Richards, Arthur W.

RICHARDS

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/30/2021 at 00:03:31

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.603

RICHARDS, ARTHUR W., Indianola, real estate agent and broker; was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1832, and was raised on a farm; he learned the trade of cabinet making and came to Warren county in 1854, and engaged in this business in Indianola; he enlisted in the 3d Iowa Infantry in May, 1861, and was discharged on December 23, 1861, on account of injuries received, and has never been able to attend to active duties since, and for years has been unable to sit up; he married Miss Margaret A. McCownan in 1857; she was born in Rabway, New Jersey; they have eight children living: Frank A., Mary Ella, John M., Stella Captola, Simpson B., Sterling J., Lotta M. and Cora B; one son, Preston, was drowned in South River, August 17, 1869, aged eight years.

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.730

ARTHUR W. RICHARDS
Although there were many who met death and others who were wounded in the great Civil strife which perpetuated the Union when rebellion attempted its overthrow, there are few who have made the great personal sacrifice that Mr. Richards did, for through years he has been a sufferer as the result of his military experience. He was born near Fairfield, Columbiana County, Ohio, September 14, 1832. and his parents. Eli and Eleanor (Wherry) Richards, were also natives of the same county. The father, of English lineage, was a minister of the Society of Friends or Quakers and in his business life devoted his energies to farming with good success. He voted with the Whig party which he continued to support until his demise, which occurred when his son, Arthur, was but twelve years of age. The mother represented an old Pennsylvania family connected with the Baptist church. By her marriage to Eli Richards she became the mother of nine children, of whom Arthur W. was the eldest. After losing her first husband she married Russell Van Tassel and both died in Indianola. Arthur W. Richards resided upon the home farm in Ohio until fifteen years of age and during that period attended the rural schools. He then started out in life on his own account, learning the cabinetmaker's trade, at which he worked for three years. Desirous of enjoying better educational opportunities however, he then again entered school, spending a year in study in Albany, Ohio.
In 1854 he arrived in Indianola, where he began business as a carpenter and contractor, being thus identified with the building interests of the city until 1861. He watched with interest the progress of events in the south, noted the threatening attitude concerning secession and resolved that if a blow was struck to overthrow the Union he would stand loyally in its defense. Accord­ingly in May following the attack made on Fort Sumter, he offered his services to the government, enlisting at Keokuk, Iowa, as a member of Company E, Third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for three months. He was discharged December 3, 1861, at Shelbina, Missouri, and took the ague after a hundred-mile march. He was much overheated while taking part in a skirmish, the rain fell and then he marched for five miles in the cold and rain. His clothes were wet and in this condition he lay down and slept until morning. With dawn, however, he awoke stiff and sore and had to be helped on to the train. The train had proceeded only about six miles when the car in which he was seated was riddled with bullets. At a point in the forest when his car was fifteen feet above the ground he was compelled to jump in order to save his life. In so doing he broke his back and since that day he has been an invalid, confined to his bed, and is moved about by pulley arrangements over the bed. He also suffers greatly from sciatic rheumatism. When mustered into the army he was a man of goodly proportions and of excellent health. For forty-five years he has suffered from injuries sustained as the result of his military experience.
On the 6th of December, 1856, Mr. Richards was married to Miss Margaret A. McCowan, who was born in New Jersey in 1839, a daughter of Joseph and Mary J. (Siebers) McCowan. Her father died in Florida when Mrs. Richards was but two years of age and Mrs. McCowan is now living with Mrs. Richards at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Richards have been born ten children: Preston A., who passed away when seven years of age ; Frank A., who is agent for the Register-Leader; Mary E., the wife of C. C. Cherryhomes, a dentist of Columbus, Ohio; John M., a traveling salesman of Kansas City; Stella C., who was born November 10, 1868, and became the wife of A. Bryson, who conducts an oat meal mill at Fort Dodge; Sim B., born November 1, 1870, who is the editor of the Webster City Herald; Sterling H., who was born December 30, 1872, and follows merchandising in Montana; Lottie M., who was born April 15, 1875, and became the wife of Homer L. Ross, a gold miner and attorney at law of Manhattan, Nevada; Cora B., who was born July 3, 1877, and is living at home; and Roscoe A., born November 7, 1879, who is foreman of a fresco establishment in Chicago. There are also three grandchildren.
Mrs. Richards belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Richards holds membership with the Grand Army of the Republic and he gives his political allegiance to the Republican Party. He has served as justice of the peace and his decisions were strictly fair and impartial. While an invalid he has not been a helpless one in that he has given his thought and attention to invention and has produced some machinery of value, including a perambu­lating cot, a corn husker and a shredder. Few men situated as Mr. Richards is would have made the attempt to accomplish anything, but he is not alone, known in inventive lines, but is also the author of some interesting works, including Progress and Life, Old Soldiers Ethics and Character Evolution. He has read broadly, thinks deeply and has come to conclusions which are truly philosophical. He certainly deserves and receives the full honor and respect of his fellow citizens.