Benjamin Richards: Merchant, Mayor and Cemetery Cheerleader

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #041, part 4

 

Benjamin Wood Richards' tenure as mayor coincided with challenges such as public health crises, infrastructure needs, and social tensions in Philadelphia. In 1819, Richards co-founded a large commission house in Philadelphia, a business acting as an intermediary for securities and commodities transactions, earning income through commissions.  He served in the Pennsylvania legislature in 1827, advocated for public schools, was a canal commissioner, and was appointed by President Andrew Jackson to direct the U.S. Bank and Mint.  Appointed mayor in 1829 and elected in 1830-31, wealthy merchant Stephen Girard died during his term. Richards helped found the Girard Trust Company in 1835, serving as its president until his death, with the bank later becoming Girard Bank. When Richards toured Europe, he was inspired by Paris’s Père Lachaise Cemetery, and helped found Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery, where he was a major stakeholder.