El
Dorado County
Biographies
JAMES RICHARDS
Among
those whose activities over a long period of years contributed to the
development of the mining industry in the western and southwestern states, none
was more highly regarded than was the late James Richards. His death, which occurred at Placerville, El
Dorado County, June 1, 1930, when he was seventy-nine years of age, was greatly
deplored, for he was widely known and had a host of personal friends, who
admired him for his technical knowledge and accomplishments and his sterling
personal qualities. Mr. Richards was
born in Cornwall, England, in 1851, and was reared there to the age of fourteen
years. In 1865 he came to the United States and immediately made his way to the
mines of the west, where he spent seven years, the greater part of the time at
Virginia City, Nevada. He then returned
to his native land, where on March 27, 1873, he married Miss Mary Louise Barnett,
a schoolmate of his earlier years, to whom he had plighted his troth before
starting for the new world. In 1874 Mr.
and Mrs. Richards came to the coast and located at Colfax, Placer County, where
they resided for nine years. During that
period Mr. Richards was actively engaged in mining, which work took him to
Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Tombstone, Arizona.
In 1883 he became superintendent of the California Iron and Steel Works
at Hotaling, where he remained three years. In 1886 he was made superintendent of the
Church mine, about nine miles south of Placerville, to which place they moved
and where they resided until 1897, when they came to Placerville. During the subsequent years Mr. Richards
served as superintendent of various mines in this vicinity, and was later
employed in a like capacity in northern Oregon and Washington. In 1904 he quit mining and purchased a
grocery store in Placerville, to the management of which he gave his attention
until 1918, when he sold out, living retired, save for the management of his
personal property.
In
1923 Mr. and Mrs. Richards celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their
wedding, on which occasion they were greeted by many relatives and friends from
all parts of El Dorado County. Mrs.
Richards still resides in Placerville and is beloved by all who know her, for
she is a woman of kindly and gracious manner, interested in the comfort and
welfare of those about her. There are
three sons and a daughter living, namely:
Charles and Frank B., both of Placerville; F. Arthur, of San Francisco;
and Mrs. Edith F. Smith, of Placerville.
Mr. Richards was a man of high ideals in both business and private life,
was consistent in his actions and to a marked degree commanded the respect and
confidence of his fellowmen. In his
death, the community lost a worthy citizen, for he gave his wholehearted
support to those things which were calculated to promote the public welfare,
and his memory will long be revered by all who knew him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 59-60. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies