Emily Sophia Tanner
Born 13 May 1850 in South Cottonwood, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory.[1] Daughter of Nathan Tanner and Rachel W. Smith.[2] Married Franklin Snyder Richards, 18 Dec. 1868, in Salt Lake City; six children.[3] Moved to Ogden, Weber Co., Utah Territory, by 1870.[4] Served as assistant secretary of the Weber County Relief Society; as president of the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Association of Ogden, 1877; and as first vice president of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association for Weber County, until 1884, when her family moved to Salt Lake City.[5] Appointed by the First Presidency to represent the church on the board of directors of the Orphan’s Home, 1887–1927.[6] Member of the Relief Society general board, 1892–1921, serving under the presidencies of Eliza R. Snow, Zina D. H. Young, Bathsheba W. Smith, and EBW.[7] Appointed president of Utah Board of Lady Managers, directing participation in the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.[8] Participated in Utah and national woman suffrage organizations.[9] Served as a delegate to the International Council of Women in Berlin, 1904, and in Toronto, 1909.[10] Represented Utah at events of the National Congress of Charities and Corrections; member of the Utah Woman’s Press Club; trustee for the Agricultural College of Utah; member of the Utah chapter of the American Red Cross with EBW; member of the Reaper’s Club; and a director of the Salt Lake City free library.[11] Died 19 Aug. 1929 in Salt Lake City.[12]
[1] Ogden Second Ward, Membership Records, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26, CHL. “Endowment of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. E, p. 138, Emila Sophia Tanner, 17 June 1865, microfilm 183405 (restricted access), FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 29 Jan. 2018), Emily Sophia Tanner (KWJH-Y49).
[2] Ogden Second Ward, Membership Records, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26, CHL. “Endowment of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. E, p. 138, Emila Sophia Tanner, 17 June 1865, microfilm 183405 (restricted access), FHL.
[3] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. E, Franklin Sydney Richards and Emily Sophia Tanner, 18 Dec. 1868, microfilm 1149515 (restricted access), FHL 1900 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., UT, ED 38, p. 4B, Emily S. Richards.
[4] Women of Faith in the Latter Days, vol. 3, 1846–1879, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 132. 1870 U.S. Census, Ogden, Weber Co., Utah Territory, p. 44, Emily S Richards.
[5] Annie Wells Cannon, In Memoriam: Emily Sophia Tanner Richards (Salt Lake City: n.p., 1929), 10. Women of Faith in the Latter Days, vol. 3, 1846–1879, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 132–133.
[6] Annie Wells Cannon, In Memoriam: Emily Sophia Tanner Richards (Salt Lake City: n.p., 1929), 12.
[7] Women of Faith in the Latter Days, vol. 3, 1846–1879, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 134.
[8] Women of Faith in the Latter Days, vol. 3, 1846–1879, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 136–137.
[9] History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1966), 36. “Suffrage Won by the Mothers of the United States,” Relief Society Magazine 7, no. 5 (May 1920): 263, 267.
[10] Jill Mulvay Derr, Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1992), 170. Women of Faith in the Latter Days, vol. 3, 1846–1879, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 134–135. Annie Wells Cannon, In Memoriam: Emily Sophia Tanner Richards (Salt Lake City: n.p., 1929), 23.
[11] Women of Faith in the Latter Days, vol. 3, 1846–1879, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 142–143. Annie Wells Cannon, In Memoriam: Emily Sophia Tanner Richards (Salt Lake City: n.p., 1929), 13–14.
[12] “Utah Death Certificate Index, 1904–1961,” database and images, Utah State Archives (http://archives.utah.gov, accessed 29 Jan. 2018); from Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, series 81448, file no. 1489/263 (1929), Emily Sophia Richards. “Mrs. Richards’ Rites Thursday,” Salt Lake Telegram, 20 Aug. 1929, 2.