Samuel Richards was the oldest son of Austin and Angeline Trusdell Richards. When he was 20, Samuel decided to enlist in the Union Army. On September 2, 1862 he enlisted in Company D of the 105th Illinois Infantry. Fellow Downers Grove residents John Cotes and Alexander Foster joined company B. Only Alexander survived the war. John Cotes died after the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee on July 25,1863 and Samuel Richards died on January 28, 1863 in Tunnel, Tennessee. Note: the plaque at the base of the stone has the incorrect year of death.
The Austin Richards family is remembered with the graves of 3 other family members on Main Street Cemetery. Coming to Downers Grove in 1855, Austin and Angeline were from New York. Of their 5 children only 3 were living when they arrived. The Richards bought a farm on the north side of the village. Austin being a trustee of the Main Street Cemetery had his son brought back to be buried here. The loss of their son in the Civil War may have been too much for Angeline as she died 1864. After her death Austin sold the farm and moved to a home on Maple and remarried. He was interested in village affairs and signed the Incorporation Papers of 1873. Austin and his second wife Elizabeth Cole had 3 children. In 1885 their daughter Irene died of typhoid fever. She was only 16 and her death was very sudden. She was buried next to her brother Samuel who died in the Civil War, a brother she never knew. Austin died in 1903 and is buried with his family.
