- Gender
- Male
Richardson, William Alexander
Biography
16 Jan. 1811–27 Dec. 1875. Schoolteacher, lawyer, politician. Born near Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of James L. Richardson and Mary Edmonson. Attended Walnut Hills Seminary, Centre College, and Transylvania University, in Kentucky. Admitted to bar, 1831. Moved to Shelbyville, Shelby Co., Illinois, 1831. Served in Black Hawk War. Moved to Rushville, Schuyler Co., Illinois, 1833. Served as state attorney for Illinois’s Third Judicial Circuit, 1834–1835 and 1838. Elected to Illinois House of Representatives, 1836. Served in Illinois Senate, 1838–1842. Married Cornelia H. Sullivan, 18 Jan. 1838, in Adams Co., Illinois. Reelected to Illinois House of Representatives, 1844, where he served as Speaker of the House. Served in Mexican War, 1846–July 1847. Served as U.S. representative from Illinois for five terms, 1847–1856. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., 1849. Ran unsuccessfully for governor of Illinois, 1856. Appointed governor of Nebraska Territory by U.S. president James Buchanan, 1857. Reelected U.S. representative from Illinois, 1861; elected U.S. senator, 1863. Died at Quincy.
Links
- Demurrer, circa 18 May 1845 [ JS et al. v. C. B. Street and M. B. Street]
- Demurrer, circa 29 May 1844 [ JS et al. v. C. B. Street and M. B. Street ]
- Docket Entry, Judgment, 11 June 1842–30 January 1851 [ United States v. Haws et al. ]
- Draft Notes, 29 June–1 July 1844
- History Draft [1 January–21 June 1844]
- History Draft [21 June–8 August 1844]
- Index to Nauvoo City Council Minute Book–B
- Introduction to JS et al. v. C. B. Street and M. B. Street
- Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 4, 1 March–22 June 1844
- Letter, Francis M. Higbee to Willard Richards, 1 July 1844
- Letter, William A. Richardson and Others to Willard Richards and the People of Nauvoo, 1 July 1844
- Letter, William A. Richardson to Willard Richards, 1 July 1844
- Minutes, 1 July 1844
- Minutes, 1 July 1844, Draft
- Minutes, 1 July 1844, as Reported by Thomas Bullock
- Minutes, 1 July 1844, as Reported by Thomas Bullock, Draft
- Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1841–1845
- Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, February 1844–January 1845
- Pleas and Account, circa 23 May 1844 [ JS et al. v. C. B. Street and M. B. Street ]