Wilson Gaines Richardson (born

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

, December 9, 1825; died Staunton,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, July 5, 1886) was an American Classicist, minister, and veteran of the Civil War. Richardson was the son of Thomas Gaines and Sarah (née Perry) Richardson and the grandson of Richard and Sarah (née Gaines) Richardson and of Captain John and Elizabeth (née Leathers) Perry of Woodford county, Kentucky.

Education

He graduated from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

with A.B. (1844) and A.M. (1847) degrees after which he served as a tutor in ancient languages at the university. p. 108 He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Hiram College Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coe ...

. From 1854 to 1859 Gaines was professor of Latin and French at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in Oxford and then at Oakland College from 1859–1862.

Military service

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Gaines enlisted as a private in the Lamar Rifles; he was wounded in action at the

Battle of Gaines's Mill A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Afterwards Gaines Richardson became a paymaster in the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

, serving aboard the CSS Selma (1856) and CSS Alert and was subsequently taken prisoner following the

Battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...

on August 5, 1864. Gaines was exchanged March 4, 1865 at Ship Island, Mississippi, surrendered at Citronelle May 4, 1865 and paroled May 18, 1865 at Grenada, Mississippi.

Career after the war

After the war Gaines Richardson was professor of ancient languages and French at

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

in Davidson, North Carolina; professor of Latin and French at Central University, Kentucky (1874–1878), and professor of languages at Austin College, Texas (1878–1881). From 1882 to 1884 he attended

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

and served as a pastor at Staunton, Tennessee (1884–1886).

conferred an honorary Ph.D. in 1876.

Personal life

Wilson Gaines Richardson was twice married: he wed Louisa Vinson, daughter of Dr. Robert Lewis and Martha (née Bush) Kennon of Jackson, Miss., on February 4, 1857, and following her death, Mrs. Anne Herring on February 10, 1876.

References

1825 births 1886 deaths University of Alabama alumni Hiram College alumni American classical scholars Classical scholars of the University of Mississippi Davidson College faculty Confederate States Army soldiers Confederate States Navy officers Princeton Theological Seminary alumni {{AmericanCivilWar-bio-stub