Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Richardson, Amasa 1805 - 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 8:57 pm

Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890

AMASA RICHARDSON. This venerable gentleman has for many years been associated 
with the farmers and stock-growers who have been instrumental in the 
upbuilding of the thriving farming township of Wesley. Associating himself 
with the pioneers of the county in 1856, while aiding them in the work of 
developing its resources, he has acquired a comfortable property, and now, as 
the shadows of a long and busy life are falling around hirn, he can take his 
ease, free from the cares and burdens that he bore in the heat of the day, in 
his cozy home in the enjoyment of the companionship of her who assisted him in 
fitting it up and who is still the home-maker and devoted helper. The father 
of our subject, William H. Richardson, was a native and a farmer of Vermont. 
His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Starke, and who was a niece of Gen. 
Starke of Revolutionary fame, was also a native of that State, and there she 
and her husband spent their entire lives. The subject of this biographical 
review was the only child, and he was born June 23, 1805, among the pleasant 
hills of Vermont. He received his education in the common schools, and at the 
youthful age of twelve years began to care for Himself. He worked out by the 
month for others until he was twenty-three years old, and then began his 
independent existence as a farmer on his own account, buying at that time a 
farm in St. Lawrence County, N. Y. He operated it until 1856, and then rightly 
thinking that he could do better still on the rich virgin soil of Illinois, he 
came to this county and settled on the farm where he has since made his home. 
The land, comprising one hundred and seventy acres, ten of which was in 
timber, was already under cultivation when he purchased it, and he has since 
added many improvements, making it a valuable estate, with its neat, wellkept 
buildings, productive fields and general appearance of good management. Mr. 
Richardson and Miss Martha Goodwin united their lives and fortunes in August, 
1828, and have had a peaceful and happy wedded life of more than three-score 
years. Mrs. Richardson's parents were Joseph and Olive (Hatsell) Goodwin, 
natives respectively of New Hampshire and Vermont. They married and settled in 
New York State, where they resided until death closed their mortal career, she 
dying in 1828, and he dying some years afterward. They had a family of nine 
children, two of whom are now living. Mrs. Richardson was born November 15, 
1810, in New York. She is the mother of nine children, six of whom are now 
living—William, Levi, Hiram, Alfred, Mary and Franklin. William, a lawyer, 
married Addis Westcott, and they make their home in Kankakee City, and have 
one child; Levi, a resident of Iroquois, married Laura Cosett, and they have 
three children; Hiram is a lawyer in Kankakee; Mary is the wife of Henry 
Kahler, of Florence Township, and they have eight children. Their son Lewis 
and daughter Olive are deceased, the former dying in Dakota. One son, Joseph 
W., gave up his life for his country in the late war. He was First-Lieutenant 
in the Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, was a brave and efficient officer, and 
his death, November 17, 1861, of typhoid fever, at Williamsport, Md., where he 
lies buried, was a loss to the service. Two of their sons manage the farm. Mr. 
and Mrs. Richardson have led useful lives, whose record entitles them to the 
great respect and affection in which they are held by all. In their labors 
they have not been too busy to be unmindful of their duties to others, and in 
their thoughtful kindness they have often extended help and sympathy to the 
needy and afflicted. Mr. Richardson has been School Director for years, and 
for twenty three years has acted as Justice of the Peace. He has taken but 
little part in politics, but the last few years has given his support to the 
Republican party.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 

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