Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/106

 RICHAIJDSON

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of errors, 1846-50, succeeding David Johnson. He was married about 1»0;}. to Mrs. Elizabeth Lucretia (Buford) Coutrier, wiilow of Thomas Coutrier of Herkeley district, and daugliter of William and Frances (June) Duford of Williams- burg district, formerly of Virginia. After his death ids remains were taken to his home, Bloom Hill, Sumter district, and laid at rest among his ancestors. His widow dieil in 1859, and was buried by Ids side. He died in Chariestou, S.C, May J<. \<>0.

RICHARDSON, John Smythe, representative, was born at " Bloom Hill", Claremont county, Sumter district, S.C, Feb. 29, 1828; son of the Rl-v. John Smythe and Sophia (Hyatt) Richardson; grandson of Judge John Smythe (q.v.), and Elizal)eth (Buford) Coutrier Richardson and of Capi. Charles Hyatt, a sea captain whose family resided in Providence, R.I. He was graduated from the College of South Carolina in 1850; was married. Dec. 11, 1850, to Agnes Davison, daughter of Davison and Catherine DuBose (McCray) McDowell; was admitted to the bar in 1852, and settled in practice in Sumter, S.C. He also en- gaged in planting, and in 18G1 entered the Con- federate army as captain of infantry, serving under Col. J. B. Kershaw, until after the first battle of Manassas, where he was wounded. He was then transferred to the 23d South Carolina regiment as adjutant, serving until the end of the war, and surrendering with Johnston at Greensboro, N.C. He represented Sumter county in the state legislature, 1865-76, and was appoint- ed agent of South Carolina in 1866, to applj- for and receive the land-scrip donated by congress. He was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of 1876; was defeated the same year as the Democratic candidate for representative in the 45th congress, and elected a representa- tive from the first South Carolina district to the 46th and 47th congresses, serving, 1879-83. He was master in chancery for Sumter county, 1884- 93, and died at "Shady Side," near Sumter, S.C, Feb. 24. 1S94.

RICHARDSON, Joseph, representative, was born in Biilerif-a, Mass., Feb. 1, 1778; son of Joseph and Martha (Chapman) Richardson; grandson of Samuel and Hannah (Walker) Rich- ardson, and a descendant of Thomas Richardson, who emigrated from England \rith his brothers Ezekiel and Sanmel in the fleet with Winthrop in 1630, and settled first in Charlestown. and then in Woburn, Mass. He was graduated at Dart- mouth. A.B., 1S02, A.M.. 1805, studied theology under Dr. Cumings, and was licensed to preach by the Andover as-sociation in 1803. He taught school in Charlestown, Mass.. 1801-06; was or- dained to the Unitarian ministry, July 2. 1806; was married, May 23, 1807, to Ann, daughter of

Dr. Benjamin and Silence (Stickney) Bowers of Billerica, Mass., and was pastor of the First Unitarian church in Hingham, Mass., 1806-71, where he survived every person that was a mem- ber of his congregation at his settlement. The Rev. Calvin Lincoln was in- stalled as his colleague in 1855, and the church edifice, built in 1681. is probably the

oldest in the •- ..--;.,, C- '.,.•;_. United States. xHt old meeting, housl hi/\i<,wah..-%a:^ He was a member of the state constitutional con- vention in 1820; represented Plymouth county in the Massachusetts legislature. 1822-23: was a state senator in 1823. 1824 and 1826, and served as chairman of the committee on parishes in both houses. He was a representative from Massa- chusetts in the 20th and 21st congresses, 1827-31; declined re-election in 1830. and was succeeded by John Quincy Adams. He received the hon- orary degree of A.M. from Brown university in 1817. He is the author of: The American Reader; Tlie Young Ladies' Selection of Elegant Extracts; A Narrative of the Proceedings in the North Parish, with an Appendix (1807); Vindication of the Proceedings of the First Church and Parish of Hingham in settling Rev. Joseph Richardson ( 1807); and A Sermon at the Close of Fifty Yeai'S. He died in Hingham. Mass., Sept. 25, 1871.

RICHARDSON, Richard, patriot soldier, was born in eastern Virginia, near Jamestown, in 1704; son of Charles Richardson. He was a land survej'or, emigrating to Sumter district. S.C, in 1725, where he conducted a plantation, com- manded the colonial militia in the district, and was elected a member of the council of safety in 1775. He was married first, to Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Cantey, and secondly to Dorothy, daughter of James and Margaret Sinkler. Upon the re- volt among the loyalists of the state he used the militia in restoring order, and for his .services received the thanks of the Provisional congress and a commission as brigadier-general. He was a delegate to the Provincial congress that framed the constitution of South Carolina in 1776, and while defending the city of Charleston against the British under Clinton in 1780, was taken prisoner, and sent to St. Augustine where he withstood the alluring promises of Cornwallis, conditioned on his espousing the cause of the Royalists. He was held by the British a prisoner of war a few months, when broken in health, he was .sent to his home to die. Colonel Tarleton when on a raid through Carolina in 1781 burned his house and opened his grave to be assured of