Henry J. Richmond (1843-1932)

RICHMOND

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/24/2022 at 19:37:01

Henry John Richmond
(November 29, 1843 – January 10, 1932)

Among the pioneer residents of Calhoun County is numbered H. J. Richmond, who is now serving as city marshal of Manson, and as a representative of the law and order department he is well known by reason of his efficiency and faithfulness in the discharge of his duties. During the long residence in Calhoun County he has gained a wide acquaintance and enjoys the high esteem of all with whom he is associated. H. J. Richmond was born in Schuyler County, New York, November 29, 1843, is the son of John and Lucretia (Vaughan) Richmond, the former a native of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father was of English and Scotch descent, while the mother was of Welsh lineage, and they were farming people who in 1852 left their home in the Empire state and moved westward to Illinois, settling in Kane County. The year 1865 witnessed their arrival in Calhoun County, Iowa, where they took up their abode upon a farm near Manson. There for many years the father carried on agricultural pursuits, but at length put aside such duties and labors and in 1892 removed to Manson, where he lived in honorable retirement until his death, Which occurred November 29, 1892. His wife has also passed away. Three sons and two daughters of the family are still living. Charles H. married Carrie Van Cleve and makes his home in Manson. A. A. wedded Miss Clements, and they reside at Rolf, Iowa. The sisters are Mrs. E. R. Moore, now a widow residing in Manson, and Mrs. C. C. Kibler, who is also living in this place. To the common school system of Illinois
and Iowa H. J. Richmond is indebted for the educational privileges which he enjoyed and which fitted him for life's practical duties. He remained upon the home farm until twenty-one years of age, but previous to this he responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting on the 12th of August, 1862, as a member of the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Infantry, serving under General Sherman for three years. He participated in the battles of Somerset, Knoxville and Chattanooga, and was through all the Atlanta campaign and the Georgia campaign. He was in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Fort Fisher, Raleigh and Greensboro and was always found at his post of duty, whether on the picket line of in the thickest of the fight. He was slightly wounded, receiving two bullet wounds, one at Dandridge and the other at Big Shanty. He served throughout his term as a private, and received an honorable discharge at Greensboro, on the 20th of June, 1S65. The regiment then came to Chicago and he was mustered out. At the close of the war Mr. Richmond joined his parents and with them came direct to Iowa. He was married, in December, 1874, to Mary E. McCulloch, who was a native of Philadelphia, born in 1851. She was left an orphan in early girlhood. She has three sisters and one brother, all of whom are residing in Pennsylvania, namely: Mrs. Jane Park, Lucy, Anna and Hugh. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Richmond was celebrated in Illinois and he there remained for two years, devoting his attention to farming, after which he returned to Iowa and purchased a farm of eighty acres, on which he made his home until his removal to Manson in 1892. He has since disposed of his farm property and is now enjoying a well earned rest. In public office he has been quite prominent and at the present time is filling the office of township constable for the fifth term of two years each. He is also serving his third year as city marshal. He built and owned the first house in Manson, it being erected in December, 1869. At all times he has been closely connected with public progress and is one' of the representative residents of his city. In 1S78 Air. Richmond was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 27th of November of that year. His
daughter has since discharged the duties of the household and keeps everything about the place attractive and pleasant. Mr. Richmond attends the Methodist Episcopal church, although he is not connected with any religious denomination by membership relations. In politics he is a Republican and firmly endorses the principles of the party.
All who know him esteem him for his genuine worth, and he is as true today to his duties of citizenship as when he followed the starry banner of the nation upon southern battle-fields. [Source – Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S.J. Clarke, 1902, p.367]