Rich, Ben. E. (Benjamin Erastus), 1855-1913

Benjamin Erastus Rich was born in Salt Lake City on November 7, 1855, as one of the fifty-two children of Charles Coulson Rich (1809-1883). His mother was Rich's first wife, Sarah D. Pea (1814-1893). Ben Rich married Diana Farr in 1877 and went into business in Ogden. He participated in a mission to Great Britain from 1881-1883, and upon his return became an advocate of statehood for Utah, although he and his family moved to Rexburg, Idaho, in 1893. In Idaho Rich purchased what he called the Silver Hammer press and wrote a variety of pamphlets and a book, Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City (1893). From 1898 to 1908 he served as president of the Southern States Mission, and was later president of the Eastern States Mission until the time of his death in New York on September 13, 1913.

From the description of Letter to Sarah D. Pea, 1876, May 22. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 557553740

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