Franklin Snyder Richards
Born 20 June 1849 in Salt Lake City.[1] Son of Franklin Dewey Richards and Jane Snyder.[2] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Franklin D. Richards, 5 Mar. 1857.[3] Messenger for the Utah territorial legislature, 1865–1868; representative for Weber Co., Utah Territory, 1884; president of the legislature and sixth district representative, 1890.[4] Principal and teacher of the Salt Lake City Twelfth Ward school, 1866, and of the Salt Lake City Seventh Ward school, 1866–1869.[5] Married Emily Sophia Tanner, 18 Dec. 1868.[6] Served as Weber Co. probate clerk, clerk, and recorder, 1869–1879; as Weber Co. prosecuting attorney, 1872–1879; as Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, attorney, 1874–1884; and as Salt Lake City attorney, 1884–1890.[7] Participated and lectured in the Young Men’s Literary Association of Ogden, Weber Co., 1873.[8] Admitted to the Utah Supreme Court, 16 June 1874.[9] Appointed to serve in the European mission with Joseph F. Smith and returned ill, May 1877–Oct. 1877.[10] Retained as general attorney and counsel for the church, 16 June 1879–1934.[11] Argued and won against the U.S. Supreme Court’s attempt to disfranchise Utah women, 1880.[12] Member of Utah’s constitutional convention, 1882, 1884, 1895; chair of the delegation to present the constitution of the state of Utah to U.S. Congress for admission into the union, 1887; argued for Utah’s admission to the U.S. as a state, 12 Jan. 1889.[13] Admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, 30 Jan. 1883.[14] Represented the church during the incorporation of the National Women’s Relief Society, 7 July 1891; reviewed the Relief Society bylaws, 30 Mar. 1895.[15] Board member of the Salt Lake Herald, 1893–1894.[16] Founding member of the Salt Lake bar, Utah Territorial Bar Association of Utah, and State Bar Association of Utah; member of the Utah bar, 1894–1928.[17] Hosted the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Salt Lake City; appeared on stage with EBW and Susan B. Anthony during Dr. Anna Howard Shaw’s sermon, 13 May 1895.[18] Member of the committee hosting the National Editor’s Convention, attended by EBW, 26–27 Aug. 1895, in Salt Lake City.[19] Argued for women’s rights, 1895.[20] Instrumental in creating the legal structures for the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its holdings, 1899–1934.[21] Sat on the board of trustees of Deseret Hospital (later LDS Hospital) and spoke at its dedication, 4 Jan. 1905.[22] Died 7 Sept. 1934 in Salt Lake City.[23]
[1] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. E, 1867–1869, p. 223, line 12296, Franklin Snyder Richards and Emily Sophia Tanner, 18 Dec. 1868, microfilm 1149515, DGS 7226456 (restricted access), FHL. Ogden 2nd Ward, Mission Record, 1899–1917, p. [1], Franklin S. Richards, LR 6392 24, folder 1 (restricted access), CHL. “U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com, accessed 26 July 2020), Franklin Snyder Richards. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 26 July 2020), Franklin Snyder Richards (KWJH-Y4S).
[2] Ogden 2nd Ward, Mission Record, 1899–1917, p. [1], Franklin S. Richards, LR 6392 24, folder 1 (restricted access), CHL. Orson F. Whitney, “Franklin Snyder Richards,” History of Utah (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon, 1892), 532–537.
[3] Missionary Department Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, vol. 2, p. 41, line 1608, F. S. Richards, CR 301 22, box 1, folder 2, image 42/148, CHL. “Franklin Snyder Richards,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Early Church Information File, 1830–1900, card 673, microfilm 1750709, DGS 7100416, image 1848/5021, FHL.
[4] “Legislative Assembly Roster,” pp. 27, 29, 31, 48, 55, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov/research/guides/legislative-assembly-rosters.pdf, accessed 24 Aug. 2020). Edward W. Tullidge, History of Salt Lake and Its Founders (Salt Lake City: By the author, 1886), 134.
[5] Franklin S. Richards, Address, 6 Nov. 1932, p. 2, MS 7940, CHL. “Franklin S. Richards,” Salt Lake Herald, 2 Mar. 1895, 1.
[6] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. E, 1867–1869, p. 223, line 12296, Franklin Snyder Richards and Emily Sophia Tanner, 18 Dec. 1868, microfilm 1149515, DGS 7226456 (restricted access), FHL. Maurice Tanner, Descendants of John Tanner (n.p.: Tanner Family Association, 1923), 75.
[7] “Of an Ambassador,” Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Aug. 1895, 5. Edward W. Tullidge, Tullidge’s Quarterly Magazine 2, no. 1 (Apr. 1882): 605–606. Compendium of the Names of Officers of Salt Lake City, with the Standing Committees and Rules of the City Council for 1888–89 (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1888), 5. “Death Comes to Utah Dean of Attorneys,” Salt Lake Telegram, 7 Sept. 1934, 17.
[8] Edward W. Tullidge, Tullidge’s Quarterly Magazine 2, no. 1 (Apr. 1882): 610.
[9] Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 533.
[10] Missionary Department Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, vol. 2, p. 41, line 1608, F. S. Richards, CR 301 22, box 1, folder 2, image 42/148, CHL. Biographical Record of Salt Lake Ctiy and Vicinity (Chicago: National Historical Record, 1902), 32, 33.
[11] Franklin S. Richards, Address, 6 Nov. 1932, p. 2, MS 7940, CHL.
[12] Edward W. Tullidge, History of Salt Lake and Its Founders (Salt Lake City: By the author, 1886), 134.
[13] Franklin S. Richards, The Admission of Utah: Arguments in Favor of the Admission of Utah as a State (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1889), 1. Franklin S. Richards, The Suffrage Question (Salt Lake City: Utah Woman Suffrage Association, 1895). Edward W. Tullidge, History of Salt Lake and Its Founders (Salt Lake City: By the author, 1886), 134. “Utah Mormon,” Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 4. “Delegates to the Constitutional Convention,” Salt Lake Herald, 2 Mar. 1895, 1.
[14] Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 534.
[15] EBW, Diary, 7 July 1891 and 30 Mar. 1894.
[16] Salt Lake Herald, 6 July 1893, 4. Salt Lake Herald, 6 Apr. 1894, 4.
[17] Michael S. Eldredge, “The Utah Territorial Bar Association: Our Forgotten Heritage,” Utah Bar Journal 25, no. 4 (July–Aug. 2012): 32, 33. “Before Utah Bar for Fifty Years,” Salt Lake Telegram, 22 Jan. 1927, 1. Proceedings of the Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fourth Annual Sessions of the State Bar Association (Salt Lake City: State Bar Association of Utah, 1928). “Death Comes to Utah Dean of Attorneys,” Salt Lake Telegram, 7 Sept. 1934, 17.
[18] EBW, Diary, 13 May 1895. “Dr. Shaw at the Theater,” Salt Lake Tribune, 13 May 1898, 8.
[19] EBW, Diary, 26 Aug. 1895. “Editors Are Coming,” Salt Lake Herald, 26 Aug. 1895, 8.
[20] “May the Ladies Vote,” Salt Lake Herald, 30 Aug. 1895, 3.
[21] Franklin S. Richards, Address, 6 Nov. 1932, p. 2, MS 7940, CHL. Ken Driggs, “‘Lawyers of Their Own to Defend Them’: The Legal Career of Franklin Snyder Richards,” Journal of Mormon History 21, no. 2 (Fall 1995): 115.
[22] EBW, Diary, 4 Jan. 1905. “New Hospital Dedicated,” Salt Lake Herald, 5 Jan. 1905, 2.
[23] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 20 Aug. 2020); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 1385/210 (1934), Franklin Snyder Richards. “Death Comes to Utah Dean of Attorneys,” Salt Lake Telegram, 7 Sept. 1934, 17.