BIOGRAPHY: Charles Coulson Rich; Rich County, Utah

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History of Utah
The Storied Domain
A Documentary History of Utah's Eventual Career
by J. Cecil Alter
Vol. 2, published 1932 (expired copyright)
The American Historical Society, Inc.

Apostle Charles C. Rich was one of the truly great and distinguished figures
in the early history of Mormonism, a strong and resourceful leader during the
trials and vicissitudes of the Saints in Missouri, Illinois and other parts of
the Middle West. He had a vital part in building up the new Zion in Utah and
Idaho. His life record was an indispensable contribution to the development
and progress of the church in the West, but apart from this it is and always
will be a source of strength and inspiration to that increasing number of his
descendants, who honor and revere him as their forefather.

Physically, mentally and spiritually Charles C. Rich was of sturdy mould, and
in a singular degree he exemplified the inherited qualities of a long line of
distinguished ancestors. The Rich family was established in England by
followers of Willam of Conqueror in 1066. Many of the family connections held
high places in early English history. One of them was Archbishop ofcanterbury,
another was Earl of Warwick, and this Earl was one of the stockholders in the
Second Virginia Company, which held out the inducements that led the Mayflower
Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock. A grandson of the Earl, Richard Rich, came ot
America abotu 1645 to look after the family interests in New England. Richard
Rich settled at Dover, New Hampshire, and a number of years later was one of
the founders of Truro, Massachusetts. From this branch of the family
descendants spread south and west, som of them going to Maryland and later
crossing the Alleghany Mountains to Kentucky.

Kentucky was the birthplace of Apostle Charles Coulson Rich. He was born
August 21, 1809, only sonof Joseph and Nancy (O'Neil) Rich, grandson of Thomas
and Anna (Pool) Rich, and great-grandson of Joseph and Sarah (Coulson) Rich.
His maternal ancestrors, the O'Neils, were Irish, and to them are ascribed the
wit and humor and love for sports which were important traits in Apostle Rich
and his descendants. Charles C. Rich grew up in the frontier days of Kentucky,
and developed a wonderful physique and strength. In his mature manhyood he was
abotu six feet tall and weighed abotu 240 pounds. He always loved clean
recreation and sport, especially horse racing, foot racing, dancing, boxing
and theatrical entertainment.

From Kentucky he moved to Illinois, and while there he and his father and
mother were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day
Saints,April 1, 1832. He immediately became a leader in the new faith. He was
ordained an elder May 16, 1832, and was ordained a high priest at Kirkland,
Ohio, April 12, 1836, by order of the High Council under thehands of Hyrum and
John Smith. In the meantime, in June, 1834, he was assigned to a company to go
into Missouri and in 1837 he moved ot Caldwell County. In August of that year
he was ordained president of the Quorum of High Priests at Far West. During
the persecution of the Saints there and in Daviess County he was elected
captain of fifty in the Far West militia. At the battle of Crooked River he
took command after the death of the commanding officer and led his troops to
victory. A few days later, when they met the state forces,Captain Rich was
sent with a flag of truce to effecta reconciliation, but was fired upon as he
approached the camp of Missourians. On November 1, 1838, by counsel of
President Hyrum Smith and Brigham Young, he and about twenty-five others,
whose lives had been threatened, fled into wilderness and after many
privations reached Quincy, Illinois.

He immediately beame prominent in the new colony of Nauvoo. He was chosen a
member of the High Council October 6, 1839, andon March 30, 1841, was ordained
a counselor to the president of the stake, and on February 1, 1841, was
elected a member of the Nauvoo City Council. Early in 1841 he had been elected
a captain of the Nauvoo Legion and in September of the same year succeeded to
the office of brigadier general, subsequently. In June, 1842, being elected
brevet major general and in August, 1844, major general of the Legion. In
physicial and moral courage he exemplified the highest qualifications of a
great soldier.

In May, 1844, General Rich had been appointed to preside over the campaign in
Michigan when the Prophet Joseph Smith was candidate for President of the
United States. In the following month occurred the assassination of Joseph and
Hyrum Smith, and General Rich immediately returned to Nauvoo, where his strong
arm and cool head did much to stabalize the people. He and his family shared
in the persecutions and expulsion from Nauvoo. On February 13, 1846, they left
their comfortable homes and crossed the Mississippi River on the ice. They
followed the Mormon trail to Southern Iowa, as far as the station at Mount
Pisgah, where they remained until the spring of 1847 and then resumed their
journey to Winter Quarters on the Missouri River. Charles C. Rich was captain
of the Ninth Company, generally known as the Artillery Independent Company,
which left Winter Quarters June 21, 1847, and arrived in the valley of the
great Salt Lake October 2 of the same year, having followed close in the wake
of the Pioneer Company led by President Brigham Young. Nancy O'Neil, mother of
General Rich, died two days after the arrival, being the first white person to
die a natural death in the valley. At a council held soon after their arrival
Charles C. Rich was chosen counselor to President John Smith, and on October
8, 1848, was elected stake president, when John Smith was elevated to the
office of patriarch. On February 12, 1849, he was ordained a member of the
Council of the Twelve Apostles. Early in March, 1849, General Rich was one of
the ten men appointed to draft and report a constitution for the temporary
stake of Deseret. He was one of the two members of the committee on military
affairs who organized the militia.

One of the most important tasks to which he was assigned was colonizing the
Mormons in Southern California. In October, 1849, he and Francis M. Pomeroy
had been sent on a mission to Southern California to explore the country and
select an outfitting place for the Saints who were coming in from the West. He
was also appointed special agent to collect tithing from the Saints in
California. He and his companion made the trip over the historic trail through
Southern Utah and Nevada, traveled north to San Francisco and returned to Sale
Lake by the northern route, having one pack mule carrying several thousand
dollars in gold. They had been absent nearly a year. On this occasion Brigham
Young said of him: "The sun never shone on a more dependable man." Shortly
afterward he and Amasa Lyman were called to direct the colonization in
Southern California. On March 24, 1851, he led a company of about 500 on this
perilous migration, a large part of the way over the deserts, reaching
California in the latter part of June. He and his associates negotiated for
the purchase of a Spanish ranch comprising about 35,000 acres, and on the land
laid out the City of San Bernardino. Charles C. Rich was elected the first
mayor and was foremost in directing the progress of the colony. Mills were
established, orchards planted, and the fundamental work of improvement done by
the Mormons during the next six years laid the basis for one of the most
prosperous and permanent communities of Southern California. The colony was
practically out of debt for its land and the future was bright with promise,
when, in 1857, came the order from President Young recalling all the outlying
settlements in California and on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas. The
cause of this order for concentration of the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley
was the approach of the federal army under Col. Albert Sidney Johnston.
Apostle Rich, like most of the other colonists at San Bernardino,
unhesitatingly obeyed the order, though at heavy financial sacrifices. He
disposed of his property for almost nothing, and set out to return to Utah,
arriving in Salt Lake June 8, 1857. During the following winter he was active
in the military preparations under movement to restrain the invading army. The
federal forces were kept in camp at Fort Bridger, and later, after an
understanding was reached, the army was allowed to enter the Salt Lake Valley
and establish themselves at Camp Floyd. During most of this period Apostle
Rich's family were temporarily quartered at Centerville, several of his wives
living in wagon boxes for several months until proper shelter could be
provided for them.

Apostle Rich's motto was "church work first, private business later." It was
in obedience to this principle, and in spite of the dislocation of his
personal fortunes and the unsettled state of his home and family, that he
obeyed the call to go on a mission to England early in 1860. In this mission
he was accompanied by his oldest son, Joseph C. Rich. On reaching England he
and Amasa Lyman succeeded to the presidency of the European Mission. He spent
two years abroad, and on September 16, 1862, returned home.

Shortly afterward came the call to the last and perhaps the most important of
his constructive works in colonizing and extending the settlements of the
Mormon people in the far West. President Young in the fall of 1863 called upon
him to colonize the Bear Lake Valley in what is now Southeastern Idaho.
Shortly afterward he and his company of pioneers entered the valley on
horseback and located as the center of their proposed settlement the site now
occupied by Paris. The first company of the Bear Lake pioneers arrived at
Paris September 26, 1863, and immediately proceeded to the work of building
log cabins, cutting hay and making other preparations for the winter. About
twenty families remained in Bear Lake during that first winter. Early the
following year Apostle Rich returned and gave his personal direction to the
extensive program of development, which included the building of fences and
the first irrigation ditches. On June 28, 1864, Apostle Rich arrived at Paris
with his own family, and they at once began to build more new homes, their
first houses being log huts with dirt roofs.

At this time Apostle Rich was past fifty-five years of age, but still capable
of physical exertions beyond the strength and endurance of the average young
man of today. His public and private business necessitated frequent returns to
Salt Lake City, and it is said that during the first year or so he was in the
Bear Lake Valley he made thirteen trips over the mountains on snow shoes to
attend sessions of the Legislature and Conference. His personal fortitude had
much to do with establishing the colony on a permanent basis. The people
suffered greatly during the winter of 1864-65 and many of them were disposed
to leave and go to a warmer climate. But his example and his determination to
place the settlement on a solid foundation kept most of the faint-hearted
faithful, and in time they prospered with the growth and development of the
country. Apostle Rich built a grist mill and saw mill. It was his firm but
kind policy in dealing with the Indians that brought the colony the favor of
friendship from Chief Washakie and his followers. While all his family came to
Bear Lake in 1864, three years later he reestablished a home in Salt Lake
City, where part of his family lived. In the Idaho settlement he acquired
several ranches and farms, thus providing constant occupation for his sons. To
quote the recollections of one of his sons: "He was a very just man with his
numerous family, and they all have great respect for his memory. Whatever he
had was divided equally and impartially. He used to go to Salt Lake with loads
of cheese and other produce and load the wagons back with suppliesÄclothing,
fruit, groceries, etc. All wagons were driven into one yard and one son from
each family would divide everything equallyÄafter which he would say, `now
take these things home and tell your mothers to do the best they can with
them.' It was the spirit and example of equality that made all happy and
satisfied in the days of adversity as well as in days of prosperity."

Apostle Rich attended the dedication of St. George Temple in 1877, a trip
which took ten days to go and ten to return. He was then nearing his
seventieth year. He was one of the building committee of the Logan Temple, and
took a great pride in seeing that beautiful structure completed and dedicated.
On October 24, 1880, he suffered a paralytic stroke and though he lived three
years he was never able to walk or take active part in any public affairs
thereafter. When convinced that his active days were over he called the oldest
son from each family to his bedside and instructed them to divide his
property, consisting of ranches, horses, cattle, mills, etc., as equally as
possible: All to share and share alike, taking into consideration the minor
children in each family. This settlement of his estate, with peace and good
will prevailing and with no court or lawyer required to adj ust any
difficulties, was the great and crowning event of his life. Apostle Rich after
suffering another stroke passed peacefully away November 17, 1883, at Paris,
Idaho.

Apostle Rich did not marry until he was nearly twenty-nine years of age. He
accepted the revelation of the Prophet Joseph Smith as to plural marriage, and
before coming to Utah he selected six wives as his companions. The Prophet
Joseph Smith married him to most of these women. Their names were Sarah
DeArmon Pea, Eliza Ann Graves, Mary Ann Phelps, Sarah Jane Peck, Emeline
Grover and Harriet Sargent. Apostle Rich was never divorced from any of these
wives, and though five of them survived him many years, not one ever
re-married. He was the father of thirty boys and twenty-one girls, and not one
of them ever joined another church. In 1932 he had 1,125 descendants, and of
his fifty-one children twelve sons and eight daughters were then living. All
of his children married except one son, and all married children had families
except one son. Only two of the sons married in polygamy, and no daughter.

The story of the life of Apostle Rich as told by his son, Dr. Edward I. Rich,
of Ogden, is at once an authentic historical record and also a splendid
tribute to the essential greatness of his character as a man. His larger
public undertakings are a matter of history, but no less worthy as records of
history are the achievements and attainments of his posterity. In the words of
Doctor Rich:

"In the early days of any new country most people follow agriculture and stock
raising, and this was true of the Rich family, and many became successful
ranchers, farmers and business men. But as the country developed, some studied
the various professions. Others filled missions at home and abroad. Many did
both. The family has always been loyal and patriotic. Fifteen served as
officers in the great World war and one in the Spanish-American war. There are
twenty doctors and nine lawyers in the family, several bankers and expert
accountants, two judges and many who have held various responsible political
positions, many school teachers and musicians and sixty-three college
graduates.

"Sixty missionaries have responded to calls to various parts of the earth,
representing one hundred and thirty years of missionary work. These
missionaries have all given their time and have paid their own expenses,
representing an outlay of approximately 75,OOO, and all missionaries were
honorably released. Two have served as stake presidents, one as mission
president for many years, and six as bishops. There never has been a child
born out of wedlock in the entire Rich family. No one in the family is
wealthy, and there is no pauper. Nearly all live in their own homes and
maintain a high standard of living. All are friendly and affectionate. Each
year a family reunion lasting two days is held at Bear Lake, with an
attendance of about three hundred and fifty. The object of these reunions is
to renew family ties, to cultivate a closer acquaintance, and to keep alive in
the offspring the love and devotion and heroism shown by Charles C. Rich and
his wives."