Franklin D. Richards (Mormon apostle)
| Franklin D. Richards | |
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| President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | |
| September 13, 1898 – December 9, 1899 | |
| Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | |
| February 12, 1849 – December 9, 1899 | |
| Called by | Brigham Young |
| LDS Church Apostle | |
| February 12, 1849 – December 9, 1899 | |
| Called by | Brigham Young |
| Reason | Reorganization of First Presidency; excommunication of Lyman Wight[1] |
| Reorganization at end of term |
Reed Smoot ordained |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Franklin Dewey Richards April 2, 1821 Richmond, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Ogden, Utah, United States |
| Resting place | Ogden City Cemetery Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Spouse(s) | 11, including: Jane S. Richards |
| Parents | Phineas Richards Wealthy Dewey |
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Franklin Dewey Richards (April 2, 1821 – December 9, 1899) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1849 until his death. He served as the quorum's president from 1898 until his death. Both his son, George F. Richards, and grandson LeGrand Richards, were members of the quorum, with his son also serving as president of the quorum from 1945 to 1950. Richards also served in the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1852 and 1856.
Franklin County, Idaho, is named after Richards.[2]
Contents
Biography
Richards was born in Richmond, Massachusetts.
Richards married Jane Snyder in Nauvoo, Illinois. After helping her and their children start on the Mormon exodus to the west in 1846, Richards and his brother, Samuel, departed on a mission to Great Britain. He served there as a missionary from 1846 to 1848.
Calling
Apostle Lyman Wight was excommunicated from the church in December 1848 because he refused to join the church in the Salt Lake Valley. This left an opening in the Quorum of the Twelve. To fill the vacancy, and to bring the number of the quorum up to twelve, Richards was called and ordained as the fourth of four apostles on February 12, 1849. The other three apostles were Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, and Erastus Snow. A short time after his call as a member of the Twelve, Richards went to England, where he served as president of the British Mission and then as president of the European Mission.. In these positions, Richards also served as editor of the Millennial Star and as director of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund's operations in Europe.
From 1889 until his death, Richards was the church's twelfth official Church Historian.
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
When Wilford Woodruff died on September 2, 1898, Snow succeeded him as church president. As the second apostle in seniority, Richards assumed the role of President of the Quorum of the Twelve. Richards's term was short-lived, as he died fifteen months later. He was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve for more than 50 years, the longest tenure of any person who did not become President of the Church.
Death
Richards suffered a stroke and paralysis in the autumn of 1899. He died peacefully in his home in Ogden, Utah, on December 9, 1899.
The vacancy in the quorum created by his death was filled by Reed Smoot.
Family
The Richards family is only the third Latter-day Saint family in history with three consecutive generations in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with his son, George F. Richards, and grandson, LeGrand Richards, also serving as church apostles.[3]
Another grandson of Richards, Franklin D. Richards became a general authority of the church, serving as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve and later as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
A daughter of Richards, Josephine Richards West, was a counselor in the general presidency of the Primary Association.
See also
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Notes
- ↑ Richards, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, and Erastus Snow were ordained on the same day to fill four vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
- ↑ Franklin County - Idaho.gov
- ↑ The other two families are the three-generation combination of George A. Smith, John Henry Smith, and George Albert Smith and the three-generation combination of Amasa M. Lyman, Francis M. Lyman, and Richard R. Lyman. Hyrum, Joseph F., and Joseph Fielding Smith were also three consecutive generations of apostles, but Hyrum was never a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Franklin D. Richards (Mormon apostle). |
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: Franklin D. Richards |
- List of Richards' speeches (Wikisource)
- Franklin D. Richards at Find a Grave
- Biography by Grampa Bill
- Works by or about Franklin D. Richards in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles September 13, 1898 – December 9, 1899 |
Succeeded by George Q. Cannon |
| Preceded by | Quorum of the Twelve Apostles February 12, 1849 – December 9, 1899 |
Succeeded by George Q. Cannon |
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- Latter Day Saint biography Infobox with missing parameters
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1821 births
- 1899 deaths
- 19th-century Mormon missionaries
- American general authorities (LDS Church)
- American Mormon missionaries in the United Kingdom
- Apostles (LDS Church)
- Converts to Mormonism
- Members of the Council of Fifty
- Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature
- Mormon pioneers
- Official historians of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- People from Ogden, Utah
- Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church)
- Richards–Young family
- Mission presidents (LDS Church)
- Franklin County, Idaho
