View source for Rees G. Richards

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Rees Griffith Richards
|image=Rees G Richards.jpg
|caption=circa 1912
|order=16th
|office=Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
|term_start=January 9, 1882
|term_end=January 14, 1884
|preceded=[[Andrew Hickenlooper]]
|succeeded=[[John G. Warwick]]
|governor=[[Charles Foster (Ohio politician)|Charles Foster]]
|state_senate2=Ohio
|district2=22nd
|term_start2=January 7, 1878
|term_end2=January 1, 1882
|preceded2=J. K. Rukenbrod
|succeeded2=J. M. Dickinson
|state_house3=Ohio
|district3=[[Jefferson County, Ohio|Jefferson County]]
|term_start3=January 5, 1874
|term_end3=January 6, 1878
|preceded3=Samuel H. Ford
|succeeded3=Thomas B. Scott
|party=[[United States Republican Party|Republican]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1842|7|22}}
|birth_place=[[Swansea, Wales]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1917|2|10|1842|7|22}}
|death_place=[[Steubenville, Ohio|Steubenville]], [[Ohio]]
|restingplace=
|spouse=Catherine C. Rees<br />Elizabeth Johnson
|children=one
|signature=Rees G. Richards - signature.png
|alma_mater=
|allegiance= United States
|branch= [[United States Army]]<br />[[Union Army]]
|unit= [[45th Pennsylvania Infantry]]
|rank=[[File:Union army cpt rank insignia.jpg|35px]] [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]]
|serviceyears=1861-1865
}}
'''Rees Griffith Richards''' (July 22, 1842 &ndash; February 10, 1917) was an American [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] politician who served as the 16th [[lieutenant governor of Ohio]] from 1882 to 1884.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lieutenant Governors Of The State Of Ohio: 1852 - Present |url=http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Research/electResultsMain/HistoricalElectionComparisons/Lieutenant%20Governors%20of%20the%20State%20of%20Ohio%201852%20-%20present.aspx |publisher=[[Ohio Secretary of State]] | access-date=2012-01-24}}</ref>
==Early life==
Richards was born July 22, 1842, near [[Swansea, Wales]], and lived there until age 10.  His family then moved to [[Ontario, Canada]], before removing to [[Tioga County, Pennsylvania]].{{sfn|Smith|p=451}}
==Civil War==
At the outbreak of the [[U.S. Civil War]], he enlisted as a first sergeant in Company G of the [[45th Pennsylvania Infantry|45th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry]] September 18, 1861. He was promoted to second lieutenant July 31, 1862, to captain September 14, 1862. He re-enlisted as a veteran January 1, 1864,{{sfn|Albert|p=484}} and was captured at the [[Battle of the Crater|Crater]], July 30, 1864.{{sfn|Albert|p=158}} He was held prisoner at [[Asylum Prison Camp]] near [[Charleston, South Carolina]], until his escape February 16, 1865.  He and two colleagues made it to Union lines at [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]] March 16, 1865.{{sfn|Albert|p=360-375}} He was appointed brigade inspector May 11, 1865, and mustered out July 17, 1865.{{sfn|Albert|p=484}}
[[File:Rees G Richards and other escapees March 17 1865.jpg|left|thumb|300px|March 17, 1865. Shown on right with two others who escaped from Confederate POW camp.]]
==Political==
After the war, he moved to [[Youngstown, Ohio]], and engaged in mercantile business for two years,{{sfn|Smith|p=451}}{{sfn|Neff|p=153}} then six years in [[Irondale, Ohio]]. In 1873, and again in 1875, he was elected to represent [[Jefferson County, Ohio]], in the [[Ohio House of Representatives]] at the 61st and 62nd General Assemblies{{sfn|Ohio 1917|p=293}} In 1876 he was admitted to the bar.{{sfn|Neff|p=153}} He represented the 22nd district in the [[Ohio Senate]] in the 63rd and 64th General Assemblies (1878–1881).{{sfn|Ohio 1917|p=244}} In 1881, he defeated Democrat Edgar M. Johnson for election as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and could have had the nomination in 1883, had he wanted it.{{sfn|Smith|p=451}}
He was elected to two terms as Common Pleas Judge of Jefferson County while living in [[Steubenville, Ohio]], starting in 1902, and died February 10, 1917.{{sfn|Neff|p=153}}
==Personal==
Richards married Catherine C. Rees of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1865, and Elizabeth Johnson of Jefferson County, Ohio, on September 25, 1894, who had one daughter. Richards was a [[Freemason]] and a [[Presbyterian]] by faith. He was a member of the [[Grand Army of the Republic]] and the [[Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States]].{{sfn|Ryan|p=605}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
{{commons category}}
*{{cite book|ref={{sfnRef|Smith}}|title=History of the Republican Party in Ohio |editor-first=Joseph P |editor-last=Smith |year=1898 |volume=I |publisher=the Lewis Publishing Company |location=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaAFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA451}}
*{{cite book|ref={{sfnRef|Albert}}|title=History of the Forty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865 |editor-last=Albert |editor-first=Allen |year=1912 |publisher=Grit Publishing Company |location=Williamsport Pennsylvania |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030914208/page/148 148]|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030914208 }}
*{{cite book|ref={{sfnRef|Neff}}|title=Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio History and Biography |editor-last=Neff |editor-first=William B. |publisher=The Historical Publishing Company |location=Cleveland |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DgwwAAAAYAAJ/page/n157 153] |year=1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DgwwAAAAYAAJ |quote=Rees Richards.}}
*{{cite book|title=Manual of legislative practice in the General Assembly |ref={{sfnRef|Ohio 1917}}|last=[[Ohio General Assembly]] |year=1917 |publisher=State of Ohio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qesAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA217 }}
*{{cite book|title=History of Ohio: the Rise and Progress of an American State |ref={{sfnRef|Ryan}}|volume=6 |first1=Emilius |last1=Randall |first2=Daniel Joseph |last2=Ryan |publisher=The Century History Company |location=New York |author-link2=Daniel J. Ryan |year=1915 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA605}}
{{navboxes|title=Offices and distinctions|list=<!-- Succession box -->
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Andrew Hickenlooper]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Ohio]] | years=1882-1884}}
{{s-aft | after=[[John G. Warwick]]}}
{{s-par|us-oh-sen}}
{{s-bef | before=J. K. Rukenbrod}}
{{s-ttl |title=Senator from 22nd District | years=1878-1881}}
{{s-aft | after=J. M. Dickinson}}
{{s-par|us-oh-hs}}
{{s-bef | before=Samuel H. Ford}}
{{s-ttl |title=Representative from [[Jefferson County, Ohio|Jefferson]] County | years=1874-1877}}
{{s-aft | after=Thomas B. Scott}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef | before=John A. Mansfield}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Jefferson County, Ohio|Jefferson County]] Common Pleas Judge| years=1902-1913}}
{{s-aft | after=Carl H. Smith}}
{{s-end}}
}}
{{Governors of Ohio}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Reese G.}}
[[Category:1842 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:American Civil War prisoners of war]]
[[Category:Lieutenant governors of Ohio]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Ohio lawyers]]
[[Category:Ohio state court judges]]
[[Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Politicians from Steubenville, Ohio]]
[[Category:Politicians from Swansea]]
[[Category:People from Tioga County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Ohio Senate]]
[[Category:Republican Party Ohio state senators]]
[[Category:Union army officers]]
[[Category:Welsh emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century American judges]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]