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"R" is for Richardson, Richard [ca. 1705-1780]

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"R" is for Richardson, Richard [ca. 1705-1780]. Legislator. Soldier. In the 1730s, Richardson settled on the upper Santee River. In the decades before the Revolution, he emerged as a leading figure in the backcountry. He was instrumental in negotiating an end to the violent Regulator movement. He was a member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses and a well-respected militia officer. In November 1775 Richardson and William Thompson were given command of 2,500 patriots to disperse the large number of Tory militia units in the backcountry. The mission was an unqualified success. When Charleston fell, the aged Richardson was imprisoned and after several months of harsh treatment by his captors he died. Richard Richardson was the founder of one of South Carolina’s leading political families—with six of his descendants becoming governor of the state.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.