Wealthy Dewey Richards watched in horror and sorrow as her husband, Phinehas, and her children all became increasingly interested in Mormonism. In an attempt to investigate the Church more fully, Phinehas, Levi, Willard, Hepsy, and Wealthy’s fourteen-year-old son, George Spencer, departed for Kirtland. There, in 1837, Phinehas and George were baptized.
That fall, Phinehas returned to the East, carrying the gospel message back to his extended and immediate families, leaving George with Levi and Hepsy. Although Phinehas was able to baptize his three older children and other family members, his dear wife was still not converted. When the Saints in Kirtland left for Far West, Missouri, young George accompanied Levi and Hepsy, who settled on Shoal Creek. They were part of the thirty or forty LDS families living in covered wagons and tents and a few cabins surrounding Jacob Haun’s mill.
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| Haun's Mill Massacre by CCA Christensen |
Phinehas Richards was in Holliston, Massachusetts, when he received word that his son George Spencer had been murdered at Haun’s Mill, Phinehas immediately wrote to Wealthy with the terrible news, followed by these poetic words:
George, strong in faith, is gone.
An early Martyr in the cause of Zion
(Though Babylon Rage).
Lay not this thing too much at heart,
But trust in Christ alone,
And realize that God is right,
In taking of our son.
Oh, the sacrifice of a mother—to lose a promising son to a cause in which she did not believe. Why could not George have been laid to rest beside her first three infant children instead of being lowered into an unfinished well? However, in her grieving, the Lord blessed her with two things: a comforted heart and a believing heart. Soon, she entered the waters of baptism and united her family in strength.
-MAURINE CARR WARD
This was not the first sacrifice Wealthy was asked to make, and it wasn't the last. More about Wealthy tomorrow.
I'm learning so much from these posts. Thanks for doing this!!
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