Lower coast gazette., 1909-08-28
Major Henry 3. Richardson.

In the death of this distinguished gentleman
who died in New Orleans, Saturday, August Il.
the Mississippi River Commission loses one OF
it's most experienced and able members and the
state Of Louisiana loses perhaps its most d1s-
civil engineer and one who mas oeeh
identified with our levee system practically ever
since its recovery after the civil war. MAJOR
Richardson was born in the state of Maine and
came to Louisiana more than fifty years ago.
locating in Tensas parish and was engaged IN
engineering work on the Vicksburg, Shreveport
and Pacific Railroad. Al the outbreak OF the
civil war he entered the army and served as a
confederate soldier until the end OF the war, MS
value as an engineer being there recognized and
resulted in his attachment to Gen. Dick Iaylors
staff and afterwards to Gen. EewlPs and Gen.
.Jubal Earlv's stats. He was captured at Get
tysburg and held as a prisoner for some time at
Johnson Island; he was subsequently exchanged
and a few months later the war ended and ne was
stranded at Bedford, Virginia and some friends
gave him some money and a horse, on when ne
proceeded through the mountains west TO
Louisiana. Even in this he was captured py
some Tennessee soldiers, who did not know that
the war was over and was carried to Nashville
and imprisoned there. AS a ragged con1eder-
ate soldier, on the banks of the MISSISSIPPI
River at Memphis, he made every effort to get
back to New Orleans until finally a stranger
RECOGNIZED him, bought him some clothes and
paid for a stateroom and his passage back to his
adopted state. Major Richardson's career IN
the army as a soldier constitutes one OF the
! romances of those times that only a Cable could
handle with justice.
When the State Board Of Engineers was or
ganized in 1876, Major Richardson was ap-
pointed by Gov. Nichols as one of its members
and ever since that he was connected with that
Board, until the resignation Of Major Harrod
from the Mississippi River Commission led to
the selection of Major Richardson to succeed
Major Harrod on that Board in 1905.
Major Richardson was a quiet man, of excep-
tional ability, with an attractive personality that
won him friends among all those who came to
know him. Taking up the work of the restora-
ton of the public levees of the state of Loulsl'
ana, when public resources were reduced to q
minimum, the fortunes of war having almost
annihilated the levee system and the river floods
having destroyed the value of the property tina
was 50 frequently overflowed, the situation was
one that commanded the EXTREMIST good Judge
ment and tact. The people were willing to tai
themselves and to tax themselves largely TO
the support Of the public levees and yet thos
that had the largest levees and whose relic
would cost the largest amount of money Wer
among those who were then unable to pay tn
moderate taxation indicated by the marke
value of their lands. Through all of the diff
culties of the case, Major Richardson, with con
~ sumate skill and a tact that few men possess
reconciled conflicting interests and led on to tn
grand success that we now see browning tn
levee system of our state; the exclusion of tn
waters from the fertile fields of fair Louisian
and and an increase in its assessed wealth frol
under 200 millions of dollars, back in thos
DAYS. to it's present assessed value of nearly &C
millions of dollars. .s>
In discussing the character of Captain Ead
who built the great St. Louis bridge and who's
browning work was the successful constructlo
of the great %jetties at the mouth of the Missi
sippi River, it has been remarked that the wol
was all very simple when you come now to loo
{ at it. But it required the services of an eng
, neer who was competent to make the work sir
=, pie, who was competent, by his natural ablit
u by his lucidity of statement and by his enerl
3 and earnestness in the work in hand to convin
II , the powers that be that these ventures won
u result in success. This was done in St. LOT
y and done at Port Eads at the mouth of t
~ river in the construction of the jetties and CAY
: Eads became not only one of our greatest CT
1" engineers, but also one of our greatest polite
e engineers, using political in this instance in
y highest, or diplomatic sense. Just 80, Ma!
" Richardson handled the levee system of
q. state of Louisiana, taking it in its tattered &C
~ dition in 1879 and with the cooperation of {
famous levee governor, Samuel Douglas \
~ Emery, began its construction under the p
-" ~, visions of the constitution Of 1879, with
- organization of levee districts and local cont
buttons, until now the levee system of Lou
or ana is the finest in the world. The bikes