Little is known of his life prior to his becoming a Latter Day Saint follower of Joseph Smith sometime before 1834.
In 1834, he was a member of Zion's Camp that traveled from Ohio to Missouri in an attempt to assist Latter Day Saints there.
However, while they were visiting the American consul, a crowd of around 150 people surrounded the building and threatened violence if the "polygamists" were permitted to preach in Jamaica.
[1] Richardson traveled to England to preach instead, and he returned to America in 1854 with over 2000 English converts.
Richardson served as a captain of a company of Mormon pioneers that traveled across the United States to Utah Territory in 1854.