Frederick Richards was born in Prussia, Germany, in September, 1828. He
attended school between the ages of six and fourteen years. He was very studious
and learned his lessons well.
After completing his schooling he studied
to be a cooper. He had to serve an apprenticeship. He served for four years and
became an excellent workman, having thoroughly mastered the business in
principle and detail.
When eighteen years old he heard glowing stories
of the new world. Comparing the conditions of the old world with that of the new
he thought he might enjoy better advantages on this side of the water.
Competition was greater, but advancement was more quickly secured. He crossed
the Atlantic in a sailing vessel. After a voyage of forty-seven days they
anchored in the harbor of New York.
He continued his journey, traveling
by the way of the Erie canal to Buffalo and thence by the Great Lakes to
Chicago. He then proceeded to Ottawa over the Illinois-Michigan canal. His
limited resources, combined with natural ability and energy, rendered immediate
employment a necessity. He entered the services of a Mr. Hoffman, who was a
cooper. Mr. Richards was hired bv Mr. Hoffman to make pork and flour barrels and
butter firkins.
He lived for two years in Eagle township, after which he
ventured upon an independent business career. He now gave his attention to farm
labor, though in the evening he worked at his trade. In this way he secured some
ready capital. He had enough money at the age of twenty-three that he was able
to purchase a farm of one hundred acres in Bruce township. He began to improve
the land. At the same time he continued to work at the coopers' trade.
A
life of hard work and steady employment won him success, and soon enabled him to
add to his farm until it comprised one hundred and forty acres. At the age of
thirty-three he made an additional purchase of two hundred and forty acres. He
bought more land until he owned more than half a section.
He began
feeding cattle and hogs. The same keen business ability and sound judgment which
made him successful in farming the land also brought him prosperity in the new
venture. As the Civil war produced good prices, he made considerable money,
which he invested wisely.
At the age of thirty-five he purchased one
hundred and sixty acres of land in Bruce township, and from time to time has
increased his holdings until his possessions were more than twenty-two hundred
acres. He had become one of the largest land-owners in La Salle county. His
homeplace was a modern farm, supplied with all modern equipment and conveniences
that help make farm work easier and to add to comforts and conveniences of life
in a rural community.
Excellent crops were annually raised in return for
the hard work labored upon the fields. Good barns, sheds and other outbuildings
furnished ample shelter for his crops and stock in Bruce township, feeding as
high as five hundred head of cattle in a year and about one thousand head of
hogs.
A tract of eighty acres which he purchased, has been divided into
town lots and is known as the Town of Richards.
In 1851 Mr. Richards
married Miss Leah Coty. They had one child, William. He is now a prosperous
farmer in Otter Creek township. The mother died in 1856 and Mr. Richards married
for his second wife Mary Graham.
In community affairs Mr. Richards was
interested to the extent of giving hearty aid to all general welfare. For many
years he served as highway commissioner. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster of
the town of Richards.
The name of Richards stood for business
reliability as well as business. He retired from active service in later years.
He moved to Streator, where he lived until his death.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 31.
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