Choosing Not to Monetize the Encyclopedia

While I was an intern at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, I heard a voice and felt a prompting from what I believe to be a higher power. That prompting told me to create a website about the history of my hometown, Richmond, Utah. I did so on Aug 5, 2021, and called it Richmond's History.

As I followed that impression, I began learning what I could about Richmond through the limited historical sources available, specifically previously published history books. After extracting as much information as possible from those works, I turned to FamilySearch.org to uncover further details about the individuals who shaped our town’s past. As my research progressed, I felt continued spiritual encouragement to expand the scope of the project and transform it into a comprehensive encyclopedia of Richmond & Cove and its people. In keeping with that expanded purpose, I renamed the website Richmond’s Encyclopedia, then in 2024, to Bryce's History Project: Richmond Encyclopedia.

About a year after I created the website, and finally got an understanding of what this project really meant for the people of my home. Hearing the voices of love and appreciation about my hard work, preserving and presenting the history of Richmond online for all to learn, fueled a great fire within me to keep going. It also gave me the idea of monetizing my work.

I began researching potential ways to generate income from the website. Like many people, I had been conditioned to believe that hard work and personal talents should be converted into financial gain, and I initially assumed the same might apply here. As I researched, I learned that it isn't as easy as 1, 2, 3 to make money from a website. While I researched, I also continued to add more history to the website.

While recording history, one person who came to my attention was Amanda Barnes Smith. Amanda was a Pioneer woman I had only heard about in passing, but had the opportunity to study and add her life to the website. What I learned was the story of a strong woman who suffered a great deal of pain and torture as an early Latter-day Saint, specifically her survival and hardship during the Haun's Mill Massacre that led to the murder of her husband and a son.

In her own words, she recalled the horrific event, and writes about how, through the power of Jesus Christ, she was able to heal her another son who was mortally wounded in the attack, and drew strength post the massacre. Her history resonated with me, along with the histories of all the other Pioneers of our beautiful home. I've read nearly 500 histories of the Pioneers, and each of their stories of pain, sacrifice, survival, and difficulties was etched into my heart.

As I learned, the same higher powers prompting and voice came to my mind. "How could you make money from this? Have I not shown you that you are to learn from this? I have led you to research this city's history not to be rich in profit, but in wisdom and love. If you try to make money from this work I have called you to, you will receive no joy from it."

It was right. How could I make money from this? How could I look into the eyes of these Pioneers and Veterans of this great city and tell them that their sacrifice, pains, and trials are my capital gain? How could I be a good Christian or a good person, knowing that I am stealing from them? I cannot, and I will not.

I have been asked many times if the city pays me for this work, if I have ads on the site, or if I could accept donations from it. I tell them no, because I do not do this work for money, I do it for the love of my home, and to give the dead a voice so that they may rest knowing their lives were not in vain, but stand as enduring examples of strength, faith, and resilience in times of hardship.

Sincerely,

Bryce Holt