Person:Frank Richardson (14)

Frank and two of his brothers opened a photography studio in Hamilton, Bermuda, in the late 1880's. At some point the studio burned down, tradition says due to an accident with the powder used to take flash photographs. (Note, although photographic chemicals may add to a fire,a newspaper account, "The Fire on Queen Street", suggests the fire started in a neighboring store around midnight, when the photography studio would have been closed, so this tradition is probably incorrect.) Frank opened a photography studio in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, but in 1897 he sold his business and joined his brother Thomas's photography studio in Manitowoc as a partner. Sometime before 1905, he left the photography business, as did his brother Thomas, though brother Mead Richardson ran a well-known photography studio in Kaukauna for 48 years until 1944. In 1905, the state census describes Frank as a chemist, in 1910 a traveling salesman for electric pianos, in 1920 a salesman for a typewriter company, and finally he became a furniture maker.

1.   Find A Grave: Riverside Cemetery, appleton, WI, in Find A Grave
   Frank I. Richardson.

   [Note: no gravestone image, basis unknown. Gives birth 11 Sep 1860, death 12 Jul 1953.]

2. ↑ In the 1900 census, the birthdate is listed as Sep "1841", which is assumed to have intended to be 1861. The ages listed in various other censuses generally agree within the precision of this source (19 in 1880 line 4, 39 in 1900 line 61, 48 in 1910, line 86 and 58 in 1920, line 49, 69 in 1930, line 51, 80 in 1940, line 42, age 89 in 1850, line 19). An email from a grandchild gave his birth as 11 Sep 1862, but this year would not calculate to the various ages here.
3. ↑ After his wife died in 1933, Frank lived part of the year with each of his 3 children. According to an email from a grandchild, he died in 1954, age 92, in Wisconsin.
4. ↑ Frank's name is variously seen a Frank I, or Frank J, in the records. An email from a grandchild gave the name as Frank Ingersoll Richardson. Registration of births in Wisconsin were not required until 1909, and Frank's was not found in Manitowoc (where his parents resided) records.