FAMILY TREE BRANCH OF RICHARDSONS

As people age up and out they look for meaning in different places.

Where some look to DNA, others shake the family tree.

That’s what my Grandma did years ago.

This is what dropped out:

If I remember correctly (?) Grandma said we were somehow related to the Richardson cousins.

This may be a stretch, but I remember her saying the two men, one who went to West Point, the other to Annapolis and the Naval Academy, one born in 1861, the other in 1879, were related through the Wingo wing of the family.

Both born in Texas, her home state.

One became an admiral, the other a general.

So far, so good.

 

General Richardson, Road Builder 

From the Texas State Historical Association:

 

Texas Congressman David B. Culberson made the appointment for Wilds Preston Richardson to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and he entered in 1880.

After graduating he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Eighth United States Cavalry, on June 15, 1884.

In August 1897 he reported to Alaska, where he remained, in various military capacities, for the next twenty years.

His activities in the territory included selection of sites for and oversight of construction of American military posts. He was appointed president of the Alaska Roads Commission in March 1905 and directed the extensive federal road-construction project there.

His most important work in this capacity involved building a 380-mile road from Valdez, on the southern Alaskan coast, northward to Fairbanks, in the interior.

In recognition of his efforts the road was named the Richardson Trail by executive order.

Richardson lived all of his retired life at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C.

In addition to his membership in this club, he belonged to the Military Order of the Carabao, the Alfalfa Club of Washington, the Lambs of New York City, and the University Clubs of New York City.

 

Richardson was bumped to general during WWI, then back to colonel afterwards.

If we share any branches on the family tree, our Army career doesn’t.

Also, no club life on my end.

Signed, Private First Class Gillaspie.

 

Admiral Richardson, Fleet Mover

From the Texas State Historical Association:

 

In 1940 he was made commander in chief of the United States fleet and was charged with overseeing the transfer of the Pacific fleet from the mainland to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

He opposed the move, contending that Japanese expansion in the Pacific was of little concern to the United States and that the fleet could be kept in a better state of readiness in mainland ports.

He also believed that the fleet should not be kept in Hawaii because it was not ready for war with Japan. He pushed construction of facilities in Pearl Harbor but returned to Washington twice to urge President Roosevelt and the Navy Department to return the fleet.

Though Richardson had urged that Pearl Harbor defenses be bolstered and strongly believed in air patrols, he had not pursued the idea of protective torpedo netting at Pearl.

After the war he stated that he had not thought that the fleet would be attacked by a carrier raid.

Roosevelt, annoyed by Richardson’s persistent requests, relieved him of command on January 5, 1941, and offered the position to Chester W. Nimitz, who declined.

 

On this day of December 7, 2025 I’m reading about two men my Grandma told me about.

She said she was a distant cousin. Is she? She is now.

I’m happy to make the connections with a grain of salt.

Isn’t that how memories are? Big and small, they keep popping up.

 

PS: Remember the men and women from Sunday, December 7th, 1941.

 

PSS: With no direct familial connections, they are all part of the American family, some old salts, some new sailors, on the verge of a great adventure cut short.

Everyone who has worn the uniform of the armed forces, who is wearing it now, understands the risk of following orders.

Go ahead and embrace the chain of command, but avoid illegal orders.

You do this by repeating an order back to the commander: “You want me to smoke two guys from the boat I just blew up?”

How you proceed will have a direct effect on your future.