Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/264

238 nation in Canada, and he was soon afterward seized and imprisoned at Sandwich until the close of the war, but was allowed to labor among the In- dian allies of the English, and he saved several American prisoners from torture and death. On his return to .Michigan he found the people in des- titution, and collected money with which he pur- chased provisions for all that were in need. In 1817 he began the erection of a church in Detroit, which was consecrated in 1819. In 1823 he was elected delegate to congress from the territory of Michigan, being the first Roman Catholic priest to receive this honor. He soon won the esteem of the members, especially of Henry Clay, who, when the abbe did not make his meaning clear, owing to his defective knowledge of English, frequently repeated his arguments to the house. lie "blamed aid from the Federal government in opening routes, building bridges and quays, and for other works of public utility. He was again a candidate in 1826, but failed of re-election, and then engaged in a great many plans, most of which he was not able to realize for want of resources. He built several churches, and established Indian schools 'at Green ' Vrbre Croche, and St. Joseph's. He studied Sieard's method of teaching the deaf and dumb, and delivered lectures in the normal school of Detroit, luit he was never able to open the asylum that he projected. He was about to lay the founda- tion of a college at the beginning of the epidemic of Asiatic cholera in 1832. During its prevalence for three months he was almost constantly on his feet night and day, until he" was prostrated by the disease on 9 Sept. See a life of him by Louis Guerin, entitled " Le martyr de la charite " (Paris, 1850).

'''RICHARD. Louis Francois''' (re-shar). West Indian physician, b. in the island of St. Martin in 1757; d. in New Orleans, La., in 1806. He studied in Xew Orleans, and was for many years a marine surgeon. In 1799 he became president of the board of health of French Guiana, and performed remarkable experiments on yellow fever, even sleeping in beds of persons that were affected with the disease, and inoculating himself with their virus. In 1803 he was sent to Louisiana to study the effects of yellow fever; but he was attacked by the disease and died in New Orleans. His works, which were published by the Paris academy of medicine, include " Recherches generates sur les blessures causees par les Heches empoisonnees usees par les Indiens " (Paris, 1803) ; " Traite des simples et des poisons des Indiens " (1805) ; " Monographie de la fievre jaune" (1806); and " De la contagion de la lievre jaune " (1807), in which the author defends the theory that yellow fever is not contagious.

RICHARDS, Benjamin Wood, mayor of Phila- ilelnhia. b. in Burlington county, N. J., in Novem- ber, 1797 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 13 July. 1851. After graduation at Princeton in 1815 he settled in Philadelphia, which he represented in the lcgi-la- ture. In that body he offered the first resolutions to make appropriations for the organization and support of public schools, and was one of the first members of the board of control. He was ap- pointed by President Jackson a director of the U. S. bank, which office he resigned to become mayor of Philadelphia in 1830-'!. Subsequently he visited Europe, and on his return formed an association with Nathan Dunn, John Jay Smith. Frederick Brown, and Isaac Collins, to purchase and la ou1 the cemetery that is now known as Laurel Hill. He was one of the earliest directors of Girard col- lege, the originator, founder, and president until his death of the Girard life and trust company, and a founder with John Vaughan of the Blind a^ him.

RICHARDS, Cyrus Smith, educator, b. in Hartford. Vt., 11 March. 1SII8 ; d. in Madison, Wis.. 19 July, 1885. He was graduated at Dart- mouth in 1835, from that year till 1871 was princi- pal of Kimball union academy, Meriden. X. II.. and from 1871 until his death had charge of the preparatory department of Howard university, Washington, D. C. Dartmouth gave him the de- gree of LL. D. in 1863. He was the author of " Latin Lessons and Tables " (Boston, 1859) ; ' Out- lines of Latin Grammar " (Washington, 1882) : and an " Introduction to Csesar : First Latin Le>>< 'ii- " (1883). His first wife. Helen Dorothy Whitnii, was the author of several juvenile books, including ' Robert Walbar," " Hemlock Ridge,"' and " The Conquered Heart." Their son. Charles Herbert. clergyman, b. in Meriden, X. IL, is March, 1839, was graduated at Yale in 1860. and studied at Union theological seminary, and at Andover. where he was graduated in 1865. He was pastor of a Congregational church in Kokomo, Ind., in 1866-7, and since that time has had charge of the 1st Con- gregational church in Madison, Wis. Beloit col- lege gave him the degree of D. D. in 1882. He is the author of Will Phillips " (Boston, 1873) ; "Songs of Christian Praise" and "Scripture Se- lections for Public Worship" (New York, 1880); and " Songs of Praise and Prayer " (1883).

RICHARDS, George, author, b. probably in Rhode Island : d. in Philadelphia about 1 March, 1S14. After the Revolution he was a school-master in Boston, and occasionally preached. He was pas- tor of a Universalist church in Portsmouth, N. II., from 1793 till 1809, and subsequently in Phila- delphia, where he established the "Freemason's Magazine and General Miscellany," and edited it fur two years. He was the author of odes, ma- sonic orations, " An Historical Discourse on the Death of Gen. Washington" (Portsmouth, 1800), and many patriotic poems descriptive of the Revo- lution, extracts from which are contained in the " Massachusetts Magazine" (1789-'92).

RICHARDS, James, clergyman, b. in New Ca- naan, Conn., 29 Oct., 1767 ; d. in Auburn, N. Y., 2 Aug., 1843. He was descended from Samuel Richards, a Welshman, who settled near Stamford, Conn. After studying at Yale in 1789, he taught in Farmington, completed his academical and theo- logical course under Dr. Timothy Dwight in Green- field, Conn., and was licensed to preach in 1793. He served in the 1st Presbyterian church of Morris- town, N. J., from 1794 till 1797, when he became its pastor, and in 1809 was charged with the Presby- terian church of Newark, N. J. In 1823 he be- came professor of theology in Auburn theological seminary, which chair he held until his death. He wa< a trustee of Princeton college and seminary, and received the degree of A. M. from Yale in 1794, and that of D. D. in 1815. A selection of his " Lectures " was published, with a memoir, by the Rev. Samuel H. Gridley (Xew York, 1846). and a vtilume of his sermons, with an essay on his charac- ter, by the Rev. William B. Sprague (Albany, 1S4!.

RICHARDS, John William, clergyman, b. at Reading, Pa., 18 April, 1803 ; d. there, 27 Jan., 1854. His father, Matthias Richards, was for many years an associate judge of the courts in Berks county, and his mother was a daughter of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. He received his cla.vical training in the academy in his native place. 1 his theological course under his pastor, Dr. Henry A. Muhlenberg. in is-.'i. and in ls-,'1 wa- licensed by the ministerium of Pennsylvania, with which body he was connected until Ins death, and in which he held many posts of honor and trust. He