Joel Ricks Jr., son of Sarah Beriah Fiske (Allen) and Joel Ricks was born 21 July 1858 at Farmington, Davis County, Utah Territory. He was the second son and the fourth child of this couple. The following July, the family moved to Cache Valley which was being settled. They camped on the present site of Logan on July 21st when Joel was one year old.

For the most part, the pioneers lived in crude shelters of willows, sleeping in their wagon boxes and cooking around a camp fire. In July the town was laid out by Jesse Fiz and by August everyone began to select lots and get out logs for cabins. Grandfather built a cabin on the southwest corner of Main and Center streets where the family lived for many years. Sarah B. was the second wife of Joel Ricks. Her first husband, Ezra H. Allen, was killed (supposedly by Indians) on the 27th of June 1848 in the mountains of California (Amador Co.) on his return from serving with the Mormon Battalion in the war with Mexico.

Soon after going to Logan, Grandfather took up land in the "West Fields" where he kept his sheep. A willow corral held them at night and some of the older boys would sleep in a shack nearby to watch them because of bears and wolves. One of young Joel's first memories was begging to go with the boys and see a bear. His mother finally let him go and he was awakened in the night by the boys to see a bear up to the bars looking over. He never asked to go again. Grandfather and several of his grown sons had farms west of Logan at Benson, where bears continued to give trouble for several years as they lived in the willows and flags along the river.

Grandfather operated a ferry boat on the Logan River in what is now West Benson. He later built a bridge across the river to replace the ferry and gave it to the county. He had been raised in Kentucky and as a young man pioneered in Illinois. Grandfather was experienced in pioneer ways and needs and was an asset to less-experienced settlers.

One of young Joel's earliest memories was a high gate into his home on Main Street and the world he saw from sitting on top of it. The first soldiers he ever saw passed through Logan along that street; the many visitors from Salt Lake City who came for special celebrations, conferences and business. He saw the stringing of wires for the first telegraph lines. Young Joel spent much of his time with his father at the farm. At age eight years he says, "I helped to tend the sheep and with the ferry boat on the river." In letters he expresses his love for his father, perhaps because of their close association all throughout his life.

A school was started the first year of the settlement, but the pioneers were slow in sending their children. Perhaps the pressing need for every hand to assist with the necessary tasks for existence, the gathering of wood, carrying water from the river, and herding sheep or cattle seemed more important than learning to read and write. They did have a desire to learn, but it took a little urging on the part of the leaders for the settlers to make that final effort for the luxury of learning. Young Joel attended school most of the time when he was old enough to go. Some of the teachers were: R.L. Smith, who taught in the 1st Ward Hall schoolhouse, J.Z. Stewart who taught in Lindquist Hall, and Miss Ida Cook who taught in the Logan Academy. In his diaries, Joel mentions attending school and going to the farms more times than any other things he did. School sessions must have been interrupted for many pressing chores at certain seasons.

Grandmother Sarah B. had the advantages of a background where a few more educational advantages were possible than in more remote areas of our country. She loved to read and must have encouraged her children in self-improvement. Young Joel grew up to be interested in many things. He says he always had something to read although they had few books. There was the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the "Penny Cyclopedia."

The struggles and hardships in a pioneer environment must have lent a certain seriousness to the lives of the children, yet Father says they were happy and carefree. In the summer the children went barefoot. When the dust was hot and scorched their feet, they would wade in the ditch along the side of the road to cool off.

In the fall Grandfather would tan leather and hire Brother George Hubbard to make shoes. The children were so anxious to get them that they would hang around his shop for days waiting for them. In winter, the children would coast down the hill on 1st North from the Liberty Pole to 1st East for hours on end.

Down the lane west on 3rd North was a cow pasture and those who owned shares could pasture their cows there. The herder would toot a horn as he went down 3rd North and families would bring out their cows to him. In the evening children would meet him at the big gate on 2nd North and 6th West and drive their cows home.

There was a clay bed in the ditch near the gate, and it was a favorite pastime for the boys to fling mud dobs from a willow switch. They could be thrown with the speed of a bullet and really sting when they hit.

Along with the struggles for existence, were the boyish urges and developing instincts to try themselves out or to take on adult pursuits. There were many hours when young friends had to make their own entertainment and challenge ideals. One fall day a group of herd boys gathered on a bend in the river south of town where a contest was suggested by one of the group. Laying dry cat-tails end to end across the bend in the river they chose up sides to see which side would reach a center stake first, when both sides were fired at a given sign. Indians often camped at this bend just below the Johnson's Grove, but the boys were not aware of anyone being there until a strong wind came up as the contest was at its height. Soon the whole bend of the river was afire. The shouting of the Indians in a hasty retreat was a signal for the boys to disappear fast. Joel feared they had burned horses and Indians and crept back early the next morning to see how many bodies were around. He fully expected the worst. Riding a cow across the swamps to gather strays was also a common venture when herding cattle. Bears gave concern and every boy dreamed of participating in a hunt.

As a young boy, Father read the Book of Mormon. His parents had a friend who was a Patriarch, Brother C. Hyde. When Joel was about 14 or 15, Bro. Hyde was in their home when Grandmother said as Father came in, "Joel is our Book of Mormon student." Brother Hyde gave him a blessing which Father wrote down as he remembered it. One thing he said was, "If you continue to study the Book of Mormon, you shall preach it on a land where no white man's foot has trod."

As a teenager Joel was schooled in many pioneer responsibilities assisting his father and brothers on the farms or in the canyons. His diaries mention many of the activities; plowing, planting, raking hay, threshing the grain, digging vegetables for winter, chucking corn, chopping the ever necessary wood for the home after getting it from one of the canyons to the east or west. (The west mountains were 10 miles away.) Joel seemed always to be going from one place to another to help with some task. He mentions helping put up his first house, cutting down his first tree in the canyon and drawing his first log through the mill of which his father was a part-owner. These experiences must have been important steps in his development. He seemed to have been a healthy child and adult. I never remember my father being in bed a single day.

Joel often walked from the canyon leading the horses with a load of wood. It was less difficult to manage the team. Once he got stuck in the mud and had to unload the wood and get out, then reload it again. There was little in the way of entertainment for the young people in a pioneer settlement except that of their own making. Friends made trips to the farms with Joel. There were picnics, dances, and a singing group. Joel and two friends, Hyrum Ricks and Lyman Martineau organized a study group August 24, 1874 at the age of 16. They held meetings in grandfather's granary and Joel built a table and benches for the members. The Society was for the purpose of studying the scriptures and learning to express themselves. It was called by various names in the minutes: "The Young Peoples Bible Society," "The Young Peoples Educational Society." This Society formed the nucleus for many of the social activities for several years.

In 1873 or 74, a telegraph company was formed in which Grandfather had interests. He probably suggested to Ellen that she learn the code. It appealed to Joel and he began to study along with Ellen. It seemed to be natural for Joel, and when Ellen was moved from the Mendon Office, Joel was able to take her place with a few days of instruction from Ellen. While working in Mendon, if there was a party in Logan, Joel could catch a ride on the train to Logan and sometimes a friend could take him halfway home on horseback after the affair. Then he would walk the rest of the way in order to be on the job the next morning. with his first pay, Joel bought a pair of shoes for Ellen for $3.00 and a pair for himself for $2.60. This was the beginning of a lifetime career on the railroad. He later acted as Station Agent and telegrapher, which was an important communications aid in the early days. In 1876 at the suggestion of Bishop Preston who needed help in the tithing office, Joel went to school at the Academy for the purpose of learning to keep books. Ellen took over the Mendon office while Joel was in school.

On October 1876 Joel went to General Conference in Salt Lake City. He met many people he knew while there: J.Z. Stewart, an old school teacher, and Jeff Family whose married daughter lived in Logan. In the afternoon session the names of men called to fill missions were read and Joel's name was among them. He had just turned eighteen. The call was to the United States, St. Louis district. It was in the vicinity of his father's old Illinois farm as well as his Uncle Louis's, and brothers of his mother in Berlin, Michigan. He had been ordained an Elder on 3 January 1876 by Joseph Richards at the age of 17. He was set apart for his mission on October 9, 1876 and ordained a Seventy by John Taylor. On October 19, 1876 [Church records say October 10] he went to the Endowment House. Joel met a number of his relatives while on his mission in Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. He visited in Nauvoo, Illinois several times.

With the organization of the Mutual Improvement Association, the Young Peoples Society was discontinued by request of Bishop B.M. Lewis and requested that the members use their efforts to make the newly organized M.I.A. Society a success. This letter was dated 1878 in the minutes and signed by Joel Ricks.

Father and Mother had grown up in Logan, but Father was three years older than Mother so it was in their teen years in the Young Peoples Educational Society that they became attracted to each other. Prior to his marriage, Father worked in Logan for a wagon and machine company at 433.00 a month. He bought a lot on what was known as the Island, the river bottoms between the two benches at 2nd South and 2nd East from Joseph Maughan for $100. This was his first property and one of which he was very proud. He then hired a man to build a house. Father and Mother were married 13 January 1881 in the Salt Lake Endowment House. Their first home was at Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls), Idaho where Father was working for the Utah Northern Railroad. There were few houses there and they lived in an abandoned freight car. Father was telegrapher and had certain responsibilities for keeping the tracks and wires open a certain distance on each side. He would ride a handcar for this purpose and take Mother along for an evening. Eagle Rock was so named because of the birds that nested there.

Father became interested in many activities as a young married man. In 1882 Father and Mother went to Logan to be near her mother for the birth of Rhea, their first child. In 1881 or 1882 under the Peoples Party Rule, Joel was elected as Selectman of Cache County and had charge of erecting the Country Courthouse in Logan. He was Engrossing Clerk of the last Territorial Legislature and was Chairman of Logan City and Cache County for several years.

About 1891 when the statehood movement had reached Cache Valley, Joel was on the train going to Salt Lake City when he met some Church officials who questioned him on his views on the issues. He favored Republican principals and was asked to go out and make Republicans. On June 23, a Republican Club was formally organized in Logan. Orsen Smith, a neighbor, was a member of the County Central Committee and probably urged Joel to work for the cause. Father was secretary of the first Republican Convention in Utah. When Statehood came, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention from Sevier County where he was working and he assisted in framing the organic laws of the state. The convention opened on March 4, 1895. On November 5th the people voted on it and selected state officers. It was Utah's 7th and final attempt to gain statehood. Joel's certificate of membership and the pen he signed with are in the D.U.P. Museum in Salt Lake City. (Bob Hammond has a film of the document.)

As a young man father became interested in the stories of the first settlers in Logan. He thought they were making history, and it would be interesting to their families in years to come so he began gathering their stories. He constantly compared dates and memories with recorded events to establish facts and to give the right persons credit for their part in events. Later one series was published in the Logan Journal. He wanted to make them available to the families. Father liked to write and spent many hours in doing so. He liked poetry and even wrote some of his own as did his mother, Sarah B. Fiske Ricks.

Father read, studied, and taught the Book of Mormon. Always there was a desire to know more. he made a trip to Arizona with a Brother Baker who had been there, to look for evidences of the past, and he kept a journal of the trip. Later he made a trip to Mexico. In 1903 he made a trip to South America, and two other trips followed. He gathered books around him of travels and archaeology in the western hemisphere. He was always reading, studying, and thinking. As he moved about in his railroad jobs, he taught young people in several places about the Book of Mormon.

There were no Sunday night meetings as Sacrament meeting was at two o'clock in the afternoon. The young people would congregate and often get into mischief. Father asked the bishop in Springville and later in Salina if he might get the youth together for a fireside and study the Book of Mormon. These groups were very successful. Reda and Susette (Zettie) were born in Springville while the family lived there. Rhea and Joel, about 9 and 10 then begged to go to the class if they promised not to talk. When he transferred from Springville, the whole town turned out for a party and presented him with a beautiful chair. Mother and the children were taken to the City Hall where the party was held. The Marshall went for father after the nine o'clock train went through and told him he was wanted at the Hall. The party was a total surprise to him. It was given out of respect and appreciation for what he had done for the youth of the community. Dad was not dressed for a party, but he must have been very pleased with the sentiments expressed.

For years railroading was Father's occupation. He spent five years in the old Utah Northern, then seventeen on the Rio Grande Western, to and including Castle Gate. In Idaho he was at Franklin, Oxford, and Idaho Falls. The Utah service included Logan, Salt Lake City, Provo, Springville, Salina, and Marysville during construction in 1896. Then he was transferred to Castle Gate, where he was a counselor to the bishop for three years. Later he was at Bingham Canyon when he thought he would retire; but when World War I came along, he went back as a cashier in the freight depot in Salt Lake City, adding another five years of service or 22 years for the Rio Grande Western Railway in Utah. This made a total of 27 years in Railroading.

As the children grew older, it was disruptive to their schooling to move around, and it was decided that the family should stay in Logan where they had a home. Father tried several times to get work in Logan to be with his family. Finding no openings, he started a produce business in 1892 with Brother Crandell. This business did not prove successful. About 1902 Father had a knitting factory in Ogden which he managed for several years after which he sold it. While in Ogden he was a member of the Weber Stake Sunday School Board for two years. In 19065 he was Deputy Treasurer of Cache County. Among Father's papers were several notes for loans he made to people who defaulted. They were friends, and he did not press for payment. He was generous in helping missionaries, students, and those in need to achieve their goals. Perhaps one of the reasons is that he had had a tragic experience himself. A money panic hit while he was in Mexico looking for ruins. He lost an office building for which he had borrowed money to rebuild after a fire had destroyed the original one. He lost a farm in Benson; in fact, he lost everything except our home which was in Mother's name. It made him very apprehensive of debt. As a family we had nothing which we could not pay cash for.

After the family was permanently established in Logan, we had several relatives come to live with us while working, going to school, or for other reasons. Mother could not say no to the family. Cousins Sarah Merrill who worked as the County Recorder, Etta Smith attended BYC, Auston Shaw attending UAC for two years then his friend, Bert Crumperman came to share Auston's room, Mary Anderson, a friend of Zettie's, came to attend BYC, and later Arthur Clyde, the friend of a neighbor stayed also. These people had room and board for ten dollars a month. Father had added four rooms to the house in 1907 and built two cottages for rental purposes. Some of the family thought Mother took in boarders and aided the sick from necessity. (I do not agree.) I never heard Mother every say she received five cents for helping in any illness. In Castle Gate she went often to the little Italian neighbors when a new baby arrived. Relatives would call on her when there was an illness.

My memories of Father were always connected with his working in the Sunday School or Mutual Improvement Association. he always took us to Sunday School when home.

Family genealogy has a very special role in LDS lives. It seemed to be the custom for the eldest son to assume that duty, but not his right alone. Marineer W. Merrill was the first President of the Logan Temple, 1884-1908, and it was his duty to stimulate patrons in gathering their genealogies. Thomas E. Ricks, the eldest son of Joel Ricks, Sr. was a busy man with many responsibilities. he was away from Logan having been called in December 1882 to lead a colony to Upper Snake River. In February 1883 they reached the area and laid out a settlement at Rexburg, Idaho. After the Logan Temple opened, President Merrill asked Father about the family genealogy, and he mentioned that Thomas E. possibly expected to do it. President Merrill called Thomas E. in (I suppose he when he was in Logan on business) an discussed the matter. Thomas E. said, "Let Joel do it."

Prior to Grandfather's death in 1888 at a family gathering, he named Nathan and Hyrum (sons of Thomas E.) and Joel as a committee to be responsible for the family genealogy. The fact that Thomas E. was away may have been the reason for this assignment, but it also must have been discussed with Thomas E. by Grandfather. In a letter dated 1894 to Thomas Ashton of Salt Lake City regarding research, Joel asked if Thomas E. had made any arrangements with him for research; if he had, Mr. Ashton was to disregard the letter in hand. Joel had high regard for his elder brother and felt hesitant about assuming any duty that might be his. Father was thirty years old when his father died in 1888. So he was relatively young when Grandfather made the assignment for Nathan, Hyrum, and Joel to do the genealogy for the family, but they soon started the research.

A family reunion was held in 1897 when Hyrum wrote to Joel inviting him to come. Joel could not go but answered Hyrum's letter telling him what he had done in genealogy and what he planned to do in the following year. he reminded Hyrum of their responsibility to Grandfather and the family and of their obligation to do more about their genealogy. He said, "It is a duty I owe to Father to see this work done." Joel also mentioned that President Merrill had recently told him that he (Joel) had started the work and would be held responsible in large measure. I was glad to find this carbon copy in Dad's files as there was reference in another letter in which someone had told Dad he had no right to do the work, that he wasn't even a "Ricks." I could feel his hurt in that letter. Nathan, Hyrum and Joel were always good friends and about the same age. The two came to our home whenever they were in Logan. As a little girl, I remember their talking business. I did not know about genealogy then. I knew they supported Father in what he did. I felt very close to these two wonderful men.

Father wrote articles for the Deseret News and the local papers. At one time he owned the Logan Republican newspaper (bought in 1904), but sold it to Fred Turner for another job. He liked to discuss the Book of Mormon with other students such as Brother James E. Talmage and John A. Widsoe who exchanged material of interest. Father published several books and a map on the Book of Mormon. The church position was always that the truths in the Book of Mormon were its value not the geography. President Joseph F. Smith always encouraged Father in his studies.

Whenever Father crossed our country he was constantly looking for mounds that might be covering something or looking for things he had read about and would stop to investigate. He was well-informed and knew the Book of Mormon exceptionally well. He kept journals and made sketches frequently in them when on a trip. He was in demand for talks on the Book of Mormon and was an interesting speaker.

Mother died 2 January 1919. The two sons were in the service in World War I. Father had gone back to railroading as a cashier in the freight depot in Salt Lake City. Grandmother Cardon was living with us, and I was at home because my husband was also in the service. Mother had many things to give her concern. The day Paul left from school for the military, Mother suffered a slight stroke. With no word from him for months (flu and pneumonia had put him in the base hospital) Mother's condition worsened. Several strokes followed, each one more severe, resulted in her death.

Father did not want to close the family home and asked me to stay in it with Carrie. In October Father decided to marry again. This time to Mary Jane Williams, a widow with four children. In the spring of 1920 he decided to come to his little farm. After Mollie's children grew up and left, Mollie went to visit them in California and decided to stay. A divorce followed in April of 1937. Later he sold his home to Karl and Phebe Wood and lived with them.

Father filled a six-month mission in the south in 1926 at the age of 68. He made several trips to Virginia for the purpose of doing research for his family and other people. He extended the Martin line ten generations. He loved Eleanor Martin, his father's first wife. She was always so good to him. In 1936 at the age of 77 he spent two years in Virginia copying marriage bonds which in most places he found in bundles on the floors of vaults. It took a court order to give him permission to copy the bonds. He did not know how many there were when he promised to make a copy for the county if they would let him have them.

Brother Archibald Bennett, head of the Genealogical Department of the Church was told of his plan before Father left for Virginia, thinking that he might help to cover expenses if the Genealogical Society was interested. At the time, the Church could not spend the money for the work. After working for several months, he sent the bonds he had copied to them as a gift. A letter came back immediately asking him to send everything he could get of the kind, and they would get the money.

He made many friends through his work as evidenced in news articles at Richmond, Virginia and in the letter from Judge Ricks on his 80th birthday. He had known the Judge, a distant relative, for many years and was treated kindly by his entire family. They had him in their home numerous times. Father learned by experience and for a man with limited formal education, he left considerable information to assist in future research.

At age 79 he spent one winter in the Library in Los Angeles reading books on ancient America, making notes of interest in relation to his studies of the Book of Mormon. He then spent two months at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. He went to the Smithsonian Institute and asked for the persons who might be able to give him information and a list of books to read on archaeological developments in North and South America. They gave him a list of six books and told him to come back, and they would have more ready for him. He started for the library when he met the Senior Senator from Utah who knew him. The Senator went with Father to the Library and introduced him as a student from Utah and asked them to give him any help he needed. The Library gave him a special table to work at, showed him where the books he was interested in were located, and told him to take whatever he wanted, but he was not to replace the books, they would do that. He made notes of two hundred books that year. He told me that he found many ships came to the western hemisphere before or around the time of Columbus. If Father had been an educated man, he might have gone far. As it was, he left quite a record in the memory of people who enjoyed hearing him speak. He left the genealogical records he gathered for his family and private individuals as well as the marriage bonds of Virginia in the Utah Genealogical Society. He did temple work for his ancestors and helped many to whom he preached the principals of the gospel in an informal and friendly way. Judge Ricks expressed these thoughts in his letter to Father on his 80th birthday.

Sometimes children feel they have missed a lot or that too much was expected from a father who was away much of the time. More often a child is hurt by too much rather than too little. Father had so many interests and goals that he had to be frugal to accomplish half of them. Pioneers knew no other way. It had always been their life. Mother went along as she had grown up the same way. When Dad was at home, he never wanted to leave. I remember that he bought a surrey to take Mother out riding in the evenings after Carrie was born, as she was not well.

We always had plenty of food to eat, a warm home, and clean clothes to wear. I never remember asking for many things. We always ate our meals from a table covered with a white tablecloth. There was always a family prayer in the morning around the breakfast table. Everyone was expected to be there and dressed. We said an individual prayer at bedtime. I felt secure growing up in our home. I never heard my parents say an unkind word to each other.

Father frequently put his arms around Mother and kissed her in front of us, as he did to each of us quite often. He always did so when he came home or went away. When Father was at home, he often read aloud from the scriptures to Mother as she did mending in the evenings. The younger children listened until studies took them elsewhere. I was influenced by my listening. When Father was away, Mother read to us before bedtime. Father occasionally told us stories which I loved. Being a railroad man, Father saw to it that we were never late for anything. During the summers when he was away from the family, he took one of my sisters with him to keep house. It was a nice experience for them.

Father kept the unpleasant things of life to himself. As children if we ever brought news home, he would listen as we told Mother and if it had any hint of gossip, he would say, "Tut,tut" and we knew that we should not be telling it. So I never heard gossip in our home.

Among Father's letters and copies of correspondence, I found some which showed me a side of my Father I had not known regarding his feelings. One was a letter to Rhea when she went away to school at Provo for the first time. It was a sweet letter, one which any father might have written to any child going away from the nest for the first time. Then one to Joel who was with his Aunt Ester Wilson in Logan because of his health. Both were advice in conduct and keeping the standards taught by Mother.

I think my parents were always happier when living away from Logan because of the long and lasting friendships they made, and the appreciation shown by those friends to them for their kindness and aid with the youth wherever they lived or among the sick. Mother's cooperation and encouragement made it possible for Father to accomplish what he did in the Church and the community. She stands to share whatever recognition he might have earned.