I, John Willmott Richins, son of Charles Wager and Anges Mary Willmott Richins, was born September 13, 1895, at Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico. I was the 29th child in a family of thirty children born to my father. My father had three wives: 1st – Louisa Shill, 2nd – Esther Stowe Ovard, and 3rd – Agnes Mary Willmott. I am a son of Agnes Willmott – being the ninth child in my mother’s family.
Like Nephi of old, having been born of goodly parents, I have a noble heritage and sincerely trust that I can do honor to the name which my father gave to me. I was almost eight years old when my father passed away August 27, 1903. After my father’s death, mother with her family moved into Diaz. I attended grade school in Colonia Diaz, but I did not have the privilege of further schooling.
Mother’s family consisted of ten children. They are as follows: Jesse Willmott, Eunice Ann, Edward Byron, Lois Elizabeth, Agnes Priscilla, Bertha Louisa, Beatrice, Charles Richard, John Willmott, and Roxie Eliza. My brother Jesse and sisters Eunice, Lois and Agnes were all married by 1910. This made my sister Beatrice the oldest at home. I was six weeks old when my brother Byron was dragged to death by a horse on October 27, 1895. I worked out on the ranch a good deal riding the range and fence lines even though I was just a boy.
Life in Mexico
The year of 1910 the government in Mexico was very unstable because a revolution was going on between Francisco I Maders and the Diaz regime. This [built up] up to a boiling point. The government was unable to cope with the numerous rebellions and uprising, which made living conditions hazardous and uncertain for all of us living in a foreign country with rebellions within her borders.
I well remember two American men who were killed by desperadoes. William (Bill) Adams [was] shot in the door yard of the Bishop’s home. His wife was already a corpse lying inside the house. A man by the name of James D. Harvey was shot and killed while irrigating out in the field. On both occasions I was sent as a messenger to our ranch and to the neighboring Richardson ranch and others in that vicinity telling them to come into town for safety.
Another time, two or three boys went across the river to our farm to get a load of feed for our animals. They drove the wagon and I rode one of my horses. I had borrowed a saddle from Loi’s husband, Hyrum Mortensen. It was a beautiful and a very expensive saddle. We stopped to take a swim in the river. I tied my horse to the hayrack while we were in swimming. When we went back from our swim someone [had] cut the rope and had ridden the horse away. I hunted a night and a day before I found the horse, but it was minus the saddle and bridle. I never did find the saddle and of course the only right thing to do was to pay for the saddle, which I did.
On July 26, 1912, [Stake] President Romney received an order from General Salazar to meet him at Casas Grandes, Mexico for an interview. There Brother Romney was told by General Salazar that he and General Orosco had decided to take from the colonist all their arms and ammunition. With 2,000 rebels in the neighborhood of [Colonia] Dublan and other thousands coming this way, the colonists decided to turn over to the rebels their old guns and range guns. If they failed to do this, the rebels threatened to attack the colonists in the same way that they would attack the Federals. This meant that the women and children were in great danger if this rebel threat was carried out. However, the colonists had pistols and a quantity of ammunition. Imagine our feelings, when we at Diaz learned that Dublan had turned their firearms over to our enemy. A meeting was called and at this meeting it was decided to send all the women and children of the Mormon colonies out of Mexico into the United States. Even [then] some of the colonies were in the possession of the rebel forces whose leaders were swearing vengeance against the colonists. It was decided that the best thing for us to do would be to turn our guns over to the rebels. However, while the guns were being collected the rebels were looting the homes of the colonists. What a collection of guns this was! Some of them [were] rusty with age, others with hammers gone and still others whose barrels were rusty [from] long disuse. None of the community arms imported from the United States fell into the hands of the rebels because all were safely hidden away.
Exodus from Mexico
On July 28, at 4:00 a.m., Levi L. Tenney came from Dublan with a letter from President Romney addressed to Bishop Ernest Romney advising all of us to leave immediately for the States. Mother, Beatrice and Roxie were visiting in [Colonia] Juarez with my sister Agnes Clayson. They were making wedding plans for Beatrice’s marriage to Henry L. Smith. The day of the Exodus my mother, sisters, and brother-in-law Jesse A. Clayson left for El Paso, Texas with other men, women and children from all the upper colonies of Dublan and Juarez. I helped women and children from all places I could gather what things they could find and helped them on their way. We [only took] a few necessities and had to leave all of our belongings in our homes. Many choice things that had crossed the ocean with our parents and passed on to us for safekeeping were left behind. After turning the livestock loose and opening the chicken coop door, I hurried over to help my brother Jesse’s family get loaded into a wagon. Jesse was nearly a hundred miles south of Diaz working on a railroad. Eunice and James, Lois and Hyrum and their families, together with all the families in the town of [Colonia] Diaz, went northward by team and wagon to the International border and into the United States.
The first night after entering the United States we camped about 18 miles from the border. The second night out we were camped at Dog Springs. It was at Dog Springs that a rancher drained a fishpond and gave us all the fish we could use. The rancher wanted to re-stock the pond with a better grade of fish, so he saw a good opportunity to put these fish to good use. They were graciously accepted. The next night some ranchers drove a big fat beef into camp. It was killed and distributed among the families. Those men were certainly generous. We camped at Dog Springs for three or four days and then we moved on to Hachita, New Mexico.
After we arrived at Hachita, there were two large beefs brought in. They were killed and distributed to all in the camp by ranchers living in that vicinity. At Hachita, the United States government furnished tents and provisions to help the people until they could establish themselves or go to some other destination. It looked like a regular tent city.
Life After Mexico
After staying at Hachita for about two weeks, Eunice and James and their family and I went to El Paso, Texas, to be with mother and other members of the family. On August 17, 1912, Beatrice was married to Henry Lunt Smith in El Paso, Texas. Soon after, Mother, Roxie and I, together with Eunice, James and their family, left for Henefer, Utah. Mother had lived in Henefer before she went to Mexico in 1887. We arrived in Henefer in time to help with the hay harvest. How well I remember the big sore blisters I had on my hands from using the pitchfork. We stayed the winter in Henefer.
December of 1913, Mother, Roxie, and I went to Richfield, Utah to be with my brother Jesse and his family. At this time Eunice, James and family left Henefer to go to Tucson, Arizona and later to Deming, New Mexico. Mother, Roxie and I stayed in Richfield, Utah until April 1914. We then left to go to join Eunice and James who were living in Deming, New Mexico. James had a blacksmith shop where he did work for the mining company at Deming. While we were in Deming, George Richins and I went to the Hachita ranch and rounded up all the horses we had brought out of Mexico and drove them to Deming and sold them.
The fall of 1914 we went to Oakley, Idaho where my brother Jesse and his family had moved and had taken up a homestead.
After being at Oakley, Idaho a year or more, Mother, Roxie and I moved to Burley, Idaho, where we lived until the spring of 1920. We then moved to Provo, Utah to live with my sister Agnes and [her] husband Jesse Clayson. I went to work in a tire vulcanizing shop and later became part owner with Agnes’s husband Jesse Alvin Clayson. This partnership continued until his death in July 1963. Jesse and I worked together in the Clayson Richins Tire Shop for 43 Years. We enjoyed each other’s company and partnership. After Jesse’s death we sold what we could and closed the business.
During this time I often spent some time in Arizona. I remember in December of 1927, I went to Arizona to spend some time in Mesa visiting with my two sisters, Prudence and Rebecca and a brother, Wellington. Later that same year I went to Virden, New Mexico where Beatrice and Henry were living.
As I recall, it was about the 1st of March of 1928, when I started back home by way of Mesa. On arriving there I found that Prudence’s husband, Joseph Bond, was sick with influenza. It was planting time and as he was unable to do anything, I decided to help him get in his crops. I was delighted when the cotton came through the ground so we could see the rows and I decided that I was a pretty good farmer.
While I was staying with the Bonds, some of the children brought home some kind of itch and of course I had to catch it. I itched and itched so much that Naomi called me “John Ichins”. By the middle of April, Joseph had improved sufficiently so that he could take care of things, so I returned to Provo, Utah proud of having been a “good farmer.”
In Retrospect
I made my home in Provo, Utah with my sister Agnes and brother-in-law Jesse A. Clayson from 1920 to 1942 when Agnes passed away. Then I lived with my sister Eunice Rowley until her death in 1950. Her son Willmott bought the Rowley home and I continued to live with them until his wife Zola’s death in June of 1965. At the present time I have an apartment in their home.
Carl Richins, Lyle Richins, Ivan Iverson and myself comprised the presidency of the Richins Family Organization during the 1930s. A reunion has been held most every year since. At the present time we are doing research work in the name of Richins Surname Organization. As of 1969, I have had the honor of being made Honorary President of the Organization.
My hobby has been fishing and hunting. It is a wonderful creation. It was always so relaxing and enjoyable to get away from work and to go to the canyons and enjoy the beautiful mountains, streams and lakes. I have had some fine trips with the Richins boys from Henefer, as well as the Farrs from Provo. I have been in many of the hunting areas in Utah. I usually got my limit of fish and most always a deer.
I have always enjoyed my Priesthood work. I was ordained a Deacon when I lived in Mexico, but I have been unable to get the dates of my ordinations of Deacon, Teacher, and Priest. I hope to get this information in the near future. I was ordained an Elder by La Ray Decker February 28, 1932, when I lived in the Manavu Ward
Since my retirement, I have gone to Mesa, Arizona during the winter months. I have stayed with Beatrice and Henry. While I was there I have done Temple work.
The following was taken from the Fourth Ward bulletin:
“Brother John W. Richins recently spent 10 weeks in Mesa, Arizona with his sister and brother-in-law, the Henry L. Smiths. The Smiths live 2 blocks from the Mesa Temple. He left Provo January 10, and returned March 31, and worked in the Mesa Temple 9 Weeks doing 3 names a day [for] a total of 12 names a week (4 days a week). This making a grand total of 108 names. The past 4 years Brother Richins had done 364 names, mostly in the Mesa Temple, some in the Salt Lake Temple. He is to be commended for his diligence and faithfulness. A fine, outstanding member of our ward.” May 1969.
