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Ricks, Joel, 1858-1944

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1858 - 1944

Biographical History

Joel Ricks was born in Farmington, Utah, on July 21, 1858, to Joel Ricks, Sr. and Sarah Beriah Fiske Allen Ricks. The Ricks family moved to Cache Valley, in 1859, to settle in Logan. In 1881, Joel, Jr. married Susette Cardon with whom he had eight children. He spent his working life as a telegrapher for the Utah Northern Denver, Rio Grande Western, and Union Pacific Railroads. He also served as the station agent at many of his posts. While living at Castle Dale, Utah, in 1895, he was elected to represent the people of Sevier County as one of the 105 delegates to the first Constitutional Convention of the new State of Utah. Mr. Ricks made a lifelong study of the Book of Mormon. He traveled through Arizona to Mexico, in 1893, to explore the possible geographical sights of the Book of Mormon lands. In addition, he made the first of four trips to Columbia, South America, in 1903, for the purpose of conducting personal research. He was the author of four books and several pamphlets on Book of Mormon subjects and had published several maps on what he believed to be significant material relating to them. He was a historian of great ability. Later in his life, Joel, Jr. worked as a genealogist for his family for the Utah Genealogical Society, extracting thousands of marriage bonds in Virginia. He collected and wrote stories of the living pioneers in Cache Valley in 1923-1924. These stories were printed in the local newspaper. Joel Ricks, Jr. died in River Heights, Utah, on November 23, 1944, and is buried in the Logan City Cemetery.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Joel Ricks Jr. photographs of South America and the Civil War

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 3209
Scope and Contents

The collection contains seventeen photo duplicate positives and negatives of Ruins in South and Central America, nineteen pages of photos of the Civil War, eighty-two postcards from Utah, one hundred and four postcards of various places in North America, thirty-three photographs of Columbia taken by Joel Ricks, Jr., one pamphlet of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and eleven newspaper pages.

Dates: approximately 1860-1940
Found in: L. Tom Perry Special Collections / Joel Ricks Jr. photographs of South America and the Civil War

Filtered By

  • Subject: United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs X

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