South Carolina Archives
Biographical Note
CALL NUMBER: S 538000
John Gardiner Richards was born in Liberty Hill,
Kershaw County, SC, on September 11, 1864, the son
of Presbyterian minister John Gardiner Richards
and Sophie Smith Richards. After attending
Bingham Military Institute in Mebane, NC, he
returned to Liberty Hill to pursue a career in
farming. On June 12, 1888 he married Elizabeth
Coates Workman, and together they reared eleven
children. An active Presbyterian layman, he
served the church as elder, deacon, and
superintendent of the Sunday School. His hobbies
and recreations included lancing tournaments and
fox hunting. Active in the SC Militia, his
service included fourteen years as captain of the
Liberty Hill Rifles. He retired from the militia
as a lieutenant colonel.
His political career began in 1892 with his
election as magistrate for Kershaw County. From
1898 to 1909 he was a member of the House of
Representatives, where for several years he
chaired the Committee on Ways and Means. Richards
served as a trustee of Clemson College from 1905
to 1910 and on the Railroad Commission from 1910
to 1918 and 1922 to 1926, including four years as
chairman. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in
1910, 1914, and 1918.
In November 1926 Richards was elected governor
by a considerable majority in the second primary.
Richards' administration was notable for his
attempts to strictly enforce the Sabbatarian
(blue) laws, some of which had been on the books
since the seventeenth century. In March 1927 the
governor instructed law enforcement officials to
stop Sunday amateur sports events and to order the
Sunday closing of gas stations, refreshment
stands, and drug stores. Richards vetoed all
legislative attempts to revise the blue laws.
Of more lasting importance was the passage of a $65 million bond issue to finance the building
of the state highway system. Although the bond
issue was of questionable constitutionality, the
Supreme Court sitting en banc with the justices of
the circuit courts eventually ruled it
constitutional. Other achievements of the
Richards' administration were the creation of the
Forestry Commission, the acceleration of the rural
electrification program, and legislation making
the buying of liquor as illegal as the making of
it. Richards was unsuccessful in his attempts to
abolish the Tax Commission and the Board of Public
Welfare and in his support for a bill to forbid
the teaching of evolution in the public schools
and colleges. The formation of the Governor's
Committee on Unemployment and the State Colored
Unemployment Committee reflected the Richards'
administration's attempts to deal with the Great
Depression.
In 1938 Richards was elected to the S.C. Tax
Commission on which he served until his death on
October 9, 1941.