Joel Ricks was a Mormon Pioneer

Mormon Pioneer

The Mormon pioneers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated across the United States from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in what is today the U.S. state of Utah...

 and community leader who helped settled the Salt Lake Valley

Salt Lake Valley

Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...

 and Cache Valley

Cache Valley

The Cache Valley is an agricultural valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre.-History:...

, Utah. He was the father of Thomas E. Ricks

Thomas E. Ricks (Mormon)

Thomas Edwin Ricks was a prominent Mormon pioneer, a community leader, and a settler of the western United States.-Early years:...

.

Early life

Joel Ricks was born on February 18, 1804 near Donaldson Creek in Christian County, Kentucky

Christian County, Kentucky

Christian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1797. As of 2000, its population was 72,265. Its county seat is Hopkinsville, Kentucky...

 (in an area now in Trigg County

Trigg County, Kentucky

Trigg County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1820. As of 2000, the population was 12,597. Its county seat is Cadiz. The county is named for Stephen Trigg, a frontier officer in the American Revolutionary War who died in the Battle of Blue Licks...

), the son of Jonathan Ricks and Temperance Edwards. On May 18, 1826 he married Eleanor Martin and continued to work on his father's farm..

Pioneer

While living in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Ricks met missionaries

Missionary (LDS Church)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...

 from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church) and was baptized in 1841. He eventually moved to Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...

 to be with other members of his faith. Later persecutions forced him to leave Nauvoo and join the Mormon Pioneers in a migration to the Salt Lake Valley

Salt Lake Valley

Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...

.

Utah life

Ricks helped lead his pioneer company and arrived in Bountiful

Bountiful, Utah

Bountiful is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,552, a three percent increase over the 2000 figure of 41,301...

 in September 1848. He began farming in Centerville

Centerville, Utah

Centerville is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,335 at the 2010 census...

, and later started a tannery

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

 in Farmington

Farmington, Utah

Farmington is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,255 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Davis County...

. In 1852 he married another wife. He moved his family to Logan, Utah

Logan, Utah

-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...

 in 1859, where he continued tanning and was involved with the area's first sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 and gristmill

Gristmill

The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

.

Ricks was active in the early Cache Valley

Cache Valley

The Cache Valley is an agricultural valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre.-History:...

 community and helped establish the city of Logan. He was treasurer of Cache County for nearly twenty-five years and an officer in the Logan Canyon Road Company. He frequently provided equipment to the ongoing Mormon immigration and assisted in the construction of all the early community buildings. In the church, he was a longtime member of the Stake High Council and was ordained a Patriarch.