Richard Franchot

Richard Hansen Franchot
Richard Hansen Franchot
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from New York's 19th district
	In office; March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863
Preceded by	James H. Graham
Succeeded by	Samuel F. Miller
Personal details
Born	June 2, 1816; Morris, New York, U.S.
Died	November 23, 1875 (aged 59); Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Vale Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Children	Nicholas Van Vranken Franchot; Stanislaus P. Franchot;
Military service
Allegiance	United States (Union)
Branch/service	U.S. Army Infantry Branch
Years of service	1862
Rank	Colonel; Brigadier General (Brevet)
Unit	Union Army
Commands	121st New York Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Richard Hansen Franchot (June 2, 1816 – November 23, 1875) was a U.S. Representative from New York and then an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was also an executive of two railroad companies, Albany and Susquehanna Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad.

Biography

Franchot was born in the town of Morris, Otsego County, New York, the son of French immigrant Paschal Franchot.[1] He attended the public schools and the Hartwick and Cherry Valley Academies. He studied civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York. He served for several years as president of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad.

Franchot was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1862.

He moved to Schenectady, New York, and raised the 121st New York Infantry.[2] Franchot was commissioned as a colonel on August 23, 1862, and was brevetted as a brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers dating from March 13, 1865.

After the war, he was associated with the Central Pacific Railroad.

Franchot died in Schenectady on November 23, 1875. He was interred in Vale Cemetery.

New York Superintendent of Public Works Nicholas Van Vranken Franchot (1855–1943) and State Senator Stanislaus P. Franchot (1851–1908) were his sons, Assemblyman Nicholas V. V. Franchot II (1884–1938) was his grandson, actor Franchot Tone (1905-1968) was his great-grandson, and former Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot (1947–) is also his descendant.

Bacon, Edwin Faxon (1902). Otsego County, New York; Geographical and Historical. Oneonta, NY: The Oneonta Herald. p. 56 – via Google Books.
121st Infantry Regiment History, New York State Military Museum.