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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 20 Collections and/or Records:

Joel Ricks printed works, 1907-1933

 Series
Identifier: MSS 2857 Series 7
Scope and Contents note

Joel Ricks' published works.

Dates: Other: 1907-1933

Joel Ricks published articles and books, 1915-1940

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 2857 Series 4 Sub-Series 2
Scope and Contents note

Published articles and books by Joel Ricks.

Dates: Other: 1915-1940

Joel Ricks scrapbook pages, undated

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 2857 Series 4 Sub-Series 6
Scope and Contents note

Scrapbooks of Joel Ricks.

Dates: Other: undated

Joel Ricks unpublished articles and manuscripts, undated

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 2857 Series 4 Sub-Series 3
Scope and Contents note

Writings by Ricks that were not published.

Dates: Other: undated

Others articles about Joel Ricks, undated

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 2857 Series 4 Sub-Series 4
Scope and Contents note

Articles written about Ricks.

Dates: Other: undated

Joel Ricks photographs of Book of Mormon lands

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2646
Scope and Contents

Fifty-eight 10 x 10 cm. prints, forty 9.5 x 12 cm. prints, seventeen 4 x 5 original negatives with prints, thirty-two 13.5 x 15.5 cm. mounted prints, and a newspaper from Colombia. Fifteen photographs of Central and South America of buildings, lands, and mummies. Also, three postcards purchased by Joel Ricks, Jr. in Colombia about 1903.

Dates: circa 1900

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

Joel Ricks papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2857
Abstract

This collection contains various journals, letters, and published and unpublished materials of Joel Ricks Jr. It also contains Ricks family history material; miscellaneous notes, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and printed material collected by Ricks; Book of Mormon research and study materials; and three photographs.

Dates: bulk 1874-1940

Joel Ricks papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 5878
Scope and Contents

Contains religious documents, notebooks, datebooks, diaries, clippings, and maps documenting Ricks' experience as a Mormon missionary in the American South. Materials date from between 1877 and 1939. Also includes a unique edition of The Book of Mormon and an 1877 diary chronicling Ricks' mission to St. Louis.

Dates: 1877-1939

Writings by or about Joel Ricks, undated

 Series
Identifier: MSS 2857 Series 4
Scope and Contents note

Writings either by Joel Ricks or about him.

Dates: Other: undated

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 15
Collection 5
 
Subject
Material Types 18
Logan (Utah) -- History 17
Photographs 4
Articles 3
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) 2