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264 of the Kansas City convention of 1900. In the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh Congresses, he was a member of the committee on Ways and Means. He compiled the "Messages and Papers of the Presidents"—a most valuable collection in ten large volumes, printed at the Government Printing House.

He is a member of the Masonic Society; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of the Knights of Honor; of the Knights of Pythias; he has been Grand Master of Masons for the state of Tennessee; Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Masons of Tennessee; Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry for the Southern jurisdiction of the United States, the Mother Council of the world; and Provincial Grand Master of the Royal Order of Scotland for the United States. His political affiliations have always been with the Democratic party. He enjoys "all kinds of reading." He is a member of the "Christian church" (also called the "Disciples church"). His personal preference determined his choice of a profession.

Representative Richardson was married January 18, 1865, to Miss Alabama Pippen of Alabama. They have had five children, four of whom were living in 1905.