Samuel T. Richardson

Samuel Richardson was born on July 8, 1857, to Lewis Clarke and Eliza Ann (née Whitely) Richardson.[1] Born on a farm near the community of Scio in the Willamette Valley, he was educated at the local public schools of Scio.[1] Richardson enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, in 1873 and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1892.[1] On November 19, 1879, he married Sarah I. Barnes, and they had a three sons and one daughter.[1][2] While still in school, he was admitted to the Oregon bar in October 1884.[1]

From 1882 to 1884 he was the county clerk for Crook County in Central Oregon.[1] While in the county seat of Prineville, he served as justice of the peace for that town.[1] After earning his undergraduate degree he then continued at Willamette's law school and earned a bachelor of laws degree two years after his bachelor's degree.[1] In 1889, he was hired by the Oregon Secretary of State to examine the title for land the state was preparing to buy for a reform school,[3] and also had worked as a special investigator for the legislature.[4] In 1895, he received a master of arts degree from the university, followed by a doctorate of laws from the law school in 1898.[1]

Richardson joined the faculty at the Willamette University College of Law in 1887.[1] In 1891, he became the third dean of the law school, succeeding George G. Bingham.[1] As dean, he continued to teach constitutional law and real property law and admitted the first women to the school that was founded in 1883.[4][5] Richardson was given a lifetime certificate to allow him to teach in the state in 1898 by the Oregon State Board of Education.[1] He left Willamette's law school in 1902 and was succeeded by John W. Reynolds.[4]

In 1902, he founded the Oregon Law School in Salem, later adding a branch in Portland.[1][6] Serving as dean of the new law school, he also was the editor of the school's journal, the Oregon Law School Journal that began in 1902 as well.[6] By 1908 the school had grown to two teachers and 27 students, and by 1910 to 47 students.[7][8] While still operating the law school he also was in private legal practice, including with the Portland firm of Richardson, Dimick & Morehead starting in 1906.[1]

A Republican, he was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.[1] He served as the chairman of a state commission that studied judicial reform in 1911.[9] This commission made several recommendations to the State Assembly, including expanding the Oregon Supreme Court from five to seven justices.[9] The state did add two more seats to the court, and in 1914 Richardson ran for one of the new positions as a Republican, losing in the primary.[10][11] He continued practicing law with clients such as the Wentworth Lumber Company into the 1920s.[12] Samuel Thurston Richardson died on September 6, 1921, of a stroke at the age of 64 in Portland, and was buried in Salem.[2][13] After his death, the Oregon Law School closed.[14]