Phinehas Howe Richards (November 15, 1788 – November 25, 1874)[1] was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and in the Utah Territory.

His oldest son, George Spencer Richards, died at age 15 at the Haun's Mill Massacre in 1838.

He was a member of high councils at Kirtland, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and Salt Lake City.

As a member of the Nauvoo City Council he cited the condition of his dead son in arguing why he viewed the Nauvoo Expositor as a nuisance that the city should protect.

In 1844, Richards published an appeal to the citizens of Massachusetts asking them to take action on the matter of the wrongs Missouri had inflicted upon the Latter-day Saints.