Cynthia A. Richmond was born on September 25, 1849 in Springfield, Illinois to Benjamin Franklin and Rosanna (Smick) Dychus, whose home was located about a block from the residence of Abraham Lincoln. In 1854, when Cynthia was five, the family moved to Decatur, Illinois, where her father died prior to 1860. Lincoln, in private law practice at the time, assisted Mrs. Dychus in settling the estate. Cynthia Dychus married Francis Richmond on July 19, 1871 in Illinois. Within a year, they moved to Kansas, where their children were born. In later years, Cynthia and Francis Richmond lived with their daughter Anna and her husband John C. Borchert in Kansas City, Missouri.
From the guide to the Letter regarding Abraham Lincoln, September 3, 1935; letter of transmittal: March 13, 1947, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
