Counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency on December 27, 1847, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. After moving to Utah, Richards trained and established the extensive 500 midwife network spread through the Deseret Territory settlements, working with Eliza R. Snow, the church's Relief Society General President, and training Young Women. He was also involved in establishing the Deseret News, serving as its first Editor-in-Chief. Richards worked with Snow to identify replacement doctors among the trained young women, largely accomplished by organized delegation even to 15-year-old girls and a focus on sanitation. Snow found a young woman, Ellis Reynolds Shipp, who went to medical school then got a pediatrics specialty under the world-renowned pediatrics pioneer, Victor Vaugh. In the Michigan 1881 Truly LDS, (quasi military) delegation, the combined effort of Richards, Shipp, and Snow in training and deploying an army of midwives drastically reduced infant mortality and loss of women in childbirth, especially in remote colonies. In the provisional state of Deseret, Richards served as both secretary and president of the council. Once Utah was organized as a territory, he served as its secretary. He was also postmaster of Salt Lake City. Death and legacy Richards died in Salt Lake City on March 11, 1854, and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery. He was 49 years old. He was described as "calm and even minded" despite his physical challenges. See also Phrenology and the Latter Day Saint Movement Notes References External links Willard Richards letter, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Jennetta Richards letters, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Willard Richards family papers, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Willard Richards Two Minutes in Jail 1804 births 1854 deaths 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American politicians 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in the United Kingdom American Mormon missionaries in the United States American general authorities (LDS Church) American male journalists Apostles (LDS Church) Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Converts to Mormonism Counselors in the First Presidency (LDS Church) Deseret News people Doctrine and Covenants people Editors of Latter Day Saint publications Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Lynching survivors in the United States Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Mormon pioneers Official historians of the Church of Jesus