Franklin Snyder Richards (June 20, 1849 – September 4, 1934) was the general counsel for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) in the late-19th and early-20th century. He was closely connected with the defense against charges of

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

of many leading LDS Church figures.

Biography

Richards was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 1849. He was the son of Franklin D. Richards, one of the members of the

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, and Jane Snyder. From 1866 to 1868, Richards was a school teacher in Salt Lake City. In 1868, he married Emily S. Tanner. In 1869, Richards moved to Ogden, Utah Territory. He became the clerk of the probate court there and undertook the study of law. Richards passed the

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in 1874. In 1877, he went to

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as a

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for the LDS Church. He was then retained by the LDS Church in 1879 to represent its interests in the settling of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

's estate. Richards remained the

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

for the LDS Church until his death in 1934. In 1889, Richards sought to convince

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Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

and

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

to appoint officers in

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

who were non-vindictive towards the Mormons. Richards formed a law firm with Rufus K. Williams, who had been chief justice of the

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, in 1879. They served as the primary legal counsel that sought to prevent the removal of

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

from the women of Utah Territory in 1880. Richards's wife, Emily S. Richards, was one of the main figures behind the founding of the Utah Women's Suffrage Association in 1889. Richards was a member of the 1882 Utah State Constitutional Convention and was one of the delegates sent to seek the approval of the State Constitution in Washington, D.C. In 1884, Richards was elected to the Council (roughly equivalent to a State Senate) of the

Utah Territorial Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term ...

, for the district encompassing Weber County and

Box Elder County Box Elder County is a county at the northwestern corner of Utah, United States. As of 2018, the estimated population is 54,950. Its county seat and largest city is Brigham City. The county was named for the box elder trees that abound in the co ...

. Richards replaced

Lorenzo Snow Lorenzo Snow (April 3, 1814 – October 10, 1901) was an American religious leader who served as the fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1898 until his death. Snow was the last president of the L ...

, who had served in the seat since 1854. Richards served one term in this position. Richards was a member of the 1895 Utah State Constitutional Convention, which was successful in gaining statehood for Utah. Among other cases, Richards was the legal counsel for

in his case before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

,'' Ex Parte Snow'' in which a complex scheme was overturned which would have given polygamous Mormon men essentially life sentences for unlawful cohabitation under the

Edmunds Act The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882,U.S.History.com is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony in federal territories. The act ...

. At various times, Richards served as city attorney for both Ogden and Salt Lake City. He was also the prosecuting attorney for Weber County. The J. Reuben Clark Law Society has an award named after Richards.

Notes

References

J. Reuben Clark Law Society award named after Richards
* . *

Andrew Jenson Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, (December 11, 1850 – November 18, 1941) was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for much of the ea ...

. ''

Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia ''Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (abbreviated ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'') is a four-volume biographical dic ...

''. Vol. 4, p. 55.

External links

Franklin S. Richards papers, MSS 1204
in the

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Franklin S. 1849 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American legislators 19th-century Mormon missionaries Activists from Utah American Mormon missionaries in England American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Latter Day Saints from Utah Lawyers from Salt Lake City Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Politicians from Ogden, Utah Politicians from Salt Lake City Richards–Young family Women's suffrage in Utah 19th-century Utah politicians