In 1902 John O. Richardson and his wife Melissa moved to Griggs County from River Falls, Wisconsin. The oldest son, Walter had come here in 1897 and the rest of the family followed. It was a large family, there were Walter, Harvey, Nevia, Mildred, Olifer, Margaret, children of his first wife and Roy, John, Merle, Lyman, Mabel, Exzilda and Thelma, children of Melissa.
The family first lived on a farm 3 miles east of Revere where they raised purebred beef cattle. Later they farmed in Steele County near the Sheyenne River. After retirement they lived in Hannaford where John spent enjoyable summers working in his garden. John O. Richardson died March 12th, 1939. At the time he died he was 86 years old and Hannaford's oldest resident. The young people grew up and married except for Lyman, who remained a bachelor. Walter married Ethyl Knapp and had five children
Harry, Russel, Helen, Raymond and Alice Lu. Walter farmed extensively and had other business interests.
Harvey married Bessie Ward, they had 5 children
Glen, Inez, Gordon, Ruth and Gerald. This family moved from the state in 1927.
Margaret married Oscar Solberg of Carrington. Their children were Isaac, Oliver, Arnold, Blanche, Myrtle and Gertrude. They were farmers.
Mildred married Henry Nelson who was a grocery clerk in Cooperstown at the time. They had two children
Norman and Marian. They lived in Montana for 8 years and then came back to Griggs County.
Nevia married Perry Haugen. Their children were Leonard and Edna. After farming in Griggs County for some years they moved to Montana.
Oliver married Helen Johnson. They had four children
Gladys, Florence, Douglas, and Donald. They also farmed before moving to Montana.
Roy married Clara Jordet. They farmed near Hannaford, later moving into town. Roy worked on the Great Northern Railroad until he retired. Their children were Kenneth, Lila, Willard, Vern, Jeanette, and Carol Mae. John C. married Ann Kaastad. They had two boys, John Alan and Robert. "Jack" worked for the railroad until his retirement.
Merle married Lee Otis Harris. They had 7 children
Howard, lone, Rachel, Marian, Mary Jean and two who died. He worked on the Section. They moved first to Montana and then to Washington.
Lyman was unmarried. He lived in Montana until his death. Exzilda taught in rural schools until she married James Abelman. They had 5 children
Lorraine, James, Robert, Janet and Mary.
Mabel married Alvin Johnson, had three children:
Dale, Delores, and Shirley. Thelma married Clarence Dunn, had one daughter Gwenevere. They live in Washington.
Of the large number of grand and great grandchildren, only a few remain in the community.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 156