Biography

11/12/1797 - 07/12/1851

RICHARDS, Benjamin Wood, a Representative from Philadelphia City; born, November 12, 1797 in Batsto, Burlington County, NJ; graduated, Princeton College (now Princeton University), 1815; proprietor, Richards & Bispham, merchants; elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1827-1828 term; presidential appointee, director, United States Mint, Philadelphia (1828-1829); elected, common council, Philadelphia (1829); elected, mayor, Philadelphia (1829, 1830-1832); manager, Danville and Pottsville Railroad Company (1832); trustee, University of Pennsylvania; president, Girard Life Insurance, Annuity and Trust Company (1836-1851); trustee, Girard College (1837); elected, select council (1843); died, July 12, 1851 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interred, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.