This is a transcription of the Louisa Frances (Hatch) Richards biography from New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 15.
Louisa Frances (Hatch) Richards
LOUISA FRANCES RICHARDS, daughter of Dr. Mason and Apphia (Andrews) Hatch, was born in Hillsborough, April 10, 1827, and married Hon. Dexter Richards of Newport, January 27, 1847. Her father had a successful professional career of more than forty years in Newport, where he was a valuable citizen, prominent in town affairs. There was a vein of original humor about him, delightful to all, which was largely inherited by his daughter, Mrs. Richards, whose pleasant face and genial presence are welcomed in every circle. She has been the mother of six children. but three of whom survive,—Col. Seth Mason Richards, a leading business man of Newport, well known throughout the state, Josephine, wife of Prof. M. C. Gile of Colorado Springs college, and William Francis, also a Newport business man. There are also seven grandchildren in whom Mrs. Richards’s youthful spirit finds never-failing joy. Those who know Mrs. Richards best are acquainted with her many private benevolences, as she is always ready to help those who are in need, or to put them in a position to help themselves. She is a trustee of the Mercy Home at Manchester, and trustee and vice-president of the Woman’s Hospital Aid Association, in Concord. She was one of ten ladies to give $1,000 each to erect a building for the infant department at the Orphans’ Home. Franklin. She belongs to the Manchester chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution, her maternal grandfather, Maj. Isaac Andrews, having fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. In church and society Mrs. Richards is an acknowledged power, while her delightful hospitality is a thing long to be remembered by those who have enjoyed it. Emerson says,—” There is no beautifier of complexion, or form of behavior like the wish to scatter joy, and not pain, around us.” In the use of this cosmetic she is accomplished, as all can testify who have felt the sweet influences of her kindness.