Judge John Crowley Richardson


Home County: St. Louisportrait of Judge John Richardson

Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: August 1857 - August 1859

           

Judge John Crowley Richardson was born March 16, 1819, in Lexington, Kentucky.[i] Richardson grew up in Kentucky and was educated there.[ii]  He studied law at Transylvania University in Kentucky.[iii] In 1840, Richardson left the state and set out for Boonville, Missouri.[iv]

 

Richardson began his practice of law at Boonville.[v] In 1850, he moved to St. Louis, where he initially began a practice with Sinclair Kirtley.[vi] Soon after, Kirtley’s health began to fail and he moved to the state of California.[vii] Following Kirtley’s departure, Richardson partnered with Samuel T. Glover and established the firm of Glover & Richardson.[viii]

           

In 1853, Richardson became St. Louis city counselor, which was his first foray into public service.[ix] Richardson was elected to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Missouri in August 1857.[x] After serving two years on the Supreme Court of Missouri, Judge Richardson resigned in August 1859, due to his health, and returned to private practice.[xi]

 

Judge Richardson died September 21, 1860.[xii]

 


[i] Howard L. Conard, ed., “John Crowley Richardson,” Encyclopedia of Missouri History, Vol. V, (St. Louis, MO: The Southern History Co., 1901), 344.

[ii] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, (St Louis, MO: Thomas and Company, 1878), 549.

[iii] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 549.

[iv] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 549.

[v] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 549.

[vi] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 549.

[vii] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 550.

[viii] William Van Ness Bay, “John C. Richardson,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 550. See also L.C. Krauthoff, “The Supreme Court of Missouri,” Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, Vol. III, (Boston, MA: Boston Book Co., 1891), 180.

[ix] William Van Ness Bay, Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 550.

[x] William Van Ness Bay, Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 550, See also Springfield Mirror, Saturday, August 22, 1857, page 2, column 1. Information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri-Columbia Newspaper Database, accessed June 2017, available from http://shsmo.org/newspaper/.

[xi] William Van Ness Bay, Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 550, See also L.C. Krauthoff, “The Supreme Court of Missouri,” Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, Vol. III, 158.

[xii] William Van Ness Bay, Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 550.

 

Biographical information authored by Mr. Matt Orf, 2017, University of Missouri-Columbia.

 

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