Rev. Richard Cordley(1829- 1904), author and Congregational minister was born September 6, 1829 at Nottingham England. His parents came to America in 1833, when he was four years old and settled in Michigan. His mother taught him until he was nine years old. He prepared for college at the Ann Arbor public schools. In 1854, he graduated from Michigan University and in 1857, graduated from Andover Theological Seminary. He came to Kansas the fall of that year and preached his first sermon in Plymouth Church at Lawrence, December 2, 1857. During Quantrill’s Raid, August 21, 1863, he was one of the men marked for death because of his outspoken remarks about slavery, but he was warned and escaped to the river. However, his house and all of its contents were burned. From 1857 to 1875, he was in charge of the church in Lawrence. In 1875 he accepted a call to Flint, Michigan where he was until 1878. Then he became pastor of the Church at Emporia, Kansas for six years. At the end of that time he returned to Lawrence (1884) where he remained until his death. On May 19, 1859, Dr. Corldey married Mary Minta Cox in Hambur, Michigan. They did great work in the Congregational Church. Dr. Cordley wrote a “History of Lawrence”, and “Pioneer Days in Kansas.”

The Cordley School, Vermont and Nineteenth Sts. has a memorial bronze plaque in it, placed there by the Plymouth Church, October 10, 1929. It carries the inscription: “In memory of Richard Cordley, D.D. for whom this building was named. He ministered to Plymouth Congregational Church thirty-eight years and as a member of the Board of Education for seven years and served as its President for six years.” Miss Mable Haskell gave this picture to the library in March, 1929.