William M. Richardson
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William Merchant Richardson (January 4, 1774 - March 15, 1838) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He was born in Pelham, New Hampshire in 1774. He graduated from Harvard University in 1797; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Groton, Mass., in 1804. He was elected as a Republican to the Twelfth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Joseph B. Varnum; and was reelected to the Thirteenth Congress and served from November 4, 1811, to April 18, 1814, when he resigned.
Richardson moved to Portsmouth, N.H., in 1814. He became a United States Attorney in 1814; and in 1816 was appointed chief justice of New Hampshire and served until his death. He died in Chester, N.H. in 1838, and is buried in the Old Cemetery there.
He was the uncle of William Adams Richardson who was United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1873 to 1874.
