Leonard Rich Explained

Leonard Rich
Birth Place:Connecticut, United States
Death Place:Kirtland, Ohio, United States
Portals:movement
Position Or Quorum1:First Seven Presidents of the Seventy
Called By1:Joseph Smith
Start Date1:March 1, 1835
End Date1:April 6, 1837
End Reason1:Honorably released because he had already been ordained a high priest

Leonard Rich (1800–1868) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and one of the inaugural seven Presidents of the Seventy.

Rich was born in Connecticut in 1800 and was a farmer. He was married to Kezia Rich (1805–1853) and they had four children.[1] In 1833, he baptized Truman Angell,[2] future architect of the Salt Lake Temple. In 1834, the Kirtland High Council rebuked him for "transgressing the word of wisdom and for selling the revelations [scriptures] at an extortionary price."[3] That same year he was part of Zion's Camp.

In January 1837, Rich signed the new constitution of the Kirtland Safety Society.[4] 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[5] and in December the church excommunicated him.[6]

In 1845, Reuben McBride reported that Rich was a leader of rioters who broke into and took possession of the Kirtland Temple.[7] In January 1847 Rich, along with William E. McLellin and Jacob Bump, organized the Church of Christ at Kirtland.[8]

Rich's first wife died in 1853 and he married Marina Bassett at Kirtland March 7, 1858. He died in Kirtland in 1868.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lisonbee, Janet . Rich, Leonard . Obituaries and Life Sketches of the Early Saints Who Lived and Died in the Kirtland, Ohio Area . Lake County Ohio GenWeb . 2010-03-24.
  2. Book: Angell, Truman O. . Truman Angell . His Journal . Kate Carter . Our Pioneer Heritage . 10 . 1967 . . Salt Lake City . 196 .
  3. Book: B. H. Roberts . B. H. Roberts . History of the Church . 1904 . . Salt Lake City, Utah . 2 . 27 . 2010-03-24.
  4. News: Minutes of a meeting of the members of the 'Kirtland Safety Society' . . 3 . 6 . March 1837 . 476 . 2010-03-24.
  5. Book: B. H. Roberts . B. H. Roberts . Kirtland Debacle--Gloom . . 1 . 1930 . . Salt Lake City, Utah . 405 .
  6. Book: Quinn, D. Michael . D. Michael Quinn . Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power . 1994 . Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates . Salt Lake City, Utah . 574 .
  7. Book: B. H. Roberts . B. H. Roberts . . 1932 . . Salt Lake City, Utah . 7 . 484 . A letter was read from Reuben McBride, Kirtland, stating that the apostates were doing everything they could to injure the saints. S. B. Stoddard, Jacob Bump, Hiram Kellogg, Leonard Rich, and Jewel Raney are the leaders of the rioters; they have broken into the House of the Lord, and taken possession of it, and are trying to take possession of the church farm..
  8. http://josephsmithpapers.org/person?name=Leonard+Rich Biography