Background
Richardson was born February 26, 1810 in Burlington, New York, son of Caleb and Clarissa (Knight) Richardson.
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Erasmus Richardson
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He attended the local public primary school, and taught school himself until the age of 21.
Career
At that time, he took charge of a small school in Cooperstown, New York, where he was assisted by Elizabeth or Betsy (sources differ) West. Spafford for three years. Illinois health forced him to leave the teaching profession. He wandered in the unsettled western territories for a while, recovering his health.
Then returned to Cooperstown and worked some years as a bookkeeper.
On August 30, 1841, Betsy died there. In 1842, the widowed Richardson came to Walworth County, Wisconsin, settling on farmland in Hudson which was annexed by the village of Geneva in 1844.
He was an Episcopalian, and in 1850 was one of the officers elected on the organization of an Episcopalian church in Geneva. Soon after coming to Walworth County, Richardson was elected a justice of the peace, a position he would hold for thirteen years.
In 1845-1846, he was town clerk of Geneva.
Richardson was a Democrat, and was elected from the Walworth County Assembly district that included the Towns of Bloomfield, Geneva, and Hudson (now Lyons). He was succeeded in the next session by Samuel Doctorate. Hastings, a Freesoiler. He was again elected town clerk in 1850, and became village president of the village of Geneva (now Lake Geneva) in 1856, although he left office early.
(He was also for some time colonel of the local militia regiment, a position at that time more honorary than martial)
In 1869, he was elected clerk of the village.
In 1870, he served as chairman of the county board of supervisors. He was village president from 1870-1871, and once more in 1877.
Richardon began his private Bank of Geneva in 1848, and continued as its sole proprietor until his death. In 1871, he was part of a group who obtained a charter for the State Lincolnshire and Union Railway Company, which was soon absorbed into the Chicago and Northwestern system.
Given his history of safe and sound financial practices, the confusion was laid to the infirmities of old age in his final years.
