Covington, Kentucky, attorney, politician, and superintendent of public instruction. Louisville, Kentucky, native. Son of Samuel Q. Richardson and Mary H. Harrison Richardson. Married to Mariah Louisa Harris Richardson on April 18, 1859. Father of Carter Richardson, Henry Richardson, Robert Richardson, and Mary Richardson. Graduate of Transylvania University in 1846. Served in General Humphrey Marshall's 1st Kentucky Cavalry Regiment as a private and sergeant in the Mexican-American War. Attended law school in Lexington in 1848. Moved to Covington and opened a law practice. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from Kenton County, Kentucky, from 1855 to 1859. Superintendent of public instruction for the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1859 to 1863. Member of the Border State Convention in 1861. Notary public in Kenton County in 1864.