WHEN the Richardson family moved from Bethany in 1859, Nathaniel and Anne did not accompany them. On June 2 of that year Nathaniel had married Anne McKennon; and, as we have seen, Anne Richardson had previously married J. M. Dunning. In fact, Nathaniel, having attained to some celebrity as a brilliant young lawyer in Wheeling, had been elected to the House of Delegates in the government of the State of Virginia and was just now beginning his first term.

      The home in the village that Richardson had purchased under duress was sold to Professor C. L. Loos. Bethphage was turned over to the keeping of Mr. and Mrs. John Stevenson, who now moved from the tenant-house into the old family home. Mrs. Stevenson had long been a friend of the family, in earlier years having helped Mrs. Richardson with the work about the house. Upon arriving in Harrodsburg, Dr. Richardson moved into a home located at the intersection of Lexington and Nicholson roads. A deed dated at Harrodsburg, September 1, 1859, shows that this home was purchased from Elizabeth Morrow for $3,750, of which $1,000 was paid in cash, the balance being covered by notes to be paid within two years. The house was situated on two and a half acres of land. It was a large, well-appointed, American-Gothic dwelling. The grounds were ample, the house sitting in a grove of trees well back from the street; a long walk led up from the highway. Within the house [201] there was a tall, spiral stairway leading to the second and third floors, from the base of which one could see all the way up. To assist Rebekah in the care of this home, colored servants were employed, but not purchased, for Dr. Richardson was strongly opposed to slavery.

      Mary and Frances were entered at Daughters College, in Harrodsburg. David was enrolled as a student in Kentucky University, and John in Taylor Academy. Anne had previously attended Piedmont Seminary in Virginia, and Nathaniel had graduated from Bethany College.

      Kentucky University opened September 19, 1859. There were 194 students.¹ Professor Robert Richardson published the following departmental description for the School of Physical Science:

      The design of this Department is to give to the student a very thorough and extensive knowledge of the laws, principles, and operations of the material world, organic and inorganic. The daily recitations are accompanied with familiar lectures, and as far as practicable, with a very full course of experiments on all subjects taught.

      Special attention is also given to the subject of Practical Analysis, the Laws of Health, the Principles of Agriculture, and the general application of Chemistry to the arts; while the benevolent designs of the Creator in the constitution of nature are kept constantly before the minds of the students.²

      The course of study and instruction in his school covered the whole range of the then known field of physical science. Textbooks listed were "Olmsted's Natural Philosophy; Silliman's Chemistry; Gray's Botanical Text-Book; Carpenter's Physiology; Agassiz and [202] Gould's Zoology; Dana's Manual of Mineralogy; Hitchcock's Geology; and Johnson's Agricultural Chemistry."

      For this and for all his services as vice-president, as the minutes of the Board of Curators show, Richardson was paid $1,500 the first year. The following year the schedule was revised, and his salary was raised to $1,750, the high-water mark of his whole career; but this improvement in his situation was to be of short duration.

      During most of Richardson's first year at Kentucky University, his work was conducted upon the trembling threshold of approaching civil war. When the second term began, the conflict was already under way. Students from his classes enlisted on both sides of the fraternal strife. Tensions tore at the school, enrollment fell off. The second session began with 174 students, an enrollment which was reduced the third term to 113 and the fourth to sixty-two.³

      Commencement at Bethany College on July 4, 1860, found Robert Richardson at the exercises, where he was seated among the distinguished gentlemen on the platform.⁴ His reasons for returning were many. The most important of these was his desire to demonstrate his support of Bethany College and his personal esteem for Campbell. Another was a wish to see the new college building, of which Alexander Campbell had recently said: "Our building is in its whole contour one of the finest I have seen old world or new--of Collegiate Gothic Architecture--It is in good keeping with our Gothic Hills."⁵ Then again, he was homesick; and he wanted to see how the Stevensons were getting along at Bethphage. [203]

      From the very first, upon reaching a definite decision to go to Kentucky, he had been concerned to keep his removal from being interpreted as a break with Bethany College or with Alexander Campbell. Even after they were in Kentucky, both he and Milligan had offered to continue as associate editors of the Harbinger, with or without salary. Although neither of them wanted the extra burden of editorial work, they thought it would tend to promote peace and prevent rivalry between the two institutions.⁶

      In the early 1860's a controversy broke out in the brotherhood over "inviting the pious unimmersed to the Lord's Table." Many Disciples, prominent among whom were Moses E. Lard and Benjamin Franklin, ranged themselves on the close-communion side of this issue; others, like Isaac Errett and Robert Richardson, opposed that position.

      The close-communion position is briefly but accurately set forth in the following statement by George W. Elley, of Lexington, Kentucky:

      I will state my position in a few words: 1. That the church of God is composed only of those who are avowedly "born again."

      2. That none are thus born who have not been immersed in water, upon their public avowal of their faith and repentance.

      3. That such, and such only, are citizens of Christ's kingdom; and such are (all other things being equal), lawfully entitled to the ordinances of God's house.⁷

      Characteristically, Richardson did not allow himself to be put in a position of countering this extreme with another. He took a position that was moderately liberal: [204]

      The discussions . . . have been upon the question of the recognition of unimmersed persons as Christians, and "open communion" is urged upon the ground that the members of the different churches are Christians, and therefore entitled to intercommunion, and to be invited accordingly. This question is here supposed to be discussed and determined by immersed believers in favor of all others. Our position is quite different; we neither discuss nor determine this question. We simply leave it to each individual to determine for himself.

      It was really, as the close-communion partisans said, an "untaught question." And for this reason, if for no other, the position was illogical and self-contradictory.

      These brethren, however, act very inconsistently, when, after declaring it an "untaught question," they then proceed to discuss it, or what is still worse, to determine it without discussion, against all but immersed believers . . . In so deciding, they presume to decide two questions, 1st, that no unimmersed persons are Christians; 2nd, that all immersed persons are Christians--neither of which propositions can be proved.⁸

      Richardson's exact position was that of "informal communion." The unimmersed "are neither invited nor prohibited." Since their exact status is an "untaught question," it must be left to each person. It "is their act and not ours." Of an advocate of close communion he wanted to know whether this practice of "informal communion" was not quite general among Disciples and whether he was not aware that it was a common occurrence for "members of other religious communities, who happen to be seated amongst our brethren, to partake of the loaf and the cup" as they are passed. Has he "ever heard the individual presiding prohibit the practice, or 'fence the [205] tables' in presbyterian phrase, or [ever] known the church as a body to object to it?"⁹

      Isaac Errett, Richardson's personal friend, was upholding the same side of the issue. Answering an inquiry from R. Hawley, he stated that although the Disciple position did not recognize sects as being of divine origin, it certainly did recognize "a people of God among these sects." He went on to say:

      We are compelled, therefore, to recognize as Christians many who have been in error on baptism, but who in the spirit of obedience are Christians indeed . . . It will never do to unchristianize those on whose shoulders we are standing, and because of whose previous labors we are enabled to see some truths more clearly than they . . .

      For myself, while fully devoted to our plea, I have no wish to limit and fetter my sympathies and affections to our own people.¹⁰

      Richardson regarded the close-communion stand as bigoted and narrow. Reading the "labored essays intended to build up exclusivism and Pharisaism" among the Disciples, he experienced a deep desire "to expose their sophistries" and defeat their aims. "But I am too much occupied with my labors in the University here, and in the church, to write much at present."¹¹

      In July, 1861, John Hunt Morgan, the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy," at the head of 1,200 of the now celebrated "Morgan Raiders," invaded Kentucky from eastern Tennessee, preparatory to Bragg's march into the state. As the raiders roamed about, plundering and destroying, their lightninglike depredations created intense excitement. Men rallied to Morgan's banner by the hundreds. [206]

      This time of general disturbance was disastrous to Richardson's personal affairs. On July 8, 1861, he wrote his son Nathaniel, "I have never had so much trouble to obtain the means of defraying my current expenses as during the past few months." He had met financial reverses and difficulties. The university could not pay his salary, and he did not know how he was going to raise the $1,250 which was still due on his house.

      By early summer of 1862 it was evident that the conflict in Kentucky would shortly become more bitter and more intense. Richardson feared for his family, and finally decided to take them back to the North. Accordingly, in July of that year, leaving David behind to enter upon the schoolteaching for which he had contracted, he started north with the remainder of the family. Traveling by stagecoach and by rail, he was fortunate enough to get the last train leaving that section for many months. The family was now safe again at Bethphage. The farm was put under the management of his son John, and the doctor prepared to return to Harrodsburg.

      But his return was delayed. Shortly after the arrival of the Richardson family at Bethphage, a letter came from Milligan, acquainting them with recent developments in Kentucky:

      A few days ago, I thought that our prospects were becoming very flattering. But the recent order of the Government, to draft 300,000 men has produced some excitement in Ky. Many young men will make every possible effort to escape to the Southern Confederacy. And it is now confidently believed, that Morgan will attempt another raid through Ky. for the purpose of gaining recruits. If he be successful, he will gain many more [207] recruits than he did during the last raid. But it is thought that the Union force will soon be strong enough to resist any attempt to invade Ky.¹²

      At about the same time a letter from David showed that this son of his had become greatly excited over the war and that he perhaps was thinking of enlisting in the Confederate Army. This news depressed and displeased his father, who replied from Bethphage, August 20, 1862:

DEAR DAVID,

      I received your letter a few days ago, and am pleased to learn that your school has increased. I feel under many obligations to Dr. Campbell for the kindness he has shown you. Give my kind regards to him and the family.

      I regret much that Ky. has became so much disturbed lately. I heard last evening a report that the Confederate forces had occupied Richmond, Ky. [25 miles south of Lexington]. If this be so I fear there will be little peace in Ky. for some time and that it may be made a great battle ground for the two opposing sections. If you should happen to be drafted you should find a substitute as I would not wish you to engage on either side of this unhappy contest. I am opposed to it altogether, and regret it especially on account of the south which will be totally ruined if it continues much longer . . . Any one who aids the South in the rebellion aids in her destruction. I regret that you allow yourself to speak so rashly and unjustly of individuals and public measures, in regard to which, you are necessarily an incompetent judge. You will do well to be a quiet observer far a few years and to avoid any expressions of opinions which may make you enemies and can, in no case, subserve a useful purpose.

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

      I hope you will confine yourself to business closely and endeavor to improve your pupils and yourself by every means in your power. Avoid political discussions altogether and endeavor to enlarge your knowledge by the study of history and a review of your studies. Try to render full satisfaction to your employers [208] and to gain their confidence by punctuality and attention. I will be glad to hear of your success and wish you to write occasionally to let me know how you are getting on.

	Yours affectionately,
R. RICHARDSON.

      After the battle of Perryville, on October 8, 1862, the Kentucky University buildings were taken over as a Confederate hospital, and the college retired to the Christian church.¹³ Professor Richardson did not return to Harrodsburg for the fall term of 1862. A letter to Nathaniel, written December 7, 1862, shows him still debating whether he would return to Harrodsburg at all. There were only fifty students. He might do it, if he could be sure of getting $400 in cash which he would then be able to credit to the $800 he had borrowed from the school the previous year. His family was in need of a carriage, but he could not even afford $50 for a secondhand vehicle. It was a gloomy and uncertain time. Finally, he decided to wait until the beginning of the second semester, in February, 1863. Meantime, he supervised the farm, practiced medicine, and brooded over the armed strife rending his nation.

      The Neotrophian Literary Society in Bethany College, of which Dr. Richardson was a member, invited him to address them, and in November, 1862, he obliged them with a stirring address against war. He told them that Bethany was "a green spot, in the present, amidst the desert waste of political turmoil and civil war." He lamented the bloodshed of former Bethany students who now fought one another on the battlefield. He disparaged military men and the military art: "There seems [209] to me no better evidence of the fact that 'men are but children of a larger growth,' than to see a tall, broad-chested, whiskered individual, making a vain display of a few brass buttons and strips of gold lace with which the tailor has bedecked his clothing." Victory in battle, he continued, is often a matter of "mere animal courage and brutal force," rather than a triumph of genius. The work of the scholar was more important to America's future than the work of the soldier, he said. "It is here then, gentlemen, within these halls, that you are engaged in the most elevated of all employments." But even in such grim times and with very heavy personal anxieties on his mind, the doctor could not resist a pun:

      We are, indeed, most happily located here in the Pan-handle of Virginia. The rest of the State is the pan, and the long narrow strip of land between Ohio and Pa. on which we live, is the handle of the pan. How much better it is to be situated on the handle of the pan, than to be in the, pan itself during these "trying" not to say frying times!¹⁴

      Western Virginia, meantime, moved to dissociate itself from the seceding mother state. Calling a convention at Wheeling on May 14, 1861, it condemned the ordinance of secession. On June 20, following a referendum, the fifty-six elected delegates at Wheeling declared the separation of western from eastern Virginia and set up a provisional government. On November 27 "West Virginia" was chosen to be the name of the new state, and on May 3, 1862, the people ratified the new state constitution. Somewhat more than a year later, on June 20, 1863, the new state was admitted to the Union. [210]

      Tensions which split sons and brothers between the two contending armies infused with bitter antagonism the voting which severed one part of Virginia from the other. In this strained situation, Robert Richardson moved in and out among his old neighbors and patients, laboring tirelessly as a peacemaker, a role for which he was peculiarly fitted by talent, training, and temperament.

      With regard to David, his worst fears were shortly realized. His son joined Morgan's Raiders. When David entered the conflict, Richardson wrote brokenheartedly to his friend Philip Fall, as though he had suffered a bereavement. Fall replied from Nashville, on December 13, 1862. A part of his letter follows:

      I agree with you that this war is a crime--because it might easily have been avoided, had the powers that be so willed. Allow me to say that we know how to feel for the bereavement you have been called upon to suffer in anticipation; and if at any time your son, who is possibly at Murfreesboro at this moment, should be in our city either sick or wounded, or a prisoner, we hope to be able to take him to our house and treat him as our own. A battle is imminent. Skirmishes are taking place almost daily and the Federal losses in prisoners as well as killed and wounded have been very heavy within the last two weeks.¹⁵

      This was painful consolation. Though deeply appreciated, it was impotent to assuage his grief. It was only a little more than a year and a half later, on July 5, 1864, that David fell in battle with Morgan's Raiders at Lebanon, Kentucky, in the twenty-second year of his life. Afterward, Richardson repressed his sorrow, closing the door upon that part of his mind. Never again, even once, did he mention David's name in the family circle.¹⁶ Rebekah, whose sympathies were with the Confederacy, [211] and whose affection for David was correspondingly augmented, was crushed. In January, 1863, the doctor undertook the hazardous return to Kentucky. Immediately upon reaching Harrodsburg, he wrote his family, on February 8, 1863, addressing the letter to his son John:

      I did not get to Harrodsburg until Friday evening owing to the railroad trains failing to make connections. I find the friends here generally well and glad to see me. I have commenced my labors today at the University, this being the first day of the second term. I have concluded to take boarding at Mrs. Arnold's as the most convenient place. A number of students are boarding with her; also an Episcopal clergyman. She has her son George with her who was badly wounded in the skirmish at Cynthiana last fall. He was one of Morgan's band and is lying now very low, not expected to recover. There are about 54 students on the University Register and more expected.

      I forgot in coming away to tell you that the pork in the brine in the smokehouse ought to be hung up. If not done you had best hang it up at once and keep up a smoke every day for two or three weeks. Make as little heat as possible. Use hickory wood and do not pile it up so as to make any blaze, but fix it so that it will burn very slowly and make merely smoke. Attend to it frequently and be careful to keep the fire in the middle of the smoke house. You can take some of the broom twine I gave you and after making a hole in each ham and shoulder, push the cord through. Hang them up with the shanks downward, and give the cords a good hold in the meat and skin so that it will not cut out. In hanging the pieces up, do not let them touch each other . . .

      I hope you have got the stacks into the barn and the other hauling done before this, as it is now thawing again. Be careful to remember my directions about the sheep-keep the colts in the barn yard and let the sheep always have hay in the racks before the barn, and their corn regularly.

      Write about every two weeks and let me know all that is done and how things are. [212]

      Tell Eddie and Emma that they must write. Alf. Curry was glad to hear, from Eddie and to receive the apples. Bob was greatly pleased to get the 2 big apples from Willy. I sent out the presents for Henry and Will White but have not seen them yet. Mrs. Curry and family are well and the folks generally.

      Dr. Richardson remained in Kentucky only until the close of the semester. The resources of the university were shattered and the students dispersed to the war. Frugal, and anxious to be a burden to no one, Richardson turned his face to the North and joined his family at his beloved Bethphage. Fortunately, he had been able to dispose of his Harrodsburg property to a businessman, a Mr. Foster, at a financial loss of only $250. He received $1,500 in cash and two notes for $1,000 each, to be paid within eighteen months.

      On February 16, 1864, the main building of Kentucky University was destroyed by fire. Plunged into great distress and uncertainty by this blow, the curators considered what to do--whether to rebuild in Harrodsburg or to start new in Louisville or Covington or to accept the longstanding invitation of Transylvania University to move to Lexington, in which case it was agreed that Transylvania's property and the government of the university would be transferred to the curators of Kentucky University. The curators, after many months of discussion, decided to accept Transylvania's offer. Meantime, classes were being held in the Harrodsburg Christian church and in a neighboring building.¹⁷

      President Milligan wrote Richardson repeatedly, urging him to return, but the doctor would not budge. He had come home to Bethany, and there he intended to remain. [213]

[HTB 201-213]