CHARLES BRUCE RICHARDSON

The following bio was taken from page 361 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of TX

Charles Bruce, progenitor of the Richardson family of Rusk County, moved with his wife and children to Henderson in 1863. He was born in Virginia but as a young man established a plantation on the Bayou Macon in north Louisiana, where his family prospered until the Civil War. When the siege of Vicksburg began, the Confederate Government ordered Charles Bruce to vacate his plantation because the army planned to cut levees and flood that part of the state to try to slow the advance of General Grant’s army. Charles Bruce gave two thousand bushels of corn to the Confederate Army and burned his cotton bales and destroyed everything that would aid the enemy. He sank his cottonseed, piano and most of his library in the Bayou. His slaves were sent with some livestock and a wagon of household goods to his brother, who lived in Monroe, Louisiana. The family traveled to Monroe on a passing steamer, which waited for one hour for them to gather a few personal items to take with them.

From Louisiana the Richardsons went first to Marshall, Texas, where the slaves were hired out to a hat factory and the family began looking for a home. While helping a friend from Louisiana move, Charles Bruce passed through Henderson. On his return trip he located a farm, reasonably priced and with good water, and bought it with Confederate money. On December 8, 1863 Charles Bruce moved his family to the farm where some of his descendants have lived since then. After the Civil War, the farm had to be paid for again in United States Currency.

Five of Charles Bruce and Sarah Bosworth Richardson’s children lived to adulthood. They were: John Samuel, who was a Confederate soldier, Emma Columbia, David Porter, William Bruce, and Randolph Macon, of these, two continued to live and raise families in Henderson.

David Porter farmed for awhile with his father, then worked as an engineer for the Texas Pacific Railroad, surveying much of the line that crosses the state to El Paso. He next studied medicine at Bellevue Hospital in New York and for approximately forty years, was a respected and loved physician in Rusk County. David Porter’s children were: Charles Bruce, Mary Paschal, Helen Nixon, Nannie Lou and David Porter. Of this family, Nannie Lou, who taught many years in the Henderson Public Schools, lives in Henderson.

Randolph Macon remained at home on the family farm. He began the first dairy in Henderson in the late 1890’s and his family continued the business for over sixty years. Rather than seeking customers, Richardson Dairy milk was considered to be so rich and good that the citizens of Henderson considered it a privilege to be included on the dairy route and left long detailed notes in the milk bottles explaining just why they would not be needing milk that day. Members of the city council serving when part of the farm was taken into the city limits never again received Richardson milk.

Children of Randolph Macon were: Maude, Bessie G., John Samuel, Junius F., Kate W., Moselle, Randolph M. and Virginia and her twin, James, who died very young. Of this family, Bess Richardson still lives in Henderson.

Submitted by June Dowdy, Bess Richardson