The ''John Brett Richeson House'' in

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 ...

was built in 1832 and purchased by John Richeson, an educator from

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen C ...

, for his wife Mildred Richeson and their eight children. The house was occupied by the Richeson family for more than 100 years until the death of Edward Richeson in 1941. The Richeson family provided Maysville with some of the most accomplished and brilliant teachers ever known in Kentucky, and they helped to establish Maysville as a leading educational community during the period 1832–1880. Several of John Richeson's children were teachers, including sons William and John Richeson, and his daughter Ann Frances Richeson Peers. Several grandchildren were also teachers.

Maysville Academy

Upon his arrival in Maysville in 1832, John Brett Richeson, in partnership with professor Jacob Rand, founded and operated Maysville Academy for several decades. The academy was the first successful secondary school in Maysville and specialized in preparing young men for university level studies. It attracted a number of students who later attained prominence including: *

Ulysses Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, Civil War General and two-term U.S. President *

William "Bull" Nelson William "Bull" Nelson (September 27, 1824 – September 29, 1862) was a United States naval officer who became a Union general during the American Civil War. As a Kentuckian, Nelson could have sympathized with the Confederates but, like his st ...

, Civil War General *

Walter Newman Haldeman Walter Newman Haldeman (April 27, 1821 – May 14, 1902) was an American newspaper publisher, owner, and businessman from Louisville, Kentucky, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the founder of the ''Louisville Courier'', which would la ...

, Editor and founder of the ''

Louisville Courier Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

'' *

John J. Crittenden John Jordan Crittenden (September 10, 1787 July 26, 1863) was an American statesman and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as Unite ...

, accomplished jurist and politician * Thomas H. Nelson, U.S. Minister to Mexico *

Henry Stanton Henry Brewster Stanton (June 27, 1805 – January 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, social reformer, attorney, journalist and politician. His writing was published in the '' New York Tribune,'' the ''New York Sun,'' and William Lloy ...

, Confederate soldier and Poet Laureate * Ormond Beatty, educator and President of

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is a ...

Rosemary Clooney

Singer and actress Rosemary Clooney was born in Maysville and lived in the Richeson House in the late 1940s. The city named a nearby street in her honor when her first movie, ''

The Stars Are Singing ''The Stars Are Singing'' is a 1953 Paramount Pictures musical directed by Norman Taurog and starring Rosemary Clooney, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lauritz Melchior. Plot The screenplay concerns a 15-year-old Polish girl (played by Alberghetti) ...

'', premiered at the Russell Theatre.

References

{{Registered Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Mason County, Kentucky Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Houses completed in 1832 Houses in Maysville, Kentucky 1832 establishments in Kentucky Greek Revival architecture in Kentucky