Archives West Finding Aid

Samuel Roskelley (1837-1914) was one of the earliest Cache Valley pioneers. He was born in Devonport, Devonshire, England in 1837 and he converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while still a boy. He came to America in 1853 and eventually made his way to Utah. He entered Cache Valley with the first cattle herd in 1855. He left the valley in 1856 after being called to serve a mission in Great Britain. He returned to the United States, however, during the Mormon War. In 1858 he married his first wife, Rebecca Hendricks in Salt Lake City. In 1860 he moved back to Cache Valley and settled in Richmond. Roskelley was very active in the community and with the Mormon Church. He served as the bishop for the Smithfield Ward in the 1860s. In 1880-1881 he served a second mission to Great Britain, and in 1882 he was called as a missionary worker for the St. George Temple. Roskelley also worked on the Logan Temple and in 1884 he started his service as a recorder of the Logan Temple. After 1901 he became the president of the High Priests' Quorum of the Benson Stake. In 1889 he was arrested (but later acquitted) on polygamy charges. At that time he had four wives (Mary Roberts, Mary Jane Littlewood Rigby, Margaret Rigby, and Sarah Maude Burton) and twenty two living children. His first wife, Rebecca Hendricks, died in 1880.