected a member of the city council of Nauvoo Oct. 30, 1841, and removed to that city in December following. Two days later (Dec. 13th) he was appointed recorder for the Temple, private secretary to Joseph Smith and general Church clerk. He commenced his labors in Joseph's new office, in the brick store. From the time he entered [p.55] Joseph's office, with the exception of a short mission to the East after his family, he was with Joseph until the Prophet's death, continually at work with his pen, while he was able to sit up. He was recorder of the city council and clerk of the municipal court, and kept Joseph Smith's private journals, making an entry only a few minutes previous to the awful tragedy at Carthage. And in the face of a hundred muskets, in the hands of infuriated mobbers, he thrust his head out of the window to catch a glimpse of his dying president, and there remained gazing intently upon the mangled body until he was satisfied that the innocent spirit had fled. His "Two Minutes in Jail" is one of the most thrilling documents ever written, and his parrying muskets with a walking stick is one of the most unequal contests on record. God preserved him with the loss of a drop of blood, and without a "hole in his robe."
During the catastrophe of Joseph and Hyrum's death, and the emergency into which the Church was suddenly thrown, Doctor Richards felt the burden of giving directions to the affairs of the Church in Hancock county, in consequence of the absence of the Twelve Apostles. Though standing in the midst of the murderous mob at Carthage, with the mangled bodies of his martyred friends, and that of Elder Taylor, under his charge, his letters and counsels at that time indicated great self-command and judgment. His ability was happily commensurate with such an occasion. At the time of the expulsion from Nauvoo, he acted as Church Historian, having being appointed to that position as early as December, 1842. In the spring of 1847 he was enrolled in the memorable band of Pioneers, under President Young, that first marked out a highway for the immigrating Saints to Great Salt Lake valley.
After his return to Winter Quarters he was elected second counselor to President Young, in which capacity he continued to act until his death. In the fall of 1848 he arrived in the Valley a second time, as captain of a large company of Saints. As a civil officer, he served as secretary to the government of the State of Deseret, and did the greatest share of the business of the secretary of the Territory of Utah, after its organization as a Territory, and presided over the council of the legislative assembly for about the same period. He was also postmaster of Great Salt Lake City up to the time of his death, and enjoyed the full confidence of the Postmaster-General, who respected his judgment touching postal arrangements throughout the mountain Territories. He was an efficient member of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund company, whose duties affected the interest and gathering of tens of thousands. In the quorum of the First Presidency, he magnified his high calling to the day of his death, ever shedding light and consolation, in his sphere, upon the minds of thousands and tens of thousands to whom he ministered. He was the editor and proprietor of the "Deseret News;" also general Historian of the whole Church, and Church recorder, for which offices he was eminently gifted. He chronicled events, dates, circumstances, and incidents, with rare accuracy of judgment and great tenacity of memory. The number of offices which he held at the time of his death indicate the confidence which the Church reposed in his great integrity and varied abilities.
That ardent love of truth, and intuitive perception of the same, which impelled him to investigate the claims of the everlasting gospel in the beginning, grew with his passing years, and became more and more manifest, by his unwavering and unflinching adherence to it, in the most perilous and troublesome times of the Church history in after life. He possessed a calm and even mind, and yet was rather reserved, and naturally diffident of his own superior ability. This diffidency may have caused the early part of his ministry to be undervalued, From being familiar with the minutiae of the medical profession and a careful observer of clerical deportment, and a handsome proficient in science generally, the change that swept over his past attainments and brought him down to the altar of revelation by the Holy Ghost, showed forth the reality of a new birth personified in all his subsequent life. On great and rare occasions, his masterly energies came forth like a well disciplined and invincible troop, that knew their place and prerogative to act in defense of the truth. Beloved and respected by all who knew him, Dr. Willard Richards died in Salt Lake City, [p.56] March 11, 1854, from palsy, which disease had preyed upon his system ever since he began to investigate the Book of Mormon. (For further details see "Millennial Star," Vol. 27, P. 118, "Southern Star," Vol. 2, p. 353, etc.)
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 1, pp.53-56
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