

"...Charles Coulson Rich (August 21, 1809 – November 17, 1883) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Rich was born in Campbell County, Kentucky to Joseph and Nancy O'Neal Rich. At six feet, 4 inches in height, he was considered a tall man for the time period. He was baptized into the early Latter Day Saint church by George M. Hinkle in 1832, after having been taught by Lyman Wight in 1831. In 1838 he married Sarah D. Pea (of Looking Glass Prairie, Illinois) whom he had previously proposed to by letter, the two having never before met..."
Charles Coulson Rich was born in northwestern Kentucky to Joseph and Nancy O'Neil Rich on 21 August 1809. Pioneers of the early agricultural frontier, the Rich family moved to southern Indiana in 1810 and on to Tazewell County, Illinois, in 1829. Charles received a basic education and training as a cooper, but spent most of his early life working on the family farm. In 1831 he heard about the Mormon Church and was baptized the next year. Between 1832 and 1838, Rich continued farming and served as a missionary for the church.
In 1838 Rich married Sarah DeArmon Pea (1814-93), and the couple settled near Far West, Missouri, until driven to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839. Rich served as a counselor in the Nauvoo Stake, sat on the Nauvoo City Council, and was one of the original members of the Council of Fifty. After the death of Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1844, Rich rose to the rank of major general in the Nauvoo Legion.
As a church leader, Rich followed the doctrine of plural marriage, taking three additional wives in 1845: Eliza Ann Graves (1811-79), Mary Ann Phelps (1829-1912), and Sarah Jane Peck (1825-93). Before leaving Nauvoo in 1846, he married Emeline Grover (1831-1917); and in 1847 at Winter Quarters he took Harriet Sargent (1832-1915) as his sixth wife.
In 1846 General Rich helped organize the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo. After a winter at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa, Rich was named military leader of the 1847 Emigration Company, which followed Brigham Young's Pioneer Company into Salt Lake Valley in October 1847. Rich served as a counselor in the Salt Lake Stake presidency and as a member of the Council of Fifty. He opened a farm in Centerville in 1848 and the next year, at age thirty-nine, was named to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.
In October 1849 Rich accepted a call to assist Amasa Lyman in supervising Mormons in California. Between 1851 and 1857 Rich and Lyman established a relatively prosperous economic colony at San Bernardino, which served as a way-station for immigrants traveling to Utah via the Spanish Trail. Recalled in 1857, Rich moved back to Centerville. He represented Davis County in the territorial legislature and served as aide to General Daniel Wells of the Nauvoo Legion during the Utah War. Between 1860 and 1862 Rich joined Lyman in England to oversee the Mormon Church's European Mission.
After a one-year respite in Centerville, Rich accepted Brigham Young's call to colonize the Bear Lake region against the threat of non-Mormon settlement. In September 1863 Rich led his party from Franklin, Idaho, into Bear Lake Valley, settling at present-day Paris, Idaho. In 1864 Rich moved his six wives and thirty children to Paris and began a twenty-year struggle to maintain the colony in the face of severe winters, poor harvests, delicate Indian relations, and isolation. In 1864 Brigham Young honored Rich by naming Rich County, Utah, and the town of St. Charles, Idaho, after him.
Between 1864 and 1872 Rich represented Rich County in the Utah territorial legislature, until it became clear that most of the Bear Lake settlements were in Idaho. Rich remained an active Democrat in local politics and, as a Mormon apostle, supervised both the religious and secular lives of Bear Lake settlers. Rich was organizing the colonization of Star Valley, Wyoming, before being partially paralyzed by a stroke in 1880. He died three years later, on 17 November 1883 at the age of seventy-five, the father of fifty-one children and grandfather of eighty-five.
Although Charles C. Rich spent relatively few years in Utah proper, he was a major figure in the settlement of Utah and in the social and political history of "Mormon Country."
See: Leonard J. Arrington, "Charles C. Rich: Mormon General and Western Frontiersman" (1974); John Henry Evans, "Charles Coulson Rich: Pioneer Builder of the West" (1936).
SOURCE: Utah History Encyclopedia.
Charles Coulson Rich was born in Campbell County, Kentucky, to Joseph and Nancy O'Neal Rich. At six feet, 4 inches in height, he was considered a tall man for the time period.
Rich was an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was an exemplary pioneer of unusual physical strength and stamina.
He was baptized in the Kirtland era, where he moved and became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He served several missions and moved to Far West, Mo.
He fought in the Battle of Crooked River, where Captain and Apostle David Patten was killed and Rich took over to lead the Saints to victory. His log house is the only structure from the Mormon period in 1836–38 in Caldwell County, Missouri to have survived.
He then followed the Prophet to Nauvoo, Illinois, and with President Young west to Utah in 1847. In 1848 he was made President of the Salt Lake City Stake (an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the church).
Rich helped form a Latter-day Saint settlement in San Bernardino, California. However, this settlement attracted many people who wanted to get away from the leaders of the church. The faithful members were called home in 1857 at the time of the Utah War. Rich also served in the British Mission, and later was sent to colonize Bear Lake County Idaho. He is even today recognized as a great spiritual force that forged that land into prosperity.
Spouses:
Sarah DeArmon Pea,1814-1893 - Charles married Sarah (of Looking Glass Prairie, Illinois) in 1838. He proposed marriage to Sarah by letter, the two having never before met.
As a church leader, Rich followed the doctrine of plural marriage, taking three additional wives in 1845:
Eliza Ann Graves Rich 1811 - 1879
Sarah Jane Peck Rich 1825 - 1893
Mary Ann Phelps Rich 1829 - 1912
Before leaving Nauvoo in 1846, he married:
Emeline Grover Rich 1831 - 1917
And in 1847 in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, he took
Harriet Sargent Rich 1832 - 1915 as his 6th wife.
In 1846 General Rich helped organize the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo. After a winter at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa, Rich was named military leader of the 1847 Emigration Company, which followed Brigham Young's Pioneer Company into Salt Lake Valley in October 1847. Rich served as a counselor in the Salt Lake Stake presidency and as a member of the Council of Fifty. He opened a farm in Centerville in 1848 and the next year, at age thirty-nine, was named to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.
Children:
Joseph C Rich 1841 - 1903
Charles Coulson Rich 1844 - 1890
John Thomas Rich 1846 - 1893
Franklin David Rich 1849 - 1910
Elizabeth Rich Pratt 1849 - 1932
Frances Pheba Rich Collings 1850 - 1932
Adelbert Coulson Rich 1851 - 1918
William Lyman Rich 1852 - 1928
David Patten Rich 1853 - 1930
Tunis Harriet Rich 1855 - 1857
Amasa Mason Rich 1856 - 1919
Abel George Rich 1857 - 1939
Frederick Carmel Rich 1859 - 1941
Harley Thomas Rich 1863 - 1933
Luna Rosetta Rich Waldo 1866 - 1891
Morgan Jesse Rich 1868 - 1951
Edward Israel Rich 1868 - 1969
George Quayle Rich 1869 - 1935
Walter Peck Rich 1869 - 1943
Alvin Orlando Rich 1870 - 1944
Drusilla Sarah Rich Streeper 1871 - 1952
Created by: Chad Stowell
Record added: Jun 10, 2002
Find A Grave Memorial# 6495544
Added by MaryKayLee24 on 12 Jan 2008
Rich, Charles Coulson. Son of Joseph Rich and Nancy O’Neal. Born 21 August 1809 in Campbell County, Kentucky. Moved with parents into Indiana shortly after birth. Moved with family to Tazewell County, Illinois, 1829. Baptized 1 April 1832 by George M. Hinkle. Traveled to Kirtland, Ohio, to see Joseph Smith in summer of 1832. Left Pleasant Grove, Tazewell County, Illinois, 7 May 1832. En route to Kirtland ordained elder by Zebedee Coltrin and Solomon Wixom 16 May 1832. Arrived in Kirtland mid-June 1832. Preached by way and arrived home in Pleasant Grove, Illinois, 24 October 1832. Assisted in organizing branches of Church in Tazewell County area. Recognized as presiding leader of Church in Tazewell County 1832-36. Joined Zion’s Camp 29 May 1834. Traveled to Clay County, Missouri, May-June 1834. Left Clay County, Missouri, for Illinois 2 July 1834. Arrived in Pleasant Grove 16 July 1834. Short mission to Eugene, Indiana, October-November 1834. Mission to DuPage County, Illinois, April-June 1835. Mission with Solomon Wixom to western Illinois September-November 1835. Left for Kirtland 26 January 1836. Arrived 12 April 1836. Ordained high priest 12 April 1836. Received washings and anointings in Kirtland Temple and attended solemn assembly April 1836. Received blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr., 24 April 1836. Left for mission through Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois with William O. Clark in summer and fall of 1836. Arrived in Pleasant Grove 6 October 1836. Traveled to Caldwell County, Missouri, in fall of 1836 to purchase property. Left Pleasant Grove 20 October 1836. Arrived in Far West 1 November 1836. Laid claim to eighty acres of land in Caldwell County, Missouri, 12 November 1836. Returned to Pleasant Grove 7 December 1836. Moved to Caldwell County, Missouri, in spring of 1837. Appointed president of high priests quorum in Missouri 20 August 1837. Married Sarah DeArmon Pea 11 February 1838. Nine children: Sara Jane, Joseph Coulson, Artimesia, Charles Coulson, John Thomas, Elabeth, David Patten, Benjamin Erastus, and Fred Carmel. Located in Far West shortly after marriage. Participated in Battle of Crooked River 25 October 1839. Fled Missouri November 1838. Located temporarily in Quincy, Illinois, 1839. Moved to Nauvoo in fall of 1839. Appointed member of Nauvoo high council 6 October 1839. Elected member of Nauvoo City Council 1 February 1841. Member of Nauvoo Legion 4 February 1841. Elected regent for University of Nauvoo 4 February 1841. Elected school warden for common schools of the Nauvoo Second Ward 1 March 1841. Appointed member of Nauvoo State presidency 30 March 1841. Elected brigadier-general of Nauvoo Legion 4 September 1841. Received patriarchal blessing 10 January 1842. Initiated into Masonry 17 March 1842. Mission September-December 1842. Location unknown. Mission to Ottawa, Illinois, April-June 1843. Mission to DeKalb and LaSalle counties, Illinois, July 1843 to ‘"disabuse the public mind" with respect to Prophet’s Dixon arrest. Member of Council of Fifty entered before 18 April 1844. Appointed to take command of Nauvoo Legion 29 April 1844 after suspension of Wilson Law. Mission to Michigan May 1844 to campaign for Joseph Smith as President of United States. Returned to Nauvoo 28 July 1844. Commissioned major general of Nauvoo Legion by Governor Thomas Ford about 25 August 1844. Sealed to Eliza Ann Graves 2 January 1845 (Nauvoo Temple sealing 15 January 1846). Three children: Mary B., Eliza Ann, and Frances Phebe. Sealed to Mary Phelps 6 January 1845 (Nauvoo Temple sealing 15 January 1846). Ten children: Laura Esphina, Mary Ann, William Lyman, Morris Marion, Minerva Marion, Amasa Mason, Paulina Phelps, Ezra Clark, Edward Israel, and Jacob. Sealed to Sarah Jane Peck 9 January 1845 (Nauvoo Temple sealing 15 January 1846). Eleven children: Hyrum Smith, Henrietta, Orson Stock, Orissa Elizabeth, Samantha, Henry Benjamin, Lorenzo Ether, Phoebe Jane, Julie Ann, Wilford Woodruff, and Walter Peck. Received endowment 12 December 1845. Sealed to Emeline Graves 3 February 1846 in Nauvoo Temple. Eight children: Thomas Graves, Caroline Whiting, Nancy Emeline, Landon Jedediah, Samuel Joseph, Heber Charles Chase, Joel Hezekiah, and George Quayle. Left Nauvoo for West 11 February 1846. Arrived in Garden Grove, Iowa, 25 April 1846. Arrived in Mt. Pisgah, Iowa, 26 May 1846. Appointed counselor to William Huntington 22 May 1846 to preside over church in Mt. Pisgah. After Huntington’s death 19 August 1846, Rich assumed presidency at Mt. Pisgah. Arrived in Winter Quarters March 1847. Married Harriet Sargent 28 March 1847 at Winter Quarters. Ten children: Franklin David, Adelbert Coulson, Tunis Harriet, Abel George, Martha Caroline, Harley Thomas, Luna Rosette, Morgan Jesse, Alvin Orlando, and Druscilla Sarah. In all, fifty-one children. Left for Salt Lake Valley 14 June 1847. Arrived in Salt Lake Valley 2 October 1847. Appointed counselor in Salt Lake Stake 3 October 1847. Ordained apostle 12 February 1849. Mission to California October 1849-November 1850. Led company of Saints to San Bernardino, California, 6 March 1851. Returned to Salt Lake City June 1857. Mission to England in 1860. Left Salt Lake City 1 May 1860. Arrived in Liverpool 27 July 1860. Returned to Salt Lake Valley in fall of 1862. Appointed to explore and settle Bear Lake Valley 14 September 1863. Located family in Paris June 1864. Died Paris, Bear Lake County, Idaho, 17 November 1883. [Cook]
Charles C. Rich DVD Library
BYU Studies Staff
Apostle and colonizer Charles C. Rich witnessed important events in Latter-day Saint history: Joseph Smith's presidential campaign; the building of the Kirtland (Ohio), Nauvoo (Illinois), and Logan (Utah) temples; and the settlement of San Bernardino (California) and Bear Lake Valley (Idaho). Rich's experiences enable readers to explore early LDS Church history and the settlement of the West.
The DVD-ROM includes PDF and JPEG files of:
• scanned documents of all the Rich papers from Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
• biographies of Rich by Leonard J. Arrington and John Henry Evans,
• autobiographical and biographical sketches of Rich's wives and children written by family members,
• all known speeches given by Rich,
• a chronology of Rich's life with links to his original letters and journals, and
• photographs of Rich, his wives, and his children.
This publication unites original documents and published sources with family histories, thus creating a remarkable tool for family members and research historians.
Price: $25.00
Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
An exemplary pioneer of unusual physical strength and stamina.
Baptized in the Kirtland era, where he moved and became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, served several missions and moved to Far West, Mo. He fought in the Battle of Crooked River, where Captain and Apostle David Patten was killed and Bro. Rich took over to lead the Saints to victory. He then followed the Prophet to Nauvoo and with President Young west to Utah. He presided over the California Mission, as well as the British Mission, and later sent to colonize Bear Lake Country. He is even today recognized as a great spiritual force that forged that land into prosperity.
1809 |
August 21, 1809
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Bigbone, Boone County, Kentucky, United States
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1832 |
April 1, 1832
Age 22
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1839 |
March 4, 1839
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Burton, IL, United States
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1841 |
January 16, 1841
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Nauvoo, Hancock County,, Illinois, United States
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1843 |
January 15, 1843
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Nauvoo, IL, United States
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1844 |
September 8, 1844
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Navuoo, Hancock County,, Illinois, United States
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