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Richards, Mary Haskin Parker, 1823-1860. Diary of Mary Haskin Parker Richards, 1846-1848.

Title: Diary of Mary Haskin Parker Richards, 1846-1848.

Typescript of a diary kept by Mary Haskin Parker Richards while her husband Samuel Richards was on his mission to Great Britain from 1846-1848. The diary begins on July 22, 1846 (the first four pages are missing), while Mary was traveling with Samuel's parents in a covered wagon through Iowa. Despite the hardships of travel and living much of the time in tents, Mary writes of enjoying her sewing, cooking, and caring for ill family members. She writes of attending a council between the Twelve and "the Natives," which included "10 Indians [and] two Chiefs" in December 1846. In February 1847 Mary ventured across the frozen Missouri River and stayed in an Indian village. She recounts seeing Mormons and Indians living side-by-side although not always peacefully. She happily recounts moving into a house in April 1847 for the first time since leaving Nauvoo in May 1846. "I rejoiced to think that after...living in a tent, and wandering from house to house to keep from perishing with the Cold, [and] suffering...every inconvenience...I had once more a place I could call my home," she wrote on April 29. Much of the diary is taken up with notes on Mary's domestic activities and her attendance of lectures and apparently fiery sermons by Mormon leaders. The final entry was made on May 14, 1848. There is a gap in the diary from August to November 1846.

ArchivalResource: 1 bound typescript, 69 pages.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/779637204 View

Richards, Mary Haskins Parker, 1825-1860. The memorandum of Mary H. Parker, ca. 1850.

Title: The memorandum of Mary H. Parker, ca. 1850.

Photocopy of a handwritten autobiographical account. Mary Richards writes about her conversion to the Mormon Church in England, resistance after her baptism, and talks a lot about her association with Heber C. Kimball, an apostle in the Mormon Church. Also included is a newspaper clipping which is an obituary of Phinehas Richards, Mary's father-in-law and an early settler of Sanpete County, Utah.

ArchivalResource: 2 items (12 pages).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122392551 View