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The Forgotten Odyssey of Obadiah H. Riggs: Early Pioneer for Education Reform
The Forgotten Odyssey of Obadiah H. Riggs: Early Pioneer for Education Reform
BY NEWELL G BRINGHURST AND FREDERICK S BUCHANAN
ON SEPTEMBER 14, 1907, a brief article on page three of the Deseret News noted the "Death of Dr. Riggs" whom it described as "one of the leading physicians of Kansas City." The News stated that the recently deceased Riggs had at one time been "quite prominent in Utah [as] superintendent of the public schools here."
Obadiah H. Riggs, despite achieving prominence first in Utah and later in the Midwest, is largely a forgotten figure. Also forgotten is that Riggs was the father-in-law of David O. McKay, ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mention of Riggs, albeit brief, is limited to specialized works on Utah education and to various biographical works concerned with the life and activities of David O McKay.1
Born July 6, 1843, near Library, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Obadiah Higbee Riggs was the tenth of eleven children He was raised in the Baptist faith and was well-educated, attending first Bethel Academy and then Currie Institute in Pittsburgh. Following graduation, he taught school before moving to Utah in 1864.2
After settling in Salt Lake City, Riggs left the Baptist church, joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in March 1866 He was confirmed by Heber C Kimball and shortly thereafter received his endowments. 3 Active in the Eighth Ward, he numbered among his close friends George Careless, noted musician and conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1869 to 1880, and Anthony W. Ivins, a future Mormon apostle and counselor in the First Presidency.
Meanwhile, Riggs met, courted, and married his first wife, sixteen-year-old Emma Louisa Robbins, on May 12, 1867, the ceremony being performed in the Salt Lake Endowment House.4 Emma Louisa was the daughter of John Rogers Robbins and Phoebe Ann Wright, both early converts to Mormonism. The Robbins family had originally migrated to San Francisco (where Louisa was born in 1850) with Samuel Brannan's 1846 contingent aboard the Brooklyn.5 Soon thereafter, the Robbinses joined the main body of Mormons in Salt Lake City, where John achieved economic success operating a lumber mill and as the owner of "considerable property in Park City."6
Following their marriage, Obadiah and Emma Louisa established their own residence at 56 North Second West, within the boundaries of the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward. In time they became the parents of six children—five sons and one daughter—born during the period 1868 to 1879.7
Meanwhile, Obadiah was called to serve as a missionary, being set apart in October 1868 For a year, he performed missionary service in the southeastern United States, mainly in Georgia and Virginia.8 The South, traditionally a challenging field of labor for Mormon missionaries, was particularly difficult immediately after the Civil War, with local residents suspicious of all outsiders during the period of Reconstruction but especially hostile towards Latter-day Saints.9 Despite this, Riggs labored diligently, demonstrating skills as an effective preacher.10
Obadiah then pursued his career as a teacher and educator, becoming a leading advocate of education reform. Beginning in 1870, he and his wife taught at the University of Deseret. He became principal of the preparatory department and adjunct professor of mathematics while she—one of the university's first female faculty members—served as an assistant in the preparatory department. Because of financial difficulties, the university terminated both contracts after just one year. Despite leaving the university, Riggs promoted reform at that institution, calling for a Department of Normal Instruction which was finally established in 1875-76. 11
Riggs promoted other education reforms as well. He organized a territorial Normal Institute which met annually for a number of years beginning in 1870 He also helped organize the Deseret Teachers Association, forerunner to the present Utah Education Association, and as its president advocated establishment of "a proper system of free schools in the territory."12 This placed him at direct odds with Brigham Young who adamantly opposed tax-supported schools.
Obadiah Riggs exerted his greatest impact on school reform as Superintendent of Schools for the territory beginning in April 1874. His appointment generated controversy from the very beginning Territorial Governor George L. Woods initially sought Riggs as a replacement for incumbent Robert L. Campbell. Although Campbell had performed competently, Governor Woods favored Riggs, whom he considered better trained professionally and a stronger advocate of school reform.13 Moreover, at the time, Riggs was serving as principal of the Salt Lake City Fourteenth Ward School, giving him practical, first-hand experience.
But Riggs's appointment, requiring approval by the territorial legislative council, was rejected. Angered, Governor Woods accused the legislature of reducing his powers of appointment to "a nullity." The whole conflict revolved around the basic question of who was in charge of Utah's schools and, more important, territorial affairs in general, Utah's gentile governor or the Mormon-dominated territorial legislature? At this point Riggs was simply a pawn in this larger conflict, but in time his own actions would further aggravate divisions between Mormons and gentiles over other education issues.
Ironically, Riggs did become territorial superintendent in April 1874, due to Campbell's sudden death. Governor Woods made the appointment through a commission not requiring approval of the territorial legislature, thus circumventing that body. The new superintendent's role and powers were enhanced by his concurrent role as Salt Lake County Superintendent of Schools—the latter post being held from 1874 to 1876.14
Riggs promoted a number of important, sometimes controversial reforms. He supported territorial legislation, enacted in 1874, calling for territorial assistance in the financing of public education. Prior to that time school trustees on the local level were solely responsible for levying school taxes—a "very inadequate" source of revenue. The 1874 law provided for the public allocation of $15,000 annually (raised to $25,000 in 1876) to provide adequate funding for school districts throughout Utah. This shift to territorial assistance marked "the beginning of a new era in school finance for Utah."15
Superintendent Riggs also promoted consolidation. In his "Territorial Report for 1874-75" he asserted that districts "that now have two, three, four or five small school houses, and as many mixed schools in which but little comparatively can be accomplished, should have but one large commodious public school house in a central location, and containing a sufficient number of rooms that all of the children of the place could be admitted into the grades for which they are qualified." Such a system would be more economical and efficient. Not until 1890, however, was this progressive notion adopted. Within Salt Lake County, Riggs promoted local consolidation through his bluntly worded 1876 Report to the County Court of Salt Lake County. He pointed with alarm to the problem of low attendance which he attributed to the county's existing system of small, over-crowded facilities.16
Riggs also called for standardization of public school textbooks, stating "that the multiplicity of textbooks in the territory has retarded the progress of the schools and has caused thousands of dollars annually to be thrown away." Sensitive to this problem, the territorial legislature convened a special convention to consider the matter This gathering agreed that the textbooks would not be changed for a period of five years. 17
As territorial superintendent, Riggs advocated other educational reforms, outlined in his Biennial Report of the Territorial Superintendent of Common Schools, for the years 1874-75. Among these was a need for better trained teachers "With but few exceptions, our teachers are ill qualified to occupy [their] responsible positions," he warned, adding that "ignorant, unskilled teacher [s] may both misform and misinform the mind, injure the sensibilities, and dwarf the character of the child, and thus sap the very foundation of his usefulness and happiness." There was also a "critical need" to improve the quality of teacher training at the University of Deseret through the establishment of "a permanent Chair of Education." He also recommended that all county school superintendents judge the qualifications of teacher applicants utilizing local boards of examination. Such procedures would awaken the teachers affected "from a degree of lethargy, and [plant] within them a desire to become more efficient in the art of instruction."18
The new territorial superintendent also called for an increase in the pay of county school superintendents and school trustees to enable these officers "to devote more of their time in visiting the schools in their midst." Additionally, he advocated establishment of teacher institutes in each county to better train and monitor teacher performance. Finally, he recommended that the territorial superintendent, acting jointly with county superintendents, "have the power to decide what texts shall be used in the schools."19
Superintendent Riggs supported his crusade for educational reform with reports issued in the wake of periodic personal visits to public schools throughout the territory. On occasion, the reports could be very complimentary to those schools and teachers measuring up to expected standards. For instance, after visiting the district schools of Ogden, Riggs praised the local superintendent, Louis F. Moench, giving him "a large amount of the credit for the present good Schools of Weber County." Riggs was similarly impressed with facilities in the nearby rural mountain community of Huntsville.20
To the south, in Spanish Fork, Riggs was also ebullient in his praise. That community's two school districts each contained "a small but comfortable schoolhouse . . . well-filled with pupils, who appear much interested in their work" and "instructed in accordance with the most approved methods." The select school was taught by George H Brimhall, characterized in the report as "a teacher of superior ability."21
But Riggs could be critical as well. In evaluating conditions in Weber county, he noted "there are two good schools in Harrisville" but one "has half a bushel of dirt on the floor"; and at the nearby rural Eden school, he commented that the teacher, while possessing "considerable natural ability," would be much more effective "if she had a thorough normal school training." After visiting a school in another northern Utah community, Slaterville, he reported that the teacher was an old gentleman "who makes no pretension to the profession of teacher."22
And after visiting Springville to the south, Riggs stated: "The office of a true teacher did not crop out very prominently in any of the public schools." However, he reserved his harshest criticism for Provo's schools. Since Provo, as the county seat of Utah County, was "under the direct influence" of County Superintendent W. A. Dusenberrry and of the Branch University (Timpanogos Academy), Riggs expected its schools to be "in a much more prosperous condition than other places less favored." Rather, one of the local schools reminded him of a "rat pit—with nests all around the walls." The furnishings and teaching methods were so out-of-date "that they might have been approved twenty years ago, but not in this age of progress." Riggs also assailed the Timpanogos Branch of the University, stating, "If they would consent to throw away the name 'University,' which is simply a fraud as applied to their high school and establish the graded system, have the primary classes taught in the Ward school-houses, and academic departments taught in the University building, much good might be accomplished and no additional expense."23
Taken collectively, Riggs's varied reform proposals were pointed, often provocative Many of them were in fact implemented during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but in the short run they generated criticism and opposition from affected individuals and groups. In particular, Riggs was assailed for his April 1876 decision on textbook adoption. Leading the attack was high Mormon official John Taylor, then president of the Council of the Twelve, but acting through his position as chairman of the Territorial Legislature Education Committee.24 Taylor pressured Riggs to reverse his decision to adopt the Pacific Reader series published by Hubert Howe Bancroft of San Francisco. Taylor urged adoption of a reader published by AS. Barnes, an eastern publisher, justifying his choice on the basis of its cheaper price. Taylor admonished Riggs privately while seeking backing for his position from other church leaders, including apostles Orson Pratt, Joseph F Smith, Wilford Woodruff, and Samuel Richards.25
Riggs responded by publicly refuting Taylor's assertions Through the Salt Lake Daily Herald, he presented a detailed, carefully reasoned justification of the Bancroft readers. The gentile-owned Salt Lake Tribune stepped into the controversy, praising Riggs for his public refutation of Taylor on this issue.26
In early 1877 Riggs became embroiled in even deeper controversy resulting from a report he submitted to the Salt Lake City Council, advocating major changes in the city's crowded school system. He called for the building of six new school houses, each with twelve classrooms and each capable of accommodating seven hundred students, and he proposed that the estimated $5,000 cost of each building be financed through a city school tax of 1/4 of one percent. The Tribune applauded Riggs's efforts to upgrade the city's schools, viewing it as a means of eliminating public school dependency on church meetinghouses in which virtually all of the city's schools held their classes. The Mormon-dominated Salt Lake City Council, however, responded to the proposal by tabling it.27
Brigham Young was even more hostile In a discourse delivered in April 1877 at the semi-annual church conference held in the recently completed St. George Temple, Young condemned what he termed so-called "free schools." The aging Mormon leader stated that he was "opposed to free education as much as I am opposed to taking away property from one man and giving it to another man who knows not how to take care of it." He expressed opposition to "free schools by taxation," likening this process to "allowing my charities to go through the hands of a set of robbers who pocket nine-tenths themselves and give one-tenth to the poor." Young, moreover, brushed aside Riggs's argument of need with the assertion that "On the whole we have as good as school-houses as can be found."28
The "free school crusade" was brought to a sudden end in April 1877 when church officials called Riggs to serve as a Mormon missionary in Great Britain The ever-critical Salt Lake Tribune saw sinister motives, characterizing this development as a Mormon plot to both punish Riggs and sabotage the larger free school movement. "The punishment inflicted upon School Superintendent Riggs for joining in the incendiary cry, 'Give us school houses,'" the Tribune proclaimed, [was] "deportation."29
The precise feelings of Obadiah Riggs about the whole affair are unknown. With biting sarcasm, the Tribune had characterized Riggs as "a lightweight ecclesiastically" who had dared to oppose "the spiritual thunders launched at his head." This same publication dubbed Riggs's nemesis, John Taylor, "a lightweight educationally."30 Taylor, in fact, succeeded Riggs as Territorial Superintendent of Education. His selection signaled a significant change in several ways. Most immediate was that, for the first time, the superintendent was directly elected by the voters of the territory due to a change in Utah's territorial laws whereby the option to appoint was removed from the territorial governor. Duly elected, Taylor served as superintendent, concurrently with his duties as president of the Council of the Twelve, from 1877 to 1881 After becoming church president in 1881, Taylor was succeeded as territorial superintendent by L. John Nuttall, his son-in-law.31
Obadiah, meanwhile, quietly and without apparent complaint, accepted his call to perform missionary service. He departed Utah in earlyJuly 1877, arriving in Liverpool two weeks later In early August he was appointed to labor as a traveling elder in the Manchester Conference. Then, just a month later, he was released from his mission "on account of sickness." Leaving England, he "remained some time" in the eastern states before returning to his home and family in Utah.32
The activities and movements of Obadiah Riggs in the years immediately following his short sojourn in England are more difficult to trace, but he continued to be an outspoken proponent of education reform. In an 1881 essay titled "The School Question" and published in The Contributor, a Mormon periodical, Riggs called "improvement of the school .. . a matter of the greatest importance," advocating a number of sweeping reforms. First, he favored limiting the elective franchise to individuals demonstrating both "good moral character" and the ability to pass an examination in the areas of reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, the American Constitution, and American history. Such a requirement would enhance the importance of the public schools, in that they would assume a central role both in preparing prospective voters and nurturing an enlightened informed citizenry. Second, he promoted proper training of competent teachers as "the reciprocal obligation of the State." No new candidates should be admitted to the teaching profession "who have not availed themselves of the means supplied by the State of qualifying themselves, and succeeded in attaining the necessary qualifications." Third, to attract competent, qualified teachers, he called for a significant increase in teacher salaries combined with adequate pensions. Finally, he advocated uniform, consistent, high standards in all of the schools throughout the territory, from the lowest primary grades through the university, so that "the certificate of any school might be recognized in any corresponding, or next advanced grade anywhere in the State or Territory." Riggs conceded that his proposed reforms "may appear like the impractical dreams of a visionary," but he asserted that they had "a foundation in recognized principals [sic] of our civilization" and admonished his readers to "seize upon them and hasten their realization."33
Perhaps because of his outspoken views, Riggs did not return to the field of education He encountered apparent difficulties in finding a new occupation to adequately provide for his family. By the late 1870s he had apparently entered the mercantile profession; in early 1880 he was licensed by officials of Salt Lake City to do business as "Riggs 8c Young."34 Later that same year his occupation was shown as "Machine Agent" in the 1880 United States Census The Utah Gazetteer listed him as a "commission merchant" in 1884 and as a "drummer" or "travelling salesman" in 1885.35
Meanwhile, Obadiah continued to be active in the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward as a member of the High Priests Quorum He was also an involved member of the Salt Lake Stake Sunday School Union, traveling throughout the territory on Sunday School business, and he signed the 1881-82 constitution for the Seventh Ward Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. Thus his allegiance to Mormonism remained strong into the 1880s.36
Riggs's commitment to his faith was most evident in his willingness to enter into plural marriage. On June 3, 1882, thirty-eight-year old Riggs married his first plural wife, twenty-seven-year-old Annie Wilson, in the Salt Lake Endowment House. The marriage did not last, however, with the couple apparently divorcing within two years. 37
Undaunted, Riggs took a second plural wife, twenty-four-year-old Almina Wilson, on August 30, 1884. Almina was actually the half-sister of his first plural wife, Annie. This marriage was longer-lasting, with Obadiah and Almina becoming the parents of a daughter, Lisle, born June 17, 1885.38
Riggs's entry into polygamy had unforeseen, unwelcome consequences In addition to losing his plural wife, Annie, Obadiah also saw his first wife, Emma Louisa, leave and ultimately divorce him.39 By 1893 he was no longer listed as living in the same residence as Emma Louisa, and a year later she was listed in the Utah Gazetteer as "the widow of Obadiah Riggs." Actually, Obadiah Riggs was very much alive, having left Utah by the early 1890s He also left behind Almina and Lisle who took up residence near Almina's parents in Payson. Almina, however, encountered both personal and financial difficulties, causing her to commit suicide on April 16, 1897. She had reportedly "tried to find her own support by teaching school." Failing this, she had moved in with her mother, just prior to taking her life.40
Obadiah Riggs also terminated his involvement with the Mormon church Presumably, he was excommunicated, although the exact date is unknown.41 Also unknown are the precise reasons for his disaffection. They quite possibly had their origins in his earlier conflicts with John Taylor and other high church officials. Also, the problems he encountered in practicing polygamy undoubtedly undermined his commitment to Mormonism
Riggs traveled first to New York City where he lived while attending medical school at the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. After graduation, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he located his practice in 1892, listing himself as a "Physician: Rupture Specialist." Some two years later, then fifty-one, he married for a fourth time. His new bride was nineteen-year old Hattie Fruhauf. They became the parents of a daughter, Marie, born in November 1895.42
Meanwhile, Riggs became interested in the Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He attended one of their meetings while visiting the 1893 Columbian World's Exposition in Chicago, actually meeting with that denomination's principal leader, Joseph Smith III, the son of Mormonism's founding prophet. On September 1, 1895, Obadiah and his wife joined the Reorganized church, baptized by Rudolph Etzenhouser during an RLDS reunion held at Limerick, Ohio. Etzenhouser also confirmed Riggs, aided by Israel A. Smith, the son ofJoseph Smith III. Six months later, the new convert was ordained an Elder. He worked to build up the Reorganized church in Cincinnati, and he frequently attended the annual RLDS conferences each April in Independence, Missouri, often being the house guest ofJoseph Smith III.43
Meanwhile, Dr. Riggs prospered in his medical practice. Also during this period, two children from his marriage to Emma Louisa joined him in Cincinnati. By 1898 his youngest son, Lawrence, was living near him and attending medical school. After completing his medical training in 1900, the younger Riggs joined his father's medical practice. Also in 1898, Obadiah's oldest daughter, Emma Ray, followed in her brother's footsteps, moving from Salt Lake to Cincinnati in the wake of her mother's death and her own graduation from the University of Utah. Emma Ray's apparent reason for moving to the Midwest was to study piano at the Cincinnati College of Music, but she returned home within less than a year. 44
Back in Utah, Emma Ray was courted by David O. McKay, following the latter's return from a church mission to Scotland The young couple had first met in 1896 when McKay rented a cottage from Emma Louisa Riggs while attending the University of Utah. Their relationship developed during a one-year period when David O. and Emma Ray corresponded This was followed by a short courtship, with David O. proposing in early December 1900.45 McKay then wrote Obadiah Riggs asking permission to marry his daughter.46 Riggs apparently gave his consent, although no letter survives to that effect. A subsequent letter does survive, in which Riggs gave his daughter some rather revealing advice on marital harmony:
He then concluded: "I am very happy to know that you truly love this Bro. David O. McRay [sic] . . . God bless you both."47 Emma Ray Riggs and David O McKay were married on January 2, 1901, in the Salt Lake Temple.
Also in 1901, Obadiah, Hattie, and their daughter Marie moved from Cincinnati to Independence, Missouri.48 The reasons for this move are not clear, although Riggs allegedly expressed "a long cherished hope ... to live in Zion and be found among the faithful" members of the Reorganized church.49 He built a "handsome home" on the corner of Electric and West Short streets, just across the street from the home of Joseph Smith III He reestablished his medical practice in nearby Kansas City; over the next six years he duplicated his earlier success in Cincinnati, becoming one of the "leading physicians of Kansas City."50
Riggs maintained close communications with his extended family, particularly his son Lawrence, who remained in Cincinnati, and with various members of his wife's family He also stayed in contact with daughter Emma Ray in Utah, and through her, son-in-law David O. McKay. Riggs, in fact, wrote McKay an extremely cordial letter of congratulations upon his elevation to the Council of the Twelve in April 1906. In addressing McKay as "My Dear Son," the RLDS Elder expressed extreme pride that "my son David has been made an apostle in the Utah Church." He also reminisced, "An old Patriarchal blessing on me stated that I would be an associate with apostles. It may be as that prediction has not been fulfilled in me, that satisfaction may come out in another member of the family." He then signed his letter "Pater Familias, O H Riggs."51
Such patriarchal pride was short-lived, for less than two years later, on September 11, 1907, Obadiah Riggs died at his home in Independence. His death at age 64 came as the result of complications from "a form of pneumonia" brought on by injuries sustained in a fall at his home. He was eulogized by Joseph Smith III, who preached his funeral sermon, as a man of "splendid physique" and as a "kindly, dignified, circumspect Christian" who "felt satisfied religiously only when he had accepted the 'restored gospel.'" 5 2 Riggs was interred in the RLDS Cemetery at Mound Grove in Independence His final resting place is a plot very near the graves reserved for and occupied by the family of Joseph Smith III whom Obadiah Riggs had admired and respected. The two had been extremely close during the latter years of Riggs's life.
As a historical figure, Obadiah Riggs is noteworthy for several reasons. First, he was a leading, often outspoken advocate of education reform in Utah Although he had limited immediate success, many of his proposals were ultimately implemented. In the words of one writer, Riggs's role as "an agitator" was perhaps "more important to progress than that of facilitator."53 As a proponent of reform, moreover, he undoubtedly influenced his oldest daughter, Emma Ray, and through her, David O McKay The latter became noted for his own progressive ideas on educational reform and was in a much better position to implement them than Riggs had been a generation earlier.
Second, Riggs's life represents a fascinating odyssey of the trials and tribulations of a colorful nineteenth-century Utah pioneer His difficulty in finding adequate means of livelihood, after having been precluded from returning to his chosen profession of education, was not unlike that of many residents of the Great Basin, particularly during the economic hard times of the late nineteenth century. His later achievement of economic success, both in a different geographic setting and the completely different profession of medicine, is remarkable, given the depressed state of the larger American economy during the 1890s.
Finally, Obadiah Riggs's religious odyssey, occurring within the context of the larger Latter-day Saint movement, provides illuminating insights into the movement founded byJoseph Smith in 1830. Specifically, Obadiah's initial deep devotion and strong commitment to Utah Mormonism, giving way to disaffection that in turn was followed by an equally strong commitment to the Reorganized church, underscore not only sharp sectarian divisions but also the complexities and ambiguities of Mormonism's varied beliefs, doctrines, and practices. These considerations make the colorful, complex odyssey of Obadiah Higbee Riggs well worth remembering.
NOTES
Newell G Bringhurst is an instructor of history and political science at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. Frederick S. Buchanan is Professor Emeritus of Educational Studies, University of Utah An earlier version of this essay was presented at the annual meeting of the John Whitmer Historical Society in Independence, Missouri, on September 28, 1996 The authors express special thanks to Craig L Foster of the Latter-day Saints Family History Center; Ronald Romig, archivist for the Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; the staff of the archives of the Church ofJesus Christ of Latterday Saints; and the staffs of both the library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah State Historical Society for assistance in the preparation of this work.
1 See for example: Ralph V Chamberlin, The University of Utah: A History of Its First Hundred Years, ed Harold W Bendy (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, I960), pp 67-69, 89, 94, 105-06, 591-92; Joh n Clifton Moffitt, A Century of Service: A History of the Utah Education Association, 1860-1960 (Salt Lake City: Utah Education Association, 1961), pp 30, 34, 39-41, 94, 282-83, 418, 511-13; Joh n Clifton Moffitt, The History of Public Education in Utah (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1946), pp 82-3, 113, 204, 257, 263-64; Jeanette McKay Morrell, Highlights in the Life of President David O. McKay (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1966), p. 32; Llewelyn R. McKay, Home Memories of President David O. McKay (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1956), pp 9, 171; David Lawrence McKay, My Father, David O. McKay, ed Lavina Fielding Anderson (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), pp 1-2, 6-7, 40.
2 "Pedigree Chart" and "Family Group Record" for Obadiah Higbee Riggs, Family History Center, Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; "Obadiah H Riggs" entry in Susan Easton Black, comp., Early Members of the Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 5:109-110.
3 'Journal of the Historian's Office," March 29, 1866, and August 11, 1886, Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter LDS Archives) give March 28, 1866, as the date of his baptism. However, the "Family Group Record" indicates that Riggs was baptized April 3, 1866.
4 'Journal of the Historian's Office," May 12, 1867, LDS Archives.
5 For an excellent discussion of the Brooklyn voyage, including mention of the Joh n Rogers Robbins family involvement in this venture, see Loren K Hansen, 'Voyage of the Brooklyn," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 21 (Autumn 1988): 46-72 The Joh n Rogers Robbins family endure d particular hardship, losing two sons, George Edward, age six, and Joh n Franklin, age one, during the long voyage from New York to San Francisco.
6 Kate B Carter, ed., Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958-77), 3: 573, quoting the recollections of Maud Bliss Allen.
7 Utah Gazetteer and Directory of Logan, Ogden, Provo, and Salt Lake Citiesfor 1884, ed and comp by Robert W. Sloan (Salt Lake City: Herald Printing and Publishing Co., 1884), p. 568; "Family Group Record" for Obadiah Higbee Riggs.
8 "Journal of the Historian's Office," April 9, 1868; Octobe r 1, 1868, LDS Archives; "Journal History," entries for April 5, May 18, and May 25, 1869, Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
9 William W Hatch, There is No Law A History of Mormon Civil Relations in the Southern States, 1865-1905 (New York: Vantage Press, 1968); LaMar C Berrett, "History of the Southern States Mission, 1831-1861" (master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960); Newell G. Bringhurst, Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People within Mormonism (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1981).
10 Theodore B Lewis, Diaries, 1868-1925, entries for Jun e 7, 8, 9, 13, 24, July 7, 11, 23, 1869, MSS 1485, reel 31, LDS Archives; Deseret News, May 25, 1969.
11 Chamberlin, University of Utah, pp 68, 106.
12 Joseph Kenneth Davies, Deseret's Sons of Toil: A History of the Worker Movements of Territorial Utah, 1852-1896 (Salt Lake City: Olympus Publishing Co., 1977), pp 30-31, and Joh n Clifton Moffitt, A Century of Service, 1860-1960: A History of the Utah Education Association (Salt Lake City: Uta h Education Association, 1961) Thes e two sources disagree over the question of when the Deseret Teachers Association was founded Davies asserts that a Deseret School Teachers Association was evident as early as July 1861 but was apparently inactive until 1872 when it reappeared as the Deseret Teachers Association, p 48; Moffitt allegedly quotes Riggs: "In 1870, a Territorial Teachers Association was organized, which is still [1875] in existence," p 30.
13 Message of Governor George L Woods, February 14, 1874, "Messages of the Governors," typescript, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City For an overview of Campbell and his professional activities, see Frederick S Buchanan, "Robert Lang Campbell: 'A Wise Scribe in Israel' and Schoolman to the Saints," Brigham Young University Studies 29 (Summer 1989): 6-27.
14 Chamberlin, University of Utah, p 592; Moffitt, A Century of Service, p 282.
15 Joh n Clifton Moffitt, The History of Public Education in Utah (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1946), pp 112-13.
16 These reports are quoted in Moffitt, A Century of Service, pp 282—84.
17 Salt Lake Herald, September 24, 1876.
18 Typescript excerpt of original report in Utah State Archives.
19 Ibid.
20 Deseret News, June 22, 1875.
21 Ibid, February 27, 1875.
22 Ibid, June 22, 1875.
23 Ibid.
27 Salt Lake Herald, August 15, 1876.
28 "Journal of the Historian's Office," May 3, 4, August 12, 1876, LDS Archives.
29 Salt Lake Herald, September 24, 1876; Salt Lake Tribune, August 16, October 1, 1876.
27 Salt Lake Tribune, March 23, April 4, 1877.
28 Journal ofDiscourses, 26 vols (Liverpool: Joseph F Smith, 1877), 18: 357.
29 Salt Lake Tribune, April 24, 1877.
30 Ibid, October 1, 1876.
31 Moffitt, The History of Public Education in Utah, pp 82-83.
32 The Millennial Star, August 6, August 20, September 24, November 22, 1877.
ss The Contributor, May 1881, pp 243-46.
34 Deseret News, February 28, 1880, reporting on Salt Lake City Council meeting of February 24.
35 By the late 1880s Riggs was providing for his family as "a travelling salesman [for] a California tea firm." Deseret News, April 27, 1897.
36 Seventeenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, Historical Records and Minutes, "High Priests Group Roll Books, 1879-82," and "Constitution for the YMMIA, 1881-82," LDS Archives.
37 Obadiah H Riggs, Marriage Record, International Genealogical Index, Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Actually, her name was Annie Wilson Millar—Millar having been her name from a previous marriage.
38 David Wilson and Rachel Prisilla Loveless, Family Group Sheet, Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Obadiah H Riggs, Marriage Record U.S Census, 1900, Payson, Utah County Also Payson Ward Records, #413, Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
39 This according to information given by David O. McKay family members to Lavina Fielding Anderson, Salt Lake City Telephone conversation, Lavina Fielding Anderson and Newell G Bringhurst, March 7, 1995.
40 Deseret News, April 27, 1897.
41 Riggs's excommunication is suggested in Ann Ellis, "O.H Riggs, Territorial Superintendent, 1874-1877," term paper, History of Education course taught by Frederick S Buchanan, University of Utah, n d., in author's possession.
42 Williams's Cincinnati Directories (Cincinnati: Cincinnati Directory Office, 1893-1900); "Obadiah H Riggs" entry in Susan Easton Black, comp., Early Members of the Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University), 5:110 Also "Membership Record Book," p 69, Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as cited in letter from R M Porter to Frederick S Buchanan, May 11, 1993 (copy in authors' possession); United States Census, 1900, Cincinnati, Hamilton County.
43 "The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (1832-1914)," The Saints Herald, October 3, 1936, p. 1233; "Obadiah H Riggs" entry in Black, comp., Early Members of the Reorganized Church; "Membership Record Book," p 69, as cited in Porter letter; Joseph Smith III to Lucy Y Smith, April 21, 1898, and Joseph Smith III to Israel A Smith, undecipherable date, 1900, Miscellaneous Letters and Papers, P13, f580 and f653, Archives, Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Independence, Missouri (hereafter RLDS Archives).
44 Rudolp h Etzenhouser to William H Kelley, September 4, 1895, RLDS Archives; Williams's Cincinnati Directories; McKay, Home Memories of President David O. McKay, pp 171-72.
45 The most detailed account of David O and Emma Ray Riggs's courtship is "A Love Story" contained in David Lawrence McKay, My Father, David 0. McKay, pp 1-16.
46 David O. McKay to Obadiah H. Riggs, December 9, 1900, as reprinted in ibid, p. 7.
47 Obadiah H Riggs to Emma Ray Riggs, December 9, 1900, as reprinted in ibid.
48 As suggested by both The Independence Examiner, September 12, 1907, and The Saints Herald, vol 57, p 899, who in their obituaries of Obadiah Riggs refer to "Dr Lawrence Riggs of Cincinnati."
49 The Saints Herald, vol 57, p 899 Joseph Smith III to Lucy Y (Smith) Lysinger, July 18, 1906, Miscellaneous Letters and Papers, P13, f873; Joseph Smith III to Audentia Anderson, December 4, 1906, Joseph Smith III Papers, P15, f22, both in RLDS Archives.
50 Hoyes CityDirectory of Kansas City, Missouri, 1901-1906; Deseret News, September 14, 1907.
51 Obadiah H Riggs to David O McKay, April 9, 1906, as quoted in David Lawrence McKay, My Father, David O. McKay, p 40.
52 The Saints Herald, vol 57, p. 899.
53 Ann W. Elis, "O.H. Riggs, Territorial Superintendent 1874-1877" p. 9.
