On October 9, 1839, the family departed as a part of a company of 52 consisting of missionaries, teachers, and laymen on the ship, Lausanne.
The ship sailed around Cape Horn, making dock at Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, Chile, and the Sandwich Islands before arriving at Fort Vancouver on June 1, 1840.
In 1841, he became acquainted with US Naval Officer and explorer, Charles Wilkes, and Richmond's speech on July 5, 1841, commemorating the first fourth of July celebration in the region, to a gathering which included Wilkes was noted for its patriotism in Oregon newspapers of the time.
On September 1, 1842, Richmond and his family left Nisqually on The Chamamus, arriving in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1843 by way of the Sandwich Islands and Tahiti.
[1] Lee then returned to Illinois, where he served in Petersburg, Springfield, Rushville Circuit, Quincey, and Mt.
He spent the next year preaching in Mississippi and then returned to Illinois where in 1854 he was elected to the State House of Representatives.
In 1856 he was elected a member of the electoral college where he was a part of the delegation which brought the returns of Illinois voters to the capital.
In 1865 he was elected Brown County superintendent of schools where he served for 8 years while living in Mt.
His second child and first son was named Oregon and was born in late summer or fall of 1839 in New York while the family was on their way to the Pacific Northwest.
Richmond remarried a woman named Kitty Grisby on October 18, 1859, and had three more daughters, America, Cora, and Corona.