Origen D. Richardson

Origen Drew Richardson (July 20, 1795 – November 29, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician in the U.S. state of Michigan and in the Nebraska Territory. He served in the Michigan House of Representatives and was the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Michigan.

Origen D. Richardson
4th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
In office
1842–1846
GovernorJohn S. Barry
Preceded byThomas J. Drake
Succeeded byWilliam L. Greenly
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
Personal details
Born(1795-07-20)July 20, 1795
Woodstock, Vermont, United States
DiedNovember 29, 1876(1876-11-29) (aged 81)
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Resting placeProspect Hill Cemetery
Omaha, Nebraska
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Sarah P. Hill Richardson
ChildrenLyman Richardson
Cornelia Richardson
ParentsMason Richardson
Mary (Powers) Richardson
ProfessionLawyer
Politician

Biography

Richardson was born in Woodstock, Vermont, the son of Mason Richardson and Mary (Powers) Richardson.[1] He studied and practiced law in Woodstock.[2] While a student in the law offices of a relative, Israel Putnam Richardson (the father of Civil War General Israel Bush Richardson), Origen joined the Army and participated in the Battle of Plattsburgh during the War of 1812. He remained in Vermont and practiced law until 1826, when he moved to Pontiac, Michigan. He was admitted to the bar of Oakland County in July 1826 and began a law practice.[3] In 1830, he was a part of a three-member commission appointed to locate a seat of government for Saginaw County, which at the time was not yet organized.

Michigan politics

He was a member of the first convention of assent held in Ann Arbor in September 1836 that rejected the conditions placed by the U.S. Congress on the admission of Michigan as a State of the Union (see the Frostbitten Convention and the end of the Toledo War).[4] From 1830-1836, he was the Oakland County prosecutor and served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives in the first legislature, which convened at Detroit in November 1835 and of the sixth legislature, which convened in Detroit in January 1841.[5]

In 1841, he was elected the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Michigan and was re-elected in 1843, serving during the first four years of Governor John S. Barry's governorship.[6] He continued the practice of law in Pontiac until 1854.

Nebraska Territory politics

In the fall of 1854, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, which was had been organized as the Nebraska Territory in May of that year.[7] He served as a member of the Legislative Council in the first and second sessions of the Territorial Nebraska Legislature. He took a prominent part in framing the laws of Nebraska and was one of the three commissioners to codify those laws.[8]

Family life

Richardson and his wife Sarah P. (Hill) Richardson had two children, Lyman Richardson and Cornelia Richardson.[9] Although Richardson nominally resided in Nebraska, his wife and family remained in Pontiac until moving there in 1874. He died only two years later of apoplexy. His wife died three days afterwards. Both were buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Omaha.[10]

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References
  1. "Origen Drew Richardson". Ancestry.com. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  2. Morton, Julius Sterling and Watkins, Albert (1911). Illustrated History of Nebraska: A History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region, with Steel Engravings, Photogravures, Copper Plates, Maps and Tables, Volume 1. Western Pub. and Engraving Company. p. 205.
  3. Seeley, Thaddeus D. (1912). HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN. THADDEUS D. SEELEY. p. 128.
  4. Nebraska State Historical Society (1898). Publications - Nebraska State Historical Society. Nebraska State Historical Society. p. 129.
  5. "Origen D. Richardson". The Highland Township Historical Society. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  6. Michigan. Legislature. House of Representatives (1842). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan. State Printers. p. 8.
  7. Morton, Julius Sterling and Watkins, Albert (1911). Illustrated History of Nebraska: A History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region, with Steel Engravings, Photogravures, Copper Plates, Maps and Tables, Volume 1. Western Pub. and Engraving Company. p. 205.
  8. Nebraska State Historical Society (1898). Publications - Nebraska State Historical Society. Nebraska State Historical Society. p. 129.
  9. Savage, James Woodruff and ell, John Thomas (1894). History of the City of Omaha, Nebraska. Munsell. p. 574.
  10. THADDEUS D. SEELEY (1912). HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY MICHIGAN. THADDEUS D. SEELEY. p. 128.


Political offices
Preceded by
Thomas J. Drake		 Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
1842–1846		 Succeeded by
William L. Greenly
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