In Mexico, Charles, Agnes, and their family went through the hardships of frontier life. To make their life comfortable required a lot of hard work. Their oldest son, Jesse, said,

“Father bought a large herd of cattle and went into the dairy business. Often we would milk from fifty to seventy-five cows and would make butter and cheese. Father was very particular that his animals be given the best of care. Never could the cows and pigs be neglected. He bought a large tract of ground for his range cattle to feed on. He spent most of his time riding the range taking care of his cattle. Father always furnished plenty of work for his children besides having some hired help.”

When Jesse went on his mission to North Carolina, as well as other times when there was shortage of help on the ranch, the girls helped with the work. When they rode horses, Charles would allow them to only ride side saddle. As has been mentioned previously Charles and Louisa’s son, Orson Oriel, and his wives had a ranch near Charles and Agnes. Orson’s wife Rachel said that if it hadn’t been for the help Charles gave her while Orson was serving a mission in the Central States she would never have gotten through the hard times in Mexico. Sometimes at night if she became frightened, because of roving Mexicans, she gathered the children from their beds and took them over to their grandfather’s home. “When Charles became sick he sent for Rachel and told her he knew he was going to leave them and he wanted to tell her that she had been a wonderful daughter-in-law, a good wife to his son, Orson Oriel, and a splendid mother to her children.”

Ranch life in Mexico had its troubles and sorrows. In October, 1895 Charles’ and Agnes' thirteen-year-old son Byron was dragged to death by a horse. It was a Sunday morning and Byron had gone out to get the horses for the family to go to Sunday School. He was riding his horse without a saddle, and when he found the other horses he un-hobbled them. He re-mounted his horse while holding a long rope and accidentally threw a loop around his own neck. His horse jumped from under him and dragged him through the mesquite brush, breaking his neck. Jesse said his father and mother lost their love for ranch life after that tragedy. Jesse also recounted an incident when Charles tried to cross the river when the water was so high that the horse could not swim until he slid off its back and held on to the horse’s tail. He said Charles was thrown from his horse on several occasions and was nearly killed.

Charles, a Man of Church Leadership, Spirituality and Family Concern

While living in Colonia Diaz, Charles served as second counselor to Bishop William D. Johnson from 1895 to 1900. In May of 1901 he was ordained a Patriarch by John Henry Smith, which position he held a little over two years until his death. One writer said, “He dedicated his life to the Church and made spirituality a paramount issue of his home. Profanity was taboo and distance did not prevent the family from attending church, school and socials in town.”

Charles was a man of great spirituality. He had the gifts of the spirit. On one occasion a grandchild about ten weeks old was thrown from a wagon and the wheel passed over her neck. When the baby was reached she was, from all appearances, dead, for she was black in the face. Charles administered to her and she was healed immediately. He also had the spirit of discernment concerning the safety of those away from home. On several occasions he sent out search parties to look for missing ones before he was told something was wrong.

At the turn of the century Charles had eighteen of his thirty children still living. Some were with him in Mexico, others in Arizona and still others in Utah. We know Charles was concerned about his growing family. When he was in his seventy-third year (1901) he wrote a letter from Mexico to his daughter Hattie in Henefer. In the letter he mentioned some problems with his own health, and then expressed hope that she and her family were well. He thanked her for the kindness she and others in Henefer showed towards Jesse and Alice during their recent visit to Henefer. He then asked Hattie to remember him to her husband Alma and family, to Hannah and family, Madison and family, and Parley, Hosea, and Noble. He asked her to tell them he had not forgotten them and was sorry some of them were not with him. He wrote, “I hope they are kind to their mother.”

Charles’ Death and Burial

Charles was 5 feet 6 inches in height, weighed 152 pounds and was fair of complexion, with gray hair most of his life. A dinner was planned for the 17th of August with over 100 invited guests, to celebrate Charles’ 75th birthday, but was canceled when he got sick on the 15th. He died August 27, 1903, at the age of 75. His death was attributed to his getting overheated while running after cattle and trying to drive them to water. He lived for two weeks after he became ill. Charles was buried in Colonia Diaz, Mexico. Orson James Richins, grandson of Charles, wrote:

“His burial was the first I had seen or recall. His casket was put on a long wagon approximately four by twelve feet (it seemed longer to me then). Some men sat on the wagon to help hold the casket on the wagon as it went over rocks and chuckholes to the graveyard (cemetery). Other people in wagons followed. Just as the casket was being lowered the worst rain we’d had for a long time (cloud burst so it was said) came and everyone was drenched. The grave workers hurriedly pushed mud to cover the grave.”

No one knows the location of his grave because the Mexicans plowed up the cemeteries after they drove the Mormons out in 1912. In 1991 Tom Haymore wrote a letter to Devaun and Lillian Richins telling about a visit he made to the Colonia Diaz Cemetery. This is what he wrote:

“All of the Mormon markers were broken and defaced and then placed on the Mexican graves. There were a few broken markers that were just on the ground, apparently not associated with a grave. Some of them had been shot, others had information chiseled off, and others were painted traditional Mexican colors. After reading part of the history of Diaz, I gather that the Mormon cemetery was adjacent to the present Mexican cemetery. The markers were then moved to the Mexican graves. There is no sign of the unmarked Mormon graves. Were it not for these remnants of Mormon grave markers no one would know that the Mormons lived, sacrificed, and died there. ... Their homes are gone, the church/school is gone, their graves are gone and the markers are misplaced. I don’t know what will be left for the future to know the Mormons were even there.”

[It is important to remember that Charles is not the only Richins buried at Colonia Diaz. Agnes said that she buried Charles and three of her children in Mexico, and a son of Orson Oriel’s may also have been buried there.]

The following excerpt from Charles’ obituary in the Deseret News gives some indication of his greatness: “The people of our ward are called upon to lay away one of our choicest citizens and Brethren, Patriarch Charles Richins…He was a faithful Latter-day Saint universally loved and respected.”