Willard Richards
Information regarding Willard Richards
- Apostle number: 20
- Quorum of the Twelve number: 17
- Date of birth: June 24, 1804
- Place of birth: Hopkinson, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Date of apostolic ordination: April 14, 1840
- Age when ordained apostle: 35 years 9 months
- End of apostolic service: March 11, 1854
- Total apostolic years: 13 years 10 months
- Date called into the Quorum of the Twelve: April 14, 1840
- Tenure in the Quorum of the Twelve: 07 years 8 months
- Date of death: March 11, 1854
- Age at death: 49 years 8 months
- Place of death: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah
- Remarks: Willard Richards was incarcerated in Carthage Jail with Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith and John Taylor on June 27, 1844, when the jail was attacked by a mob and the Smith brothers were murdered. Elder Richards is the only apostle of this dispensation that was ordained outside of the continental United States, being ordained while he served in England.
- Inspirational quote: Joseph Smith prophesied the following regarding Elder Richards: “…the time would come that the balls would fly around him like hail, and he should see his friends fall on the right and on the left, but that there should not be a hole in his garment.” This prophecy was literally fulfilled in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844.
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