Hardy Chessley Richardson (1822 - 1883)

Born 20 Apr 1822 in Lees Creek, Washington, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Louisiana Families Project WikiTree [send private message], Jason Tilley [send private message], and Nancy Suzanne Tilley [send private message]

Hardy Richardson lived in Louisiana. Join: Louisiana Families Project Discuss: louisiana

Biography

Potentially the son of James Richardson, one of two Richardsons in the 1830 US Census, and the only Richardson reporting to have male children from 5–10 years old in Washington, Louisiana.^[1]. However, per E. Russ Williams, he was the son of Stephen Richardson and Elizabeth Morris Richardson (later Brassfield). ^[2]

Birth 20 Apr 1822. Louisiana, United States.^[3][4][5]

He is mentioned on Find a Grave as the son of Stephen Decator Richardson and Elizabeth "Betsy" Morris.^[3] However, note that Stephen Decater Richardson was Stephen Richardson's son, so this could be a confusion. Stephen Richardson has a potential record in the 1820 US Census in Washington, Louisiana.^[6]

E. Russ Williams writes:

He was one of the first native-born sons to serve in his parish before the Bench and Bar.... in 1846 at the age of 24 years he ran for & captured the senatorial seat for the Eighth Senatorial District of Louisiana. He served in this capacity for six years, or 3 two-year terms. He lost his seat in 1852 for the 1853-1854 sessions but recaptured it in 1854 for three more terms. He had only been re-elected for a short period of time when the state broke away from the Union. Richardson signed the Ordinance of Secession for Louisiana to withdraw from the Union in April, 1861. He afterwards resigned and came back to his native parish and organized a troop which adopted the name Washington Rifles... they

Col Hardy Richardson served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: July 7, 1861
Side: CSA
Regiment(s): 9th Louisiana Infantry

trained at Camp Moore, Tangipahoa, Louisiana. Upon completion of their training they were assigned to the Ninth Louisiana Regiment, Company 1. They were then transferred to the Army of North Virginia. Richardson was the Company Commander until wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas. He was then relieved of his command. He was transferred back to Louisiana where he became an enlistment officer for his home parish. While serving in this capacity he was given the rank of Colonel. After the war he married a widow, Mrs. Martha Warren Roberts, and by her he had two daughters.

Note: Although Russ Williams states that Richardson was wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas, that particular fact has not yet been documented. His war records, obtained by Boone Richardson in his genealogy research, do show that he was captured at the Battle on Rappahanock River in Nov. of 1863, and was exchanged in February of 1965. (See "Civil War Service Notes" below.)

The Bogalusa Daily News wrote:

Capt. Hardy C. Richardson was one of the most prominent men in the early history of Washington Parish. He served as State Senator before and after the Civil War. The governor of Louisiana visited his home and presented Alton Richardson's mother (Tena Roberts) with a pair of dancing slippers. The slippers became the property of Richardson's sister, (Tena's daughter) Mrs. Lee Brock.^[7]

A potential reference in a family bible exists.^[8] This potentially indicates that his first wife was Sarah Ann Wadsworth (b. 6 Jan 1824).

Residence 1850. Washington, Louisiana, United States.^[9]

Masonic Lodges 1851-1853. The Bogalusa Daily News wrote:

All three of the Richardson brothers, William Porter, Capt. Hardy C., and Stephen D. Richardson Jr. were members of the Masonic Lodge No. 101. Captain Hardy C. Richardson and Stephen D. Richardson Jr. were Charter members of the Lodge when it was chartered on Jan. 21, 1851. Capt. Hardy C. demitted from St. James Lodge no. 47 in Baton Rouge to become a charter member, and Stephen D. Richardson Jr. demitted from St. Albans Lodge no. 60 in Columbia, Miss.

Captain Hardy C. Richardson served as Worshipful Master of the Franklinton Lodge in 1853. He demitted from the Franklinton Lodge in 1866 to become a charter member of Spring Creek Lodge no. 184 [F&AM]. He served as Worshipful Master of the Spring Creek Lodge 12 years. The uniform coat worn by Capt. Richardson when he was badly wounded during the Second Battle of Manassas, is on display in the Franklinton Lodge Hall.^[7]

Note: According to a reference found in "Legal Records of Washington Parish" p. 71, ^[10] Hardy Richardson demitted from the Washington Royal Arch Chapter No. 5 on March 5th 1865. This seems to differ a bit from the dates above.

Residence 1860. Washington, Louisiana, United States.^[4]

He shared a residence with David Mizell in 1860.^[11]

Residence 1870. Washington, Louisiana, United States.^[5]

Death 5 Jul 1888.^[12]

Burial Roberts Cemetery, Tangipahoa, Louisiana, United States^[3]

Notes

As the lawyer Hardy Richardson mentioned in the following entry in Legal records of Washington Parish, 1819-1897:^[13]

#228 Same as above - lands of William Marbury a non resident -640 acres on waters of Big Creek - tax due $7.00 - sold on 8/7/1847 to Abraham Lazar for $69. In presence of Stephen Ellis and Hardy Richardson. In Shf. Bk. A, p. 47–49, #18. Recd. 12/14/1848 (?) S.W. Bickham Recdr.

Also see see similar records 233, 234, 237, 348, and 351.

Civil War Service Notes

The table below is a summary of the war records found by Boone Richardson and scanned and attached to this profile. Boone gave each record entry a number, which is the first column in the table below. Possibly he may have meant these numbers to be chronological, but based on the dates on the records, they don't appear to be entirely chronological. The table below also has the date of the record and a short summary of the record.

Sources

1. ↑ "1830 Census, Washington Parish, Louisiana", database, USGenWeb, accessed 9 Mar 2017, http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/washington/census/cen1830.txt
2. ↑ Kinsmen All: Descendants of Wettenhall Warner and Related Families by E. Russ Williams, Jr.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Find A Grave: Memorial #63979125 retrieved 8 Mar 2017
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPF-39R : 30 December 2015), Hardy Richardson, 1860.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87P-VS3 : 17 October 2014), Second Ward, Washington, Louisiana, United States; citing p. 16, family 101, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,034.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1820," database and images, FamilySearch, 2015, accessed 9 Mar 2017, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLW-PR9
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} J. Alton Richardson Family Donates Log Building to Mile Branch. Daily News, Bogalusa, LA, Wednesday, Sept 19, 1970.
8. ↑ "Bible of James Wadsworth, Washington Parish, LA", database, USGenWeb, accessed 9 Mar 2017, http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/washington/bible/wadswor.txt
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJX-F7C : 9 November 2014), H Richardson, Washington, Louisiana, United States; citing family 122, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
10. ↑ Legal Records of Washington Parish, 1819-1897 (Volume 1). Papers from the Personal Files of Hardy Richardson, Lawyer, State Senator, and Colonel in CSA, 1822-1822. Compiled by: E. Russ Williams, Jr. Bogalusa, Lousiana, 1962.
11. ↑ "David Mizell of Washington Parish, Louisiana", database, USGenWeb, accessed 9 Mar 2017, http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/washington/history/family/mizell.txt
12. ↑ Warren, William C. "In Memoriam", St. Tammany farmer, (Covington, La.), 08 Sept. 1883, citing p. 2, col. 3; image copy, Library of Congress, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015387/1883-09-08/ed-1/seq-2/ : accessed 25 Apr 2018).
13. ↑ Williams, Ernest Russ, Jr., Legal records of Washington Parish, 1819-1897, v. 2. Papers from the personal files of Hardy Richardson, lawyer, state senator and colonel in CSA, 1822-1882. Bogalusa, LA, 1965.