Joseph B. Richardson was born around 1836 in Pennsylvania. By 1860, he was living in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with his brother Benjamin. He enlisted in the Union army on December 20, 1861, and mustered in as a wagoner in Company E of the 54^th Ohio Infantry later that day. The regiment took part in the Battles of Shiloh, Corinth, and Chickasaw Bayou, the Siege the Vicksburg, and the Atlanta Campaign. Richardson suffered a severe facial injury during General William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea, and he mustered out in Fort McAllister, Georgia, on December 27, 1864. He applied for a federal pension on March 31, 1865, and secured one soon afterward. He married a woman named Anna around 1868, and they had at least six children: Rosa, born around 1868; Benjamin, born around 1869; Flora, born around 1871; Clara, born around 1874; Bradford, born around 1878; and another child born in 1880.

 

In 1870, Richardson was working as a farmer in Cuyahoga County, and he owned $3,000 of real estate and $100 of personal property. A decade later, he was working as a milk peddler. He died of erysipelas in Cuyahoga County on May 6, 1907.

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