My Genealogy Hound

Robert E. Richardson, of the well-known firm of R. E. Richardson & Co., composed individually of J. M. and R. E. Richardson, owes his nativity to Memphis, Tenn., where his birth occurred on January 28, 1848, and where he attended school until fourteen years of age. His father, Gen. Robert V. Richardson, was born in the Old Dominion, on November 4, 1820, and immigrated with his parents to Wilson County, Tenn., in 1834. He received his education in Clinton College, afterward taught school for about four years, and then commenced the study of law, opening an office at Brownsville, Tenn. Here he found the field too small for his capabilities, and later moved to Memphis, Tenn., where he became one of the prominent legal lights in the profession. He continued his chosen calling up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1869. In 1845 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Avent, a daughter of James M. Avent, of Limestone County, Ala., and the fruits of this union were three children: James M., Robert E. and Philip R., the two eldest of whom reside in Prairie County, Ark. Previous to the war Gen. Richardson was one of the largest land holders in the State of Arkansas, owning at one time 100,000 acres of land. He was the inspector-general of the Tennessee Volunteers during the Mexican War, and was in service during the whole time. In 1861 he organized the Twelfth Tennessee Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, and was assigned duty under Gen. N. B. Forrest, afterward receiving the commission of brigadier-general. Later he organized the Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of Tennessee Cavalry, which formed one of the principal brigades of the Army of Tennessee, and served with distinction in all the principal battles of the late war. He was paroled at Grenadier, Miss., on April 15, 1865, after which he moved immediately to New York City, where he became vice-president of the United States Cotton Company, and in his official capacity, while with the company, he was obliged to visit Europe twice on business. In 1868 he returned to Memphis, Tenn., practiced his profession there, and while on a tour of inspection of his large landed interest in Southeast Missouri, he was assassinated in Clarkton, Dunklin County, in December, 1869. Robert E. Richardson moved with his parents to Fayette County, Tenn., in January, 1862, and in the spring of the following year he joined the Confederate army as a private, Twelfth Tennessee Regiment, commanded by his father, and his first engagement was one of the most desperate cavalry charges that occurred during the war. The Twelfth Tennessee Regiment, 325 strong, fought over 3,000 Federal soldiers who were trying to capture Capt. Richardson’s wagon train, consisting of sixty or seventy wagons, but the captain succeeded in drawing the enemy away from the train and went out of the fight with 100 prisoners. He was in numerous engagements over Tennessee and Mississippi during 1863, 1864 and 1865, was in secret service also during those two years, and gained much valuable information for the Confederate army. He was promoted to the rank of captain, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. He surrendered April 15, 1865, after which he returned with his father to their home, and was here engaged in tilling the soil. In 1865 he attended the Male Academy at New Castle, Tenn., and there remained until May, 1866. The same year he moved with his father’s family to New York City, where the remainder of that year and the whole of 1867 he attended school at the University of New York. At the close of the last-mentioned year he moved back to Memphis, and here read law under Judge McHenry and Col. Hubbard. He remained with them for about a year, and then went to Hardeman County, Tenn., where he was engaged in cultivating the soil until 1868. In June of the same year he married Miss Annie Avent, daughter of W. T. and Nannie Avent, and afterward remained in Hardeman County for four years. In January, 1872, he moved with his family back to Memphis, and was there engaged in the wholesale grocery business, under the firm title of Scales, Richardson & Co. He became dissatisfied with his partner and sold his interest to a man named Murphy, and in 1863 he engaged as a drummer for Menken Bros., remaining with them two years when he was offered a larger salary and began working for Lowenstine Bros. He remained with this firm until after their failure, when he went to Louisville and worked in the capacity of a drummer for W. H. Walker & Co. In 1879 he and a brother crossed the Mississippi River to Arkansas and engaged in farming and merchandising in that State. In 1881 they moved to Fort Smith, and after remaining there six months became dissatisfied and moved to Prairie County, Ark., where the same year they bought out the firm of R. P. Watt & Co. Here they have remained ever since, and have gained a large trade by their honest, upright conduct. Mr. Richardson has been a member of the K. of H. for seven years; is one of the prominent citizens of the county and is a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises. He is a member of the Methodist and his wife a member of the Baptist Church. Their family consists of the following children: Annie C, Robert V., Mattie A. and James E.