# Joseph L. Rawlins

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United States senator from Utah

Joseph L. Rawlins Portrait c. 1880–1890 United States Senator from Utah In office March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1903 Preceded by Arthur Brown Succeeded by Reed Smoot Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah Territory's at-large district In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895 Preceded by John T. Caine Succeeded by Frank J. Cannon Personal details Born (1850-03-28)March 28, 1850 Millcreek, Provisional State of Deseret, U.S. (now Utah, U.S.) Died May 24, 1926(1926-05-24) (aged 76) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. Resting place Salt Lake City Cemetery 40°46′37.92″N 111°51′28.8″W / 40.7772000°N 111.858000°W / 40.7772000; -111.858000 Party Democratic Spouse Julia Elizabeth Davis Children 7, including Brent, Leda, Athol, Alta, Josephine, Lara, Boyce[1][2] Parents Joseph Sharp Rawlins[3] Mary Frost[4] Education University of Deseret (Utah) Indiana University Bloomington Occupation Politician, lawyer Signature

**Joseph Lafayette Rawlins** (March 28, 1850 – May 24, 1926) was a delegate to the U.S. Congress[5] from [Utah Territory](/source/Utah_Territory) and a [senator](/source/United_States_Senate) from [Utah](/source/Utah) after statehood was achieved.[6][7]

## Biography

Rawlins was the youngest of three children born to Joseph Sharp Rawlins and Mary Frost. He was born in the [Provisional State of Deseret](/source/State_of_Deseret) near present-day [Millcreek, Utah](/source/Millcreek%2C_Utah), about fifteen miles southeast of [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City), [Utah](/source/Utah).[8] In 1852, the [Latter-day Saint](/source/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints) prophet [Brigham Young](/source/Brigham_Young) directed Rawlins's father to settle in [Draper](/source/Draper%2C_Utah), Utah to farm. As prophet, Young had significant influence over the affairs of early Latter-day Saint settlers. Rawlins's father was often absent serving various missions at Young's request. He was first called in 1855 to the Elk Mountain Mission when Rawlins was four, leaving his mother, sisters, and himself to tend the farm.[9][3] His father's frequent absences at Brigham Young's request deeply challenged Rawlins's faith and started his disaffection from the church.[10]

The young Rawlins enjoyed learning and developed an interest in mathematics. However, his duties on the farm took precedence over schooling, especially when his father was away. Between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, his education did not exceed sixteen months.[11]

Rawlins began his university studies at the [University of Deseret](/source/University_of_Utah), but could not continue after his first year due to lack of finances.[12] Later, he pursued a classical course at [Indiana University Bloomington](/source/Indiana_University_Bloomington).[13] He was a professor at the University of Deseret in Salt Lake City from 1873 to 1875. He then studied law; he was admitted to the bar in 1875, and he commenced practice in Salt Lake City.[14][15] Raised in [the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints](/source/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints) (LDS Church), young Rawlins disliked the practice of [plural marriage](/source/Plural_marriage) and was grateful that his father, Joseph Sharp Rawlins, resisted the pressure of the church to take a second wife. However, when the elder Rawlins did succumb to the wishes of the authorities, his son began questioning the principles and practices of the Latter-day Saints. By the time Rawlins returned to Utah after his first year at college, he was well on the way toward apostasy in his views, and by the time he became Salt Lake's city attorney, he considered himself no longer a member of the LDS Church. He never returned to the church.[16]

Rawlins was elected as a [Democrat](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) as Utah Territory's delegate to the [Fifty-third Congress](/source/Fifty-third_Congress) (March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress. After Utah achieved statehood in 1896, Rawlins was elected by the [Utah State Legislature](/source/Utah_State_Legislature) as a Democrat to the [United States Senate](/source/United_States_Senate) and served from March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1903. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election.[17]

Afterwards, Rawlins continued the practice of law in Utah in partnership with [Edgar A. Wedgwood](/source/Edgar_A._Wedgwood) and [Samuel R. Thurman](/source/Samuel_R._Thurman).[18] In 1921, he withdrew from public life and active business, and he died in Salt Lake City. He is buried in [Salt Lake City Cemetery](/source/Salt_Lake_City_Cemetery).

## See also

- [United States Congress Delegates from Utah Territory](/source/Utah's_congressional_delegations#Delegates_from_Utah_Territory)

## Citations

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Jensen, Alta R. (1956). [*"The Unfavored Few" ; the Auto-Biography of Joseph L. Rawlins, Delegate to the U. S. Congress from the Territory of Utah, 1892, U. S. Senator from the State of Utah, 1897. 1956*](https://utah-primoprod.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=UUU_ALMA21222458650002001&context=L&vid=UTAH&lang=en_US). Palo Alto, California: Privately published. p. 61. I had erected a two-story house where the rest of my children were born.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Joseph Lafayette Rawlins"](http://www.rawlins.org/histories/rawlins_in_draper/rawlins_joseph_lafayette.html). *Rawlins.org*. Retrieved April 28, 2025. Julia and Joseph were the parents of seven children

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-joseph-sharp-rawlins-lds-bio-db_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-joseph-sharp-rawlins-lds-bio-db_3-1) ["Joseph Sharp Rawlins"](https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/joseph-sharp-rawlins-1823?lang=eng). *Church History Biographical Database*. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved April 30, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Mary Frost"](https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/mary-frost-1827?timelineTab=all-events&lang=eng). *Church History Biographical Database*. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved April 30, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Whitney, Orson F.](/source/Orson_F._Whitney) (October 1904). [*History of Utah in Four Volumes. Vol IV. Biographical*](https://archive.org/details/historyofutahcom04whit/page/678/mode/2up). Vol. 4. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons Co. p. 678. Another new political period dawned on Utah with the election of Hon. Joseph L. Rawlins as Delegate to Congress.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Rawlins, Joseph Lafayette"](https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/R000073). *[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress](/source/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress)*. Retrieved April 28, 2025. a Delegate from the Territory of Utah and a Senator from Utah

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Harrow, Joan R. (December 1973). [*Joseph L. Rawlins Father of Utah Statehood*](https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=1603441) (Master's thesis). [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City): [University of Utah](/source/University_of_Utah). Retrieved April 30, 2025. The 'flash' indicated the signing of the Statehood Proclamation.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Harrow, Joan R. (1976). ["Joseph L. Rawlins Father of Utah Statehood"](https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume44_1976_number1). *Utah Historical Quarterly*. **44** (1): 60. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/45059675](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F45059675). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [45059675](https://www.jstor.org/stable/45059675). Retrieved April 28, 2025. It was there in a small adobe house ... that Joseph L. Rawlins was born.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Law, Wesley R. (July 1959). [*Mormon Indian Missions – 1855*](https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5866&context=etd) (Master's of Science thesis). [Provo, Utah](/source/Provo%2C_Utah): [Brigham Young University](/source/Brigham_Young_University). p. 8. Retrieved May 7, 2025. The men called as missionaries were: ... Joseph S. Rawlins ...

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Jensen, Alta R. (1956). The Unfavored Few. p. 7. "The interference of the Church with people’s lives had become particularly obnoxious to my mind.">

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Jensen, Alta R. (1956). p. 26. "the actual time I attended school ... did not exceed sixteen months."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Harrow, Joan R. (1976). p. 64. "the young scholar left in March 1869 for the university [of Deseret]"

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Harrow, Joan R. (1976). Father. p. 62. "Rawlins longed for the broader educational opportunities available outside the [Utah] territory. He chose Indiana University."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [*History of the Bench and Bar of Utah*](https://books.google.com/books?id=HBFLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA186). [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City), [Utah](/source/Utah): Interstate Press Association. 1913. p. 186. Admitted to the bar in Utah in 1874

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Jones Waldo, Attorneys. Est. 1875"](http://joneswaldo.com/). *Jones Waldo*. Retrieved April 30, 2025. Jones Waldo traces its roots to 1875, when it was founded by Joseph Lafayette Rawlins in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Jensen, Alta R. (1956). The Unfavored Few. p. 6. "the change in my own religious convictions ... at college, and how inevitably this apostasy ... must bring me into conflict with the Mormon Church."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NYTUT_17-0)** ["Reed Smoot Senator"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-reed-smoot-senator/142947503/). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Salt Lake, Utah (published January 21, 1903). January 20, 1903. p. 3. Retrieved March 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["Soldier-Lawyer of Utah is Dead"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52014695/soldier-lawyer/). *[The Salt Lake Tribune](/source/The_Salt_Lake_Tribune)*. Salt Lake City, Utah. February 1, 1920. p. 1 – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com).

## External links

- [Joseph Lafayette Rawlins papers](https://archivespace.lib.utah.edu/repositories/3/resources/2124) at J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections at the University of Utah.

- [Works by or about Joseph L. Rawlins](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%20Lafayette%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%20L%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20J%2E%20L%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Joseph%20Lafayette%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Joseph%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22J%2E%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Joseph%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Joseph%20Lafayette%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Joseph%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J%2E%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J%2E%20Lafayette%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%20Lafayette%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%20L%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20J%2E%20L%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20J%2E%20Lafayette%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Joseph%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Joseph%20Lafayette%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Joseph%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20title%3A%22J%2E%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Joseph%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Joseph%20Lafayette%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Joseph%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20description%3A%22J%2E%20L%2E%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%20Lafayette%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%20L%2E%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Joseph%20Rawlins%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Rawlins%2C%20Joseph%22%29%20OR%20%28%221850-1926%22%20AND%20Rawlins%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

- [Joseph L. Rawlins](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8218002) at [Find a Grave](/source/Find_a_Grave)

- Media related to [Joseph Lafayette Rawlins](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Joseph_Lafayette_Rawlins) at Wikimedia Commons

- [Profile](https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/about/KWVR-H1K) on FamilySearch

U.S. House of Representatives Preceded by John T. Caine Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah Territory 1893–1895 Succeeded by Frank J. Cannon U.S. Senate Preceded by Arthur Brown U.S. senator (Class 1) from Utah 1897–1903 Served alongside: Frank J. Cannon, Thomas Kearns Succeeded by Reed Smoot

v t e United States senators from Utah Class 1 Cannon Kearns Sutherland King Murdock Watkins Moss Hatch Romney Curtis Class 3 Brown Rawlins Smoot Thomas W. Bennett Garn R. Bennett Lee

v t e United States representatives from Utah Territorial (1851–1895) Seat Bernhisel Hooper Bernhisel Kinney Hooper G. Cannon Caine Rawlins F. Cannon One at-large seat (1895–1913) Seat Allen W. King Sutherland Howell Two at-large seats (1913–1915) Seat Howell Seat Johnson Districts (1915–present) (3rd district established in 1983) (4th district established in 2013) 1st district Howell Welling Colton Murdock Granger Stringfellow Dixon Peterson Burton McKay Hansen Bishop Moore 2nd district Mays Leatherwood Loofbourow Robinson Dawson Bosone Dawson D. King Lloyd D. King Lloyd W. Owens Howe Marriott Monson W. Owens Shepherd Greene Waldholtz Cook Matheson Stewart Maloy 3rd district Nielson Orton C. Cannon Chaffetz Curtis Kennedy 4th district Matheson Love McAdams B. Owens

v t e Utah's delegation(s) to the 55th–57th United States Congresses (ordered by seniority) 55th Senate: ▌F. Cannon (SvR) ▌J. Rawlins (D) House: ▌W. King (D) 56th Senate: ▌J. Rawlins (D) ▌T. Kearns (R) House: ▌B. H. Roberts (D) ▌W. King (D) 57th Senate: ▌J. Rawlins (D) ▌T. Kearns (R) House: ▌G. Sutherland (R)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States People US Congress Other Open Library SNAC

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph L. Rawlins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_L._Rawlins) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_L._Rawlins?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.