S.D Richmond was a farmer, not a soldier or politician, but known to be loyal to the North during the Civil War, though he lived in Tennessee, a confederate state.  Several of his seven sons fought for the Union.  (Three were definitely too young.)  Sometime in the winter of 1862-63, he was murdered by confederate soldiers posing as deserters and asking to be led to the Union lines.  They stuffed his body in a hollow tree, and it was not found until spring. 

In J.S. Hurlburt's book, History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee, this story occupies a full chapter and is told much more vividly - with thorough condemnation of the men who are supposed to have taken part.  The book is available online at http://openlibrary.org/books/OL13498606M/History_of_the_rebellion_in_Bradley_County_East_Tennessee