Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Richards, Isaac W 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 5, 2007, 2:06 pm

Author: Biographical Publishing Company

ISAAC W. RICHARDS, a general farmer of Plainfield Township, and a resident of 
Illinois since 1866, was born in Huron County, Ohio, October 14, 1844. His 
father, John M. Richards, who was a native of New York state, settled in Ohio 
at the age of twenty-three years and bought a partially improved farm in Huron 
County. Under his industrious supervision the land was converted into a 
valuable farm, bearing improvements that stamped its owner as a man of thrift 
and judgment. On that place the remainder of his days were busily passed. The 
qualities that characterized him and contributed to his success were inherited 
from a long line of Scotch ancestors, his father having been the first of the 
family to leave Scotland and seek a home in the new world. In politics Mr. 
Richards was a Republican, but had no desire to participate in public affairs 
and never sought offices of any kind. Prior to removing from New York he 
married Miss Hannah E. Jones, and they became the parents of eleven children. 
The fourth of the children was Isaac W. The latter's education was such as the 
common schools afforded. At the opening of the Civil war his older brother, 
Edgar, and Zetus entered the Union army and our subject took up the work of 
the oldest brother, Edgar, who was engaged in the meat business at Havana, 
Ohio. He was thus only seventeen when he started out for himself, and since 
then he has made his way independently in the world. From the opening of the 
war it was his desire to serve his country, but he felt that he was too young 
to render efficient service. However, in February of the closing year of the 
war, 1865, a good opportunity came to enlist and he at once offered his 
services. At Sandusky, Ohio, he was mustered into Company G, One Hundred and 
Ninety-first Ohio Infantry, with which he remained until the close of the war, 
his regiment being one of the last to leave the Shenandoah Valley. He was 
honorably discharged at Washington, D. C., and mustered out at Camp Chase, 
Ohio.

Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Richards closed out his business 
affairs in Ohio and made arrangements to remove to Illinois. He settled south 
of Joliet, where he began farming. After a few years he purchased eighty acres 
in New Lenox Township, where he very successfully conducted agricultural 
pursuits until 1882. He then sold the place and moved to Lockport, where with 
two others he started the first wire mill in the town. In 1885 he sold his 
interest in the business and bought  eighty acres on section 25, Plainfield 
Township, where he has since made his home. He is an intelligent man, with a 
broad knowledge of current events, both in our own country and foreign lands. 
This information he has gained by systematic reading of current literature. He 
has not allowed himself to be so engrossed by his daily labors as to exclude a 
knowledge of what is going on in the world. He is a great reader and is never 
happier than when, the day's work done, he can devote himself to his papers in 
the comfort of his home. In his political views he favors the Republican 
party. He is a member of the Congregational Church and contributes to its 
maintenance. He is a member of Plainfield Lodge No. 536, A. F. & A. M., and 
Bartleson Post, G. A. R., in Joliet.

December 22, 1869, Mr. Richards married Miss Venia Burger, of Joliet. They 
became the parents of four children, the eldest of whom, Charles, died in 
infancy. The others are: Allie G., Roy C. and Otis W.

Mrs. Richards was born June 5, 1849, in Columbia County, N. Y., and in order 
of birth was sixth among the eleven children, there being five sons and six 
daughters.  She was ten years old when she came with her parents to Joliet, 
Ill., and was a graduate of the school of that place, where she lived until 
her marriage. While at home she was always at her place and a worker in the 
First Baptist Church among the young people. After she married Mr. Richards 
she left her home church to go with her husband to the Congregational Church 
at Plainfield, of which she is still a member. She is a member of Pansy 
Chapter No. 239, O. E. S., of Plainfield. She has taken part in the County 
Institute, and gave an address before the State Institute, besides speaking at 
other places.

Mrs. Richards is descended, through her father, from a Holland family that 
early settled in New York state. Her great-grandfather, Anthony Burger, owned 
large tracts of land and many slaves (for at that time New York was a slave 
state). He was very wealthy, but gave all of his fortune to assist in carrying 
on the Revolutionary war, and received in return from the government a grant 
for a large tract of land in the Mohawk Valley. Upon the close of the war, in 
which he had fought, he started on horseback for the Valley, carrying the 
government papers with him and intending to claim the land. When he was half 
way to his destination he wrote to his family, but after that they never heard 
from him. Time passed and he did not return. Men were sent in search of him 
and traced him to a certain tavern on his route, at which he remained all 
night, leaving early in the morning. There all trace of him was lost, nor 
could the papers ever be found. The opinion of some was that he had been 
killed by British spies, as he was heard to remark, when he gave his wealth to 
carry on the war: "If the British win, I will lose my head, and if the States 
win, I will lose my money." 

Jeremiah Burger, grandfather of Mrs. Richards, when a boy of twelve or 
thirteen, drove an ox-cart with a yoke of oxen, for the purpose of conveying 
the sick and wounded to places where they could be cared for. He married Maria 
Howk, whose maternal ancestors, the Livingstons, owned large tracts of land in 
Livingston County, N. Y. Their son, Thomas L. Burger, father of Mrs. Richards, 
was born in Dutchess County, N. Y. When a young man he embarked in business 
with his cousin, P. S. Burger, in the manufacture of fine carriages in Hudson, 
N. Y. After a time he married Julia A. Finkle, whose father served in the war 
of 1812 and whose ancestors settled in this country during colonial days. As 
years passed Mr. Burger retired from manufacturing and chose agriculture, 
which he said was the most independent occupation. He bought a large farm in 
Columbia County, N. Y. Some years later he sold the place and moved to 
Illinois, settling in Joliet, Will County. Here he bought a large tract of 
land and lived until his death.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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