Richardson

William A. Richardson was born January 16,1811, near Lexington, Kentucky, and moved to Quincy in 1849. He served in the military in the Black Hawk War and in the war with Mexico. As a Democrat and ally of U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, he was a political rival of Abraham Lincoln, and his influence on Lincoln’s political career was immense.

As Chairman of the Committee on the Territories in the U.S. House of Representatives, Richardson contributed significantly to the passage of the fateful Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This bill opened to slavery an area that had been guaranteed free since the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The Kansas Nebraska Act led to the formation of the Republican Party and to Lincoln’s return from political retirement.

Although Richardson was a political opponent, Lincoln in the spring of 1860 invited him to the Chicago studio of sculptor Leonard Volk to view the Volk’s life mask of Lincoln. Volk said that while the two men stood together, they amused each other with witty remarks and pleasant reminiscences.

Quincy Friends

William Alexander Richardson

During the Civil War, Lincoln recommended Richardson for Brigadier General of Volunteers, but Richardson declined, choosing to stay in the House of Representatives. In the fall of 1862 severe restrictions were imposed on trade between Quincy and Missouri, a slave state. Quincy’s “big three” of Richardson, Orville Hickman Browning and James Willilam A. Richardson2 Washington Singleton visited the White House, and Lincoln recommen ded to Treasury Secretary Salmon Portland Chase that cross-river traffic be allowed to resume. Chase responded, and trade resumed.

In 1863 Richardson was elected to the U.S. Senate succeeding his fellow Quincyan Browning. As Senator, Richardson acted as a leading voice of the opposition party. He condemned both emancipation and conscription. He was vilified by his opponents but he scarcely warranted the “copperhead” label sometimes attributed to him. He never wavered from being pro-Union. Richardson died in Quincy in 1875 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery.
– Dan Reed

City of Quincy Lincoln Bicentennial Commission 706 Maine Quincy, Illinois 62301