John Smythe Richardson (February 29, 1828 – February 24, 1894) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina. Born on the Bloomhill plantation, near Sumter, South Carolina, Richardson pursued an academic course in Cokesbury, South Carolina, and was studied law at the South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia, graduating in 1850. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 and began practice in Sumter, South Carolina.