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 Julius C. Richardson is one of Alabama's younger men who have attained
distinction at the bar and in the field of politics. He is the son of Rev. Simon Peter
Richardson and Mary E. (Arledge) Richardson. His father was a noted Baptist preacher in
his time, well known throughout the south for his uncompromising attitude
toward "the flesh and the devil."
The island of Key West, Fla., was the place where Julius C. Richardson
first saw the light, the time being on the 18th of April, 1851. Coming to
Alabama when a young man, Mr. Richardson was educated at the A. & M.
college at Auburn. Ala., at Summerfield Institute, and at the Southern
University, at Greensboro. At this
point it became necessary to supply himself with
some of the sinews of war before he could prepare for his chosen profession,
and the school-room, that stepping stone to future greatness, and the poor
young man's treasury where he may honorably replenish his exhausted
exchequer, found in him an earnest and successful teacher. In 1872 he became a matriculate of the law
department of the Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn., taking the
bachelor's degree there the following year. After prospecting some little, in
January, 1874, he selected Greenville as a location and immediately entered
upon a successful career, though he had for his associates such talented
lawyers as Hilary A. Herbert, Judge John K. Henry, Thos. J. Judge, and others
not less renowned, and at this time (1892) he is the acknowledged leader of a
bar made illustrious by the names of Watts, Crenshaw, Porter and Lomax. His success is due to a keen perception of
right, the ability to sift a case thoroughly, selecting its strongest points,
and a tenacity of purpose which stops not short of a favorable decision. Mr.
Richardson's reputation at the bar soon brought him the offer of political
honors, but he could not be prevailed upon to accept until a vacancy occurred
in the state senate in 1886, caused by the death of Judge John K. Henry. Mr. Richardson was selected to fill out the
unexpired term. Of this selection the
Montgomery Advertiser said: "He is a source of pride and pleasure to his
friends, throughout the state. As a
public man be has always been upright, honest and true, and his ability to
fill the honorable position to which he has been called by the people of his
district is unquestioned and unquestionable." During the session he proved himself
thoroughly alive to the interests of his district and, as a member of the
joint committee of the house and senate on the revision of the code of
Alabama, rendered much valuable service by his entire familiarity with the
subject in all its intricate details. In writing of him at this time, a
biographer remarks that "no man of his age has been more
successful. He has the quickest and
acutest perception, and is possessed of a mind thoroughly trained and
organized for the law, which he loves for its own sake. He is a brilliant conversationalist, an
extensive miscel1aneous reader, an eloquent speaker and writer, and possesses
great dignity of character." In
literature, Mr. Richardson is an acknowledged connoisseur. At his office he has one of the finest and
most complete law libraries in the state.
At his house he duplicates this, and adds all the best authors to be
found in the field of good books. In November of 1874, Mr. Richardson was
married to Miss Bettie McCall, one of Greenville's worthy and accomplished
young ladies, the daughter of D. T. McCall, Esq., a representative of an old and
highly respected family of Butler. Two
children were born to the union: Terry M. Richardson and Mack
Richardson. In 1891, the wife and
mother entered upon that life in whose pleasures we may not participate till
the "golden thread be broken." Mrs. R. was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and is remembered as an earnest christian
woman, whose delight was charity, and whose devotion to home, husband and
children was of that type which secures a place in the memory of all with
whom she came in contact.
*Reprint
from MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA, VOL I by Brant & Fuller, Madison, Wis.,
1893
This article was original submitted by Grant
Johnston
NOTE: The 1850 Federal Census for Chattahoochee, Gadsden
County, Florida, lists Julius, age 9, living his parents and siblings. His
father is listed as a Methodist minister. Simon’s real estate value is shown
as $2000 with personal property valued at $5000. A child named Florence is
listed as one month old. She doesn’t show up on the 1870 census. In 1870,
Julius was living with his parents in Summerfield, Dallas County, Alabama.
His siblings include Ida, Eugenia, Charles, Leilah,
George and Simon. Also living with the family was a black housekeeper named
Mandy Jones. The 1880 Federal Census lists J. C. Richardson, a lawyer, living
in Greenville, Butler County, Alabama. Living in the household were wife
Bettie, son Terry, her father Daniel T. McCall, his wife’s brothers Soloman P. McCall, John C. McCall, Harry Wood, a black
servant, Harry’s wife Adaline
Wood (a cook) and daughter Ella (a day laborer). Julius C. Richardson appears
on the 1900 census in Greenville. His son Mack and two nieces, Lou W. Rice
and [unreadable] Rice, are living with him. When the 1910 census for
Greenville was taken, his second wife Florence was living with him, as were
two small children, Mary [age 1] and Julius C. [age 2 months]. They had been
married 4 years. Julius C. Richardson’s occupation is shown as a Circuit
Court Judge.
Julius C. Richardson was born
April 18, 1851 in Key West, Monroe County, FL. and died August 9, 1910 in
Montgomery County, AL. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Greenville, Butler County, AL. His parents were Simon Peter Richardson
(1818-1899; buried Riverside Cemetery, Macon, Bibb County, GA; photo
and obit) and Mary Arledge (1832-1923; buried
Riverside Cemetery, Macon, GA; photo
and obit). Elizabeth P. [Bettie] McCall Richardson born in 1855, Butler
County, AL and died August 19, 1891 in Greenville, Butler County, AL, buried
in Magnolia Cemetery, Greenville, AL. Mrs. Richardson’s parents were Daniel
Terry McCall (1817-1889) and Martha J. Cook (1818-1899).
Obituary – The State,
Columbia, S.C., dated August 10, 1910:
ALABAMA JUDGE KILLED BY FALL
FROM MOTOR
Julius C. Richardson Loses Life
in Automobile Accident on Bridge. Companions Injured.
Montgomery, Ala., Aug. 9.----Judge JULIUS C. RICHARDSON, judge of the Second
judicial circuit of Alabama, is dead and Ed Winkler and Glasgow Stewart of
Greenville, Ala., are injured as the result of an automobile accident this
afternoon 15 miles from Montgomery on the Mobile road. The party was coming
to Montgomery from Pensacola and the chauffeur was unfamiliar with the road.
At a high rate of speed he drove the car to the centre of a bridge which
there is a steep ridge. The car sprang forward, fell, crashed into one wall,
skidded and then suddenly stopped, throwing Judge Richardson over the hood.
He was rushed to Montgomery in another car. He died this evening.
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