Between the spring of 1878 and February 1882 Charles and his three wives were sometimes together in the Big House. The reason they were not together very often is because they were being persecution for living in plural marriage. Either Charles or one or more of his wives were “hiding out” or “on the run” from 1877 until 1890 when the Manifesto was issued by President Wilford Woodruff, declaring an end to the practice of plural marriage by the Church. By 1890, Charles was in Mexico, along with many other Latter-day Saints because that country had no laws opposing polygamy.

All of Louisa's children after she and Charles moved from Salt Lake City, and all of Esther's children, were born in Henefer. Three of Agnes' ten children were born while she was at Henefer between the years 1879 and 1884. (See Appendix A for a listing of the children of Charles and his three wives in order of their birth.)

Each wife had separate bedrooms, but shared equally in the rest of the house. They all assembled as one large family to eat their meals and kneel in family prayer. Esther’s son, Parley, recalled that they were taught to respect the other wives of their father and to pray for them. He said, “There were no half-brothers and sisters, we were all members of the same family and this relationship has remained so throughout our lives.”

In the U.S. 1870 Census for Henefer, Utah, Louisa and Esther are both listed in the household of Charles along with their children. In the 1880 census the two wives are listed separately as heads of their households along with their children. Charles was not listed with either family because he was in Arizona with Agnes. While Charles was gone he may have hired someone to help his wives with the work as Franklyn, a 23- year old male servant, is listed in the household of Louisa in the 1880 census.

Charles and Agnes go to Arizona and Return to Henefer

Charles and Agnes left Henefer in the fall of 1879 because of persecution, and went to Kaysville, Utah, where they stayed with Agnes' mother for a short time and then traveled by team and wagon to Mesa, Arizona, arriving there in April 1880. They had some very narrow escapes while making the trek. While crossing the big Colorado River, the water was so high that Charles had to bring his team and wagon out at a particular spot or they would hit quicksand and lose everything. Agnes lay in the bottom of the wagon with her baby, Jesse, afraid they would not make it, but providence was with them. After crossing the river they camped at the foot of Moocow Mountains where they came in contact with Indians who were on the warpath. They learned that a battle had been fought at their previous night's campground and that they had narrowly escaped being captured.

Charles and Agnes arrived at the Salt River in the Mesa area, April 1880. They stayed there until the fall of 1880 at which time they began their return trip to Henefer. On the way back they stopped at Minersville, Utah, where their daughter, Eunice, was born. When she was six weeks old they stopped in Provo at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Boordman. While staying there their small son Jesse was seriously burned and only recovered after great care. They made it back to Henefer early in 1881, where they remained until 1886. During that time two more children were born to Agnes and two more to Esther.

Louisa and Family Return to Arizona

News of the new opportunities in developing in Arizona encouraged Louisa, Prudence and Joseph to flee the stressful and nearly unbearable situation in Henefer that was a result of polygamy-related persecution. In February 1882, four years after arriving back in Henefer, Louisa and her family decided to move back to Arizona, only this time Prudence and Joseph had two small children (Rebecca Louise and Marland Golden) to accompany them. They boarded the train at Echo, and arrived at Maricopa, Arizona, the nearest railroad station to Lehi and Mesa. Wellington met them at the station and took them by team and wagon the 30 miles to Mesa. The wagon trip took a full day. Before leaving Henefer, Charles gave Louisa some money, which she used to purchase five acres of land in Mesa. Joseph and Prudence acquired property just south of Louisa’s.

Only one son of Charles Richins entered into plural marriage, and that was Orson Oriel, son of Louisa. He married Rachel Hennefer in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, May 25, 1881, when he and Rachel were both nineteen. Six months later on October 20, 1881, he married Caroline Fawcett in the Endowment House when she was nineteen. When Louisa returned to Arizona in February, 1882, Orson and his wives remained behind. In the fall of 1882 Orson was indicted for polygamy. At this time they were living in Edward Richins’ house on a ranch near Henefer. The officer kept watch over the house so closely that it was necessary for his wife Rachel to carry food in a horse nose sack to the chicken coop where Orson Oriel was hiding; so the officer would think she was going to feed the chickens, and not become suspicious.

To escape persecution Orson sold his property in Henefer, sent his wives to Mesa, Arizona, by train, and then went there to make their home. After living there for a few years they moved to Colonia Diaz, Mexico, where Orson purchased a ranch about half a mile from where Charles had a ranch.

Charles and His Families in Utah are Harassed

The passages of the Edmunds Law in 1886 intensified the efforts by the federal officers to arrest and imprison those who were practicing polygamy. Once again Charles had to leave Henefer for his own safety, as well as the safety of his wives, Esther and Agnes. Charles, Agnes and her children went to Kaysville where they stayed with her mother for a short time. From there they went to Pleasant Grove, where Charles bought some property, which included an orchard. It was there that Agnes had her first real home. Esther was left in Henefer with her family to take care of the Big House, and the family's livestock and real estate. During this time Esther was responsible for ensuring their fifteen cows were milked each morning and night.

This situation afforded Charles and his two wives living in Utah some peace from the federal officers, but this peace did not last long. One day in April, 1887, Charles and Agnes were visiting a relative when an unknown woman came to the house. When Agnes was introduced as the wife of Charles the stranger commented, “I thought Charles' wife was much older, or does he have another wife?” The relative told her Charles had another wife, Esther, in Henefer. When she had gone Charles arose and said, “I feel the spirit of the devil in this house, let us go home at once.” The next morning at sunrise he was arrested by two federal officers as he took his team of horses to drink at a ditch across the street from his home in Pleasant Grove. He was placed under a $1,000 bond and given a day to appear in court. Agnes was subpoenaed as a witness against her husband and put under a $200 bond. Jesse (8) and Eunice (6) were also subpoenaed, but were not put under bonds.

In the meantime an effort was being made to locate Esther so they would have a case against Charles in court. Her son Parley said, “It was then we began to live in what was known as the ‘underground’ to avoid her being arrested or subpoenaed as a witness. Mother took us smaller children and moved around from settlement to settlement, staying in one place only a few days. We lived in Hoytsville, Wanship, Rockport, Croyden, and nearly every settlement along the Weber River, coming home only occasionally to stay for a day or two to see that their affairs were in order.”

Agnes Goes to Arizona. Charges against Charles are Dismissed

Agnes went to Provo one day for the trial, but their case was not called. Agnes took four of her children and went to Mesa where she stayed with Louisa, so she would not have to testify against her husband. She left five-year-old Byron with Charles and her mother, Ann Willmott, who came from Kaysville, Utah to keep house for Charles. Charles was one of the bondsmen for his wife, Agnes, so when she left he had to come up with the money to pay the bond. Esther sold some of the cattle in Henefer and sent $200 to Charles to pay the bond. She sewed the money in the lining of Madison's coat (age 17) and he rode over Big Mountain by horseback to take the money to his father.

Charles stayed in Pleasant Grove awaiting trial. Inasmuch as the prosecutors had no witnesses they continued his case from term to term hoping to get witnesses against him. Charles finally got permission from his bondsman to go to Mexico in December, 1888, on condition that he would return to Provo for the next grand jury session in March, 1889. He took his son, Byron, with him. He met Agnes and their four children at Deming, New Mexico, and from there they went to Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico. They located a small one-room adobe house where Agnes and the children stayed while Charles returned to Provo for trial.

In March 1889, his case was brought up, but due to a lack of witnesses, and the fact that he had been waiting nearly two years and had been faithful to his bond, the judge dismissed his case and Charles was free to go. Parley once commented to his father that even if he had gone to trial he would probably have spent only a couple of months in jail. Charles replied, “Parley, if I had gone to jail, I would have died there.”