My Genealogy Hound

William S. Richardson is one of the oldest pioneers of Izard County, and was born in Crawford County, Mo., in 1828, being a son of Joshua and Mary (Stafford) Richardson, who were from the State of Maine. The father removed to Missouri about 1816, and entered land in Crawford County, the country at that time being in a very wild and unsettled condition and thinly inhabited. Here he was married in 1827, and made his home until 1844, when he moved to the farm in New Hope Township, Izard County, Ark., on which his son, William S., is now residing, and here he passed away in 1873, at the age of seventy-three years, his wife having died in Missouri in 1836. Of six children born to this union only William S. is now living, and after the mother’s death Mr. Richardson married a second time, his wife being a Mrs. Sarah Romine (nee Barley), who bore him eleven children, the following of whom are living: Alex., James C., Francis R., Martha (wife of James Stubblefield), Nancy (wife of James Smith), Sarah (wife of Richard White), and Wilmoth (wife of John Smith). The mother of these children died in 1872, and both she and the first Mrs. Richardson were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, although Mr. Richardson was a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. William S. Richardson was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools of Izard County, and after attaining his majority he began farming for himself on his own land in Izard County. When the war broke out he dropped his farming implements to engage in the struggle between the North and South, and joined the Union forces at Rolla, Mo., enlisting in Company G, Phelps’ regiment of Missouri Volunteers, and at the end of six months entered the Missouri State service for six months. In 1865 he returned to the State of Arkansas, and after serving for some time as first lieutenant of his company, he was promoted to the rank of captain, and held this office until his company was disbanded. He was at the battle of Pea Ridge, and at this engagement had a brother killed. After the war he served as courier for the Freedmen’s Bureau, in Izard County, for some time. After his return home he found nothing left to show for his early toil, except his land, all his personal property having been destroyed, but he immediately resumed his farming operations, and has since increased his acreage from 160 to 270, a large portion of which he has under cultivation. He is a Republican in his political views, and is a liberal contributor to all charitable enterprises, educational and otherwise, and he belongs to the A. F. & A. M. He and wife, whom he married in 1851, and whose maiden name was Elizabeth Wells, are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and of a family of twelve children born to them they have reared five: Alex. S., Fannie J. (wife of John Largeant), Ellen, Emma, Nettie V., Catherine (the deceased wife of James B. Byrd), and Martha (the deceased wife of John Fuller).