Dr. Joseph Richards represented Dedham, Massachusetts in the Great and General Court.[1][2] Beginning in 1731, he served five terms as selectman.[3][2]
He married the daughter of Rev. Joseph Belcher but did not get along with Belcher's successor, Samuel Dexter.[2] He was one of the richest men in Dedham and a Lt. Colonel in the Suffolk Regiment.[2] Richards was graduated from Harvard College in 1721.[2]