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Mark Richards (July 15, 1760 – August 10, 1844) was an American politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont and as the ninth lieutenant governor of Vermont.

Biography

Richards was born in Waterbury in the Connecticut Colony on July 15, 1760, and received limited schooling. In 1776, he enlisted for the American Revolution.^[1] A private in the Continental Army, he served for several years, including the Battle of Red Bank, the 1777-1778 winter encampment at Valley Forge, the Battle of Monmouth, and the Battle of Stony Point. Richards moved to Boston after the war to work in a general store. In 1796 he moved to Westminster, Vermont, to open his own store.

Richards was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1801 to 1805. He served as sheriff of Windham County from 1806 to 1810 and was a Presidential elector in 1812.^[2] He served on the Governor’s council from 1813 to 1816.

Richards was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the US House of Representatives, and served from 1817 to 1821 as a member of the 15th and 16th United States Congress.^[3]^[4] He served again in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1824 to 1826, in 1828 and from 1832 to 1834. He was the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1830 to 1831.^[4]

Richards died on August 10, 1844, in Westminster, Vermont, and is interred in the Bradley tomb in the Old Westminster Cemetery in Westminster.^[1]

In 1782, Richards married Ann Ruggles. Their daughter Sarah was the wife of William Czar Bradley.

^ ^a ^b "RICHARDS, Mark, (1760 - 1844)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
^ "Mark Richards (1760-1844)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
^ "Rep. Mark Richards". govtrack.us. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography, American Publishers Association, Chicago, Ill., 1914, p. 1

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Luther Jewett	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821	Succeeded by district eliminated
Political offices
Preceded by Henry Olin	Lieutenant Governor of Vermont 1830–1831	Succeeded by Lebbeus Egerton

Lieutenant governors of Vermont
Vermont Republic (1777–1791)	Marsh Carpenter Payne Spooner Marsh Olcott
State of Vermont (since 1791)	Hunt Brigham Chamberlain Brigham Cahoon Leland Olin Richards Egerton Jennison Camp Ranney Eaton Sargeant Pierpoint Converse Kittredge Kidder Fletcher Slade Martin Underwood Dillingham Gardner Thomas Hendee Dale Taft Hinckley R. Proctor Colton Barstow Pingree Ormsbee Fuller Woodbury Fletcher Stranahan Mansur Fisk Bates Allen Stanton Stearns Prouty Mead Slack Howe Darling Hulburd Stone A. Foote Billings Farnsworth Jackson Wilson Williams C. Smith Aiken Wills M. Proctor Emerson Arthur Johnson Bailey Stafford Babcock R. Foote Daley Hayes Burgess Burns Buckley Kunin P. Smith Dean Snelling Racine Dubie Scott Zuckerman Gray Zuckerman
Italics indicate acting governor

Authority control databases
International	VIAF WorldCat
National	United States
People	US Congress