J. De Forest Richards (November 28, 1874 – September 5, 1949) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and banker. He was the son of the fifth Governor of Wyoming and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1894 to 1897. He later had a career as a banker in

Douglas, Wyoming Douglas is a city in Converse County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 6,120 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Converse County and the home of the Wyoming State Fair. History Douglas was platted in 1886 when the Wyoming C ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, and

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Early years

Richards was born in 1874 in

Camden, Alabama Camden is a city in and the county seat of Wilcox County, Alabama, United States. The population was 2,020 at the 2010 census, down from 2,257 in 2000, at which time it was a town. History What is now Camden was established on property donate ...

, the only son of

DeForest Richards DeForest Richards (August 6, 1846April 28, 1903) was an American banker, farmer, and politician. He was the fifth Governor of the state of Wyoming, and the first to die while still in office. Biography Born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, Rich ...

. His father was a

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

native who moved to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

in the Reconstruction era, serving as the sheriff of Wilcox County, Alabama, and operating a tannery and mercantile business. His father moved to Nebraska when Richards was 12 years old. Richards attended public school in Nebraska for two years before being sent to the St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

. After graduating from the St. Paul's School in 1892, Richards moved to

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...

, where his father had established a store under the name Richards, Cunningham & Co.

University of Michigan

In 1894, Richards enrolled at the

. While at Michigan, he played

. He was a halfback for the

1894 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1894 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1894 college football season. In its first season under head coach William McCauley, the team compiled a 9–1–1 recor ...

and a quarterback for the

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

and 1897 teams.

Business career

He finished his education at Michigan in 1898 and returned to Wyoming where he became an assistant cashier at the First National Bank of Douglas in

. In 1898, his father was elected Governor of Wyoming and served in that office until his death in April 1903. Richards was elected vice president of the First National Bank of Douglas in January 1901. He also served as the treasurer of the Richards-Coombs Co., which operated a sheep ranch south of Douglas, and treasurer of the Chambers Live Stock Co., which operated a ranch on the

Cheyenne River The Cheyenne River ( lkt, Wakpá Wašté; "Good River"), also written ''Chyone'', referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 2 ...

Weston County, Wyoming Weston County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 6,838. Its county seat is Newcastle. Its east boundary line abuts the west line of the state of South Dakota. History Weston County ...

. In 1909, Richards moved from Douglas, Wyoming, to

, where he continued to work in the banking business. In 1918, he moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he became involved in the manufacture of gas engines. In 1925, Richards joined the National Boulevard Bank in Chicago. He became president of the bank in 1931 and was "credited with increasing its resources and services." In September 1949, Richards died after a short illness in Chicago. He was survived by his wife, Gertrude Richards, and was buried at the Rosehill Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, J. De Forest 1874 births 1949 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Michigan Wolverines football players People from Camden, Alabama