Richard H. Cardwell

Richard Henry Cardwell (August 1, 1845 – March 19, 1931) was an American politician and jurist. He was Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates 1887–1895, and a justice of the state Supreme Court of Appeals 1895–1916.

Early life Cardwell was born in Madison, North Carolina. His father, Richard Perrin Caldwell, died when he was an infant, and he had great difficulty in obtaining an education. As a youth, he attended public school and worked on the family farm in the summer and fall. He attended, for brief sessions, the Beulah Male Institute and the Madison Male Academy.

Career In 1863, he became a private soldier in a North Carolina company of the Confederate Army and served until the end of the war. He then returned to his home but, in 1869, moved to Hanover County, Virginia,

From 1881 to 1895, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Hanover County, serving as Speaker from 1887 onward. In 1894 he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals. He was made president of the court on June 12, 1916, but resigned on November 6, 1916.

Personal life Cardwell died at his home, Prospect Hill, on March 19, 1931, and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Ashland, Virginia. His son, William D. Cardwell, was Speaker of the House of Delegates from 1906 to 1908.

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