Richard Houston Dudley (July 29, 1836 – August 30, 1914) was an American Democratic politician, Confederate soldier and businessman. He served as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

from 1897 to 1900.

Early life

Dudley was born near Shelbyville in

Bedford County, Tennessee Bedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,237. Its county seat is Shelbyville. Bedford County comprises the Shelbyville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also inc ...

on July 29, 1836.Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County, TN
/ref>

Career

Dudley served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

of 1861–1865.Clement Anselm Evans, O. M. Roberts, J. J. Dickison, Robert S. Bridgers, William Harwar Parker, ''Confederate Military History: Tennessee'', Broadfoot, 1987, p. 45

/ref> In May 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Maney's 1st Tennessee Infantry. In 1873, Dudley moved to Nashville where was a member of the wholesale grocery firm of Ordlay, Dudley and McGuire, and the hardware firm of Dudley Brothers & Lipscomb.William Waller, ''Nashville in the 1890s'', Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press, 1970, p. 9

/ref> He served as Mayor of Nashville from 1897 to 1900.Frank Burns, ''Davidson County'', Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis State University Press, 1989, p. 6

/ref>Nashville Library
/ref> He was supported by Democrats and

Irish Americans , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

who lived in Nashville during his campaign.

Personal life

Dudley was married to Mattie Rose in September, 1865. She died soon after and he remarried to Mary E. Beasley on April 4, 1868, who died in 1907. He had no children. Dudley died on August 30, 1914.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Richard Houston 1836 births 1914 deaths Confederate States Army soldiers Tennessee Democrats Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee People from Bedford County, Tennessee People of Tennessee in the American Civil War 19th-century American politicians