histRMA

The Richardson Memorial

HISTORY OF THE RICHARDSON FAMILY IN AMERICA
J. A. Vinton
1876

    From the wide diffusion of the name in Great Britain, we might infer a similar abundance of it in America. As a matter of fact, the name is here widely spread, and it is often impossible to trace any connection between those who bear it. No sooner had the country become open to colonization than the name was found at different and distant points, and in circumstances which forbid the idea of a similar origin.
    The compiler of the present work has found no Richardson on these shores earlier than 1630, and he has found quite a number during the first decade. Ezekiel Richardson, it is very certain, came over in 1630, in the fleet with Winthrop. He was followed by his brothers, Samuel and Thomas, in 1636.
    Simon Richardson, aged 23, embarked at Gravesend for Virginia, in the ship America, June 23, 1635. Thomas Richardson, aged 26, embarked for Virginia, in the ship Transport, July 4, 1635. John Richardson embarked at London for Virginia, in the ship Paul, July 6, 1635. Another John Richardson, aged 18, embarked at London for Virginia, in the ship Assurance, July, 1635. Luke Richardson, aged 17, embarked at London for Virginia, in the ship Primrose, July 27, 1635. No further information has been obtained respecting Simon Richardson and the names following his. Some of them, there is reason to suppose, took up their abode in New England and left posterity here, for about this time the English government began to lay impediments in the way of the settlement of New England, while they did nothing to hinder the colonization of Virginia. On the twenty first of February, 1634, an order of the Privy Council was issued to detain ten vessels then lying in the Thames, with passengers, about to sail for New England. A similar order was issued March 30, 1638, for the detention of eight vessels then in the Thames, prepared to go for New England, and for putting on shore all the passengers who had that destination in view. Only a week later, the king gave order that no more passengers should leave for New England except for license specially had and obtained from the Privy Council. This, of course, put a stop to the emigration of all persons who were not disposed to acknowledge the Church of England to be the only true church, and to submit implicitly to the king's prerogative in all matters civil and religious. We must therefore suppose that all the Richardsons of the first generation, in this country, who came to New England, came previously to 1638 or 1640

Amos Richardson

    We proceed with our notices of the first settlers. Amos Richardson must have come to New England before 1640. We find him in Boston as early as 1645, but he was doubtless there several years before. He lived on what is now Washington Street, immediately north of what, within my remembrance, was called "South Row," near "the highway there leading to the 'Spring,' or Spring Lane, and immediately north of what still remains the property of the Old South Church. Besides the house and garden he there possessed, he purchased, May 3, 1647, two acres of land in the vicinity of Fort Hill, which he left to his children at his death, in 1683. He married first, Sarah (----), second, Mary (----). He is described as a "merchant tailor," and was a man of great respectability, of active enterprise, and of a good estate. After the departure of Stephen Winthrop the governor's son for England, in 1641, he was agent for him in New England, as he afterwards was for his brother John, the first governor of Connecticut, after the charter. With Dean Winthrop, Dolor Davis, and others, he was one of the original grantees of Groton, Ct., though neither he, nor Winthrop, nor Davis ever went there to live.
    He was made freeman 1665, and removed to Stonington, Ct., 1666, of which town he was representative 1676 and 1677.
    He sometimes wrote his name Richerson and even Richenson, or rather it was so written for him. He was one of the partners in the Atherton Company, so called, who in 1659 purchased of the Narragansett Indians a tract of land twelve miles in length on the west side of Narragansett Bay, in the present town of North Kingston, R.I. It had been intended to annex that territory to Connecticut; but when the superior diplomacy of John Clarke had obtained from the king and council in 1662, not only that strip of land but a tract twenty five miles wide, and extending from the southern border of Massachusetts to the sea a territory to which Rhode Island had no claim, and for which it had never asked Mr. Richardson thought it time to remove out of the jurisdiction of that aspiring colony. He had already settled in Westerly, but now he removed across the Pawcatuck River into Stonington, Ct., where he died, Aug. 5, 1683. His wife, Mary, died a few weeks after.
    Antipas Newman, of Wenham, sold him, Oct. 29, 1661, a neck of land in the "Pequitt Country" the region embracing Norwich, Groton, and New London, Ct. called Caulkins' Neck, bounded south by the sea. It also bordered on "Quandocke farm," already owned by Amos Richardson. [Suff. Deeds, iv. 9.] 1671, Nov. 12, Amos Richardson, of Stonington, in the colony of Connecticut, and Mary, his wife, make a deed of gift to their daughter, Katherine Anderson, of Charlestown, Mass., of land and a dwelling house on it, in Boston, also a tract of land in the Narragansett Country. [Surf. Deeds, xvi. 352]
    1673, Nov. 13. Amos Richardson, of Stonington, Ct., makes a deed of gift to his daughter Mary, and her husband, Jonathan Gatliffe, of Boston, mariner, of a house and land in Boston and a farm of 200 acres in Stonington. This property not to be sold, but to redeem him from slavery, if he should be taken captive, or to relieve his family in extreme distress. [Surf. Deeds, viii. 290.]
    1679, Sept. 11. Amos Richardson, of Stonington, in the colony of Connecticut, yeoman, makes a deed of gift to his daughter Sarah, and her husband, Timothy Clarke, of Boston, mariner, of a tenement in Boston, bounded N.W. by the Broad Street leading to the south end of the town [now Washington Street], S. E. and S.W. by the land formerly Mr. John Norton's [minister of the First Church, 1656-1663] and now occupied by Mr. Samuel Willard [minister of the Old South Church, 1678-1707] [Surf. Deeds, xi. 225.] This was the house and garden occupied by Mr. Richardson in Boston previously to his removal to Connecticut. It was on Washington Street, immediately north of the property which, in 1677, Mrs. Mary Norton, widow of Rev. John Norton, bequeathed to the Old South Church and still remains theirs. The children of Amos Richardson, all born in Boston, were:

By first wife, Sarah:
Rev. John, 2 bap. Dec. 26, 1647; grad. H.C. 1666; was ordained pastor of the First church in Newbury, Mass. now Dr. Withington's Oct. 20, 1675; died April 27, 1696. See below.
Mary,² bap. 164-; m. June, 1663, Jonathan Galilee, of Braintree.
Amos,² bap. Jan. 20, 1650.
By second wife, Mary:
Stephen,² born June 14, 1652. He was of Stonington, Ct., a man of note.
Catharine,² b. Jan. 6, 1655; m. first, Sept. 12, 1672, David Anderson, of Charlestown; second, May 7, 1679, Capt. Richard Sprague.
Sarah? b. July 19, 1657; m. Timothy Clarke, of Boston. Samuel,² b. Feb. 18, 1659-60; m. Anna , 1693. He was of Stonington, Ct.
Prudence,² b. Jan. 31, 1661-2; m. first, March 15, 1683, John Hallam; second, March 17, 1703, Elnathan Miner.

    Notes on the above family. It was of great respectability and worth. Differences, for a quarter of a century, had existed between the Congregational and Presbyterian parties in Newbury. These differences were laid aside in 1673, and both parties joined in the choice of John Richardson to be their pastor. This took place April 16, 1673. He had an excellent reputation, and had been a Fellow of Harvard College. He united with the Newbury Church Dec. 6, 1674, and was ordained pastor, as above, Oct. 1675. His salary was to be one hundred pounds a year; to be paid, one half in merchantable barley, the other half in pork, wheat, butter, or indian corn. He preached the Artillery Election Sermon, June 10, 1675, and again in June, 1681; the latter, if not the former also, was printed.
    Rev. John Richardson took the oath of allegiance to Charles II., 1678. I have given the date of his death as in Savage's Geneal. Dictionary and in Am. Quar. Reg. of the Education Soc.,vii. 252. In the contributions to the Eccl. Hist. of Essex Co., p. 344, which is better authority, the date is July 23, 1696.
The children of Rev. John Richardson were:
    Sarah,³ b. Sept. 9, 1674.
    John.³     Mary,³ b. July 22, 1677.
    Elizabeth,³ b. April 29 1680.
    Catharine,³ b. Sept. 15, 1681.
    We have no account of Amos Richardson, the son of Amos, except of his birth. Stephen Richardson,³ the next in age, born in Boston, June 14, 1652, was of Stonington, Ct., as the ensuing abstract shows.
    1684, July 9. Steven Richardson and Samuel Richardson, of Stonington, in New England, Executors of the will of their mother, Mary Richardson, who was the relict, widow, and sole Executrix of the will of their father, Amos Richardson, late of Stonington, deceased. The said Amos Richardson, one of the Proprietors with Major Humphrey Atherton of the lands of Narragansett, in New England, in which the land, called by the English Boston Neck, Lyeth, and by Indians, Namecock, having in the year 1675 sold to John Paine, some time of Boston, merchant, one half of said Tract, but having given no deed of the same, the said Stephen Richardson and Samuel Richardson, Executors as aforesaid, now give a deed of the same, being 661 acres, to Asaph Eliot, of Boston, taylor, assignee of the estate of said John Paine.[Surf. Deeds, xvii. 284.3
    1692-3, March, is the date of a deed from Samuel Richardson, of Stonington, and wife, Anna, of property .in Boston.
    David Anderson, of Charlestown, Mass., had by wife, Catharine, daughter of Amos Richardson, these children, born in Charlestown.
    John (Anderson), b. July 14, 1675.
    David (Anderson), b. May 16, 1677. Midd. Co. Records.
    Amos Richardson probably had no descendants in the line of his son Rev. John. He doubtless had many descendants bearing other names than that of Richardson. Probably his sons Stephen and Samuel had male descendants, but they have never come to my knowledge.
    Jonathan Richardson, of Stonington, Ct., married Lydia Gilbert, born Oct. 3, 1654, daughter of Jonathan Gilbert, of Hartford, Ct. Jonathan Richardson died before May 23, 1700, when Mary, widow of Jonathan Gilbert, made her will. He had heirs, minors in 1700. He was probably of another family, as was Sarah Richardson, who became the wife of James Williams, at Hartford, Ct., Oct. 2, 1691.

George Richardson
and others

      Other Richardsons early settled in Connecticut.n It is well known that the I first permanent settlement of that colony was by people from Watertown, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Newtown, now called Cambridge, but especially from Watertown. One of the number from Watertown was doubtless George Richardson, of whom it becomes necessary to give a brief account.
    George Richardson, at the age of thirty, embarked at London, in the ship Susan and Ellen, April, 1635. He must have come to Watertown that year, for he had a grant of twenty five acres in the First Great Dividend in that town, in 1636. This grant was in the present town of Lincoln, or else in the south eastern part of Concord; one half of Lincoln and a sixth part of Concord being at that time included in Watertown. He also bought a twelve acre lot which had been granted to EIder Richard Brown, who had settled in Watertown in 1630, and was the first ruling elder in that church. A farm of 39 acres was also granted to him by the town in May, 1642. Many similar grants 92 farms in all were made by the town at the same time.
    It is mentioned that he had a family of three. It is probable, if not certain, that he lived on the twelve acre lot, a homestead which he purchased of EIder Brown soon after his arrival. It was on or near what is now Mount Auburn Street and near the present line of Cambridge. This homestead he sold to John Train, who, with wife Margaret, came over in the same vessel with him, then aged 25. This transfer took place about the year 1643, after which we hear no more of George Richardson in Watertown.
    A degree of dissatisfaction had existed in Watertown for a year or two previous to 1635. The people began to hear glowing accounts of the superior fertility of the Connecticut valley, and were casting longing eyes in that direction. In September, 1633, Rev. Messrs. Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone arrived from Essex, in Old England, and were immediately settled in Newtown, now Cambridge. They soon partook of the desire which began to be felt in that town, Watertown, and Dorchester, for a removal to Connecticut. In the summer and autumn of 1635, a party from Dorchester removed to Windsor, and a small party from Watertown established themselves at what is now Wethersfield.
    On the last day of May, 1636, Mr. Hooker and most of his congregation at Newtown began their long and toilsome journey to Connecticut. They were in number about one hundred, men, women, and children. They traveled on foot, driving about one hundred and sixty cattle, and were in part sustained by their milk. There were no roads or bridges. They were guided by a compass one hundred miles through a pathless wilderness, infested by wild and ferocious beasts. They were nearly a fortnight on the way.
    Mrs. Hooker, the pastor's wife, by reason of illness, was conveyed in a litter. Swamps, forests, and swift
rivers were on the way. At length they reached their destination, which, the following year, they named Hartford, in honor of the birthplace of Mr. Stone, the colleague of Mr. Hooker.
    In 1640, the people of Hartford commenced the settlement of Farmington, a town immediately joining it on the west, and the first settlement made in Connecticut which did not bound on navigable water. From this time to 1673, with the exception of the towns on the Sound, and half a dozen small settlements made at Norwich, Derby, and three or four other places, Connecticut was a wilderness, inhabited only by savages.
    There is considerable probability that Watertown and Waterbury, towns in Connecticut, derive their origin, at least in part, from Watertown in Massachusetts. Dr. Henry Bronson, who has given us an interesting history of Waterbury, states that sundry of the inhabitants of Farmington, which, as we have seen, was settled from Hartford, impressed with what they had heard or seen of the beautiful intervals on the Naugatuck River, a few miles west of that place, were, about 1670, strongly disposed to remove thither. In order to this, it was necessary to obtain leave from the General Court. Accordingly, in October, 1673, twenty six of the inhabitants of Farmington presented a petition to that body, then sitting at Hartford, stating their desire, and asking liberty to make that settlement. Liberty was accordingly granted, and in June, 1674, thirty individuals put their names to "Articles of Association and Agreement," with a view to a removal to Mattatuck, the place had in view. Among the names signed to this instrument we find that of Thomas Richardson.
    Some delay arose, occasioned in part by "Philip's War." In the summer of 1678, a few log houses were built, in the rudest style, and the cultivation of the land was begun. The place, Matratuck, was in May, 1686, incorporated as the town of Waterbury.
    Dr. Bronson says that Thomas Richardson "was an early but not a first settler of Farmington." As he was a young man when he came to Waterbury his first child having been born in 1667 the probability is that he was himself born in Farmington, and that his father was George Richardson, who came from England, 1635, and lived in Watertown, Mass., till 1643, and then left for parts unknown. Nothing is more likely than that he, encouraged by the success which followed the emigration under Hookel and Stone in 1636, bent his steps in the same direction a few years after, and finding the best lots in Hartford occupied, settled in Farmington, in 1644. This, at the best, is mere conjecture, but there is much to encourage and sustain it. Until I know better, I shall presume the Connecticut Richardsons, at least those of Waterbury, Middlebury, Woodbury, and the towns in that vicinity, to be descendants of George Richardson.
    John Richardson was at Watertown in 1636, and perhaps in 1635. Not improbably, he was brother of George Richardson, of whom we have just spoken. Feb. 28, 1636-7, he and "all the townsmen then inhabiting" had each a grant of One acre in the Beaver Brook Plowlands, "bounded on the Great Dividend Lots on the north side and Charles River on the South." This, I believe, was all the land he possessed in Watertown. It forbids the idea of his remaining there, and so we find him no more in that place. We find him, or another of the same name, in Exeter, in 1642, as a witness to a deed, and probably shall not err if we set him down as the ancestor of that large and eminently respectable family of Richardsons, who, from 1679, spread themselves out through Midfield, Midway, Wenham, Franklin, Leominster, Bare, and many other towns. His numerous posterity will find place in this volume subsequently.
    We find Edward Richardson in Newbury, at the outlet of Merrimack River, as early as 1647. It is possible, though not certain, that he was there some years before.
    William Richardson, of Newbury, was probably his brother. Being younger in years, we first find a notice of him in 1654. Notices of their descendants will appear later in the volume.
    1644, Sept. 27. George Hawkins, of Boston, shipwright, by virtue of a power of attorney from George Richardson, of Wapping, mariner, bearing date May 1, 1641, sold to William Dodd two hundred acres of land within the bounds of Salem, near Bass River, lately in possession of Peter Palfrey, for forty pounds. Extracted from the records of Salem by Emmanuel Downing. Surf. Deeds, i. 74.]
    The land here referred to was in Beverly. Peter Palfrey is a name of note in the early annals of Salem. He was there at the first settlement of the place, with Roger Conant and two or three others, in 1626. In 1653, he removed to Reading, where he died, Sept. 15, 1663. Emanuel Downing married Lucy, a sister of Gov. John Winthrop. He was a member of the Massachusetts Company, and had a farm in Salem, but I think he did not come to America. Who "George Richardson of Wapping" was, we are not informed. If he came to New England he did not stay long. There appears to have been some connection with Mr. Downing.
    Richard Richardson was of Boston, 1649, and probably some years previous. Feb. 26, 1649, and April 19, 1649, according to Drake [Hist. of Boston, p. 318, note], the town voted "that Richard Richardson and seven others of Boston may make a highway from their houses over the marsh to the bridge and over Mr. [Valentine] Hill's ground, at their own charge," which was £ 8 16s., and to be free from highway charges nine years. Mr. Richardson. and the other seven lived near "The Cove," sometimes called "The Dock," which was filled up within the writer's remembrance, perhaps forty five years ago; it was where the Quincy Market now stands.   The ground was low and marshy, hence in the vote just quoted it is called "The Marsh." The "Mill Creek," also filled up forty to fifty years' ago, was near by; Blackstone Street now occupies the space. The bridge referred to in the vote was over this creek. The writer has passed over it perhaps thousands of times in his childhood. Mr. Hill had a house and garden close by the meeting house there was but one meeting house at that time and it stood on the north side of what is now State Street, a few rods from Washington Street.
    At the same time, 1649, he was one of thirty seven owners of Long Island, in Boston Harbor. [Drake's Hist. of Boston, p. 318, note.] All these facts seem to indicate that he had been an inhabitant of Boston some years, though his name does not occur in "The Book of Possessions," compiled 1634. His wife was Johanna. They were probably married before leaving England, that is, not far from 1635. 1672, July 15. Richard Richardson, of Boston, laborer, and Johanna his wife sell to Richard Wharton seven acres on Long Island. [Surf. Deeds, viii. 42.]
    Richard Wharton was in 1666 a respectable citizen of Boston. He favored the royal prerogative in 1680
and onward; took part with Edward Randolph in his proceedings. After the abrogation of the charter, in 1684, he was made one of the royal councilors.
    The will of Richard Richardson, of Boston, is dated Oct. 18, 1677; it was proved Nov. 2, 1677. He must have died in the interval. In the will he gives to his son in law, Timothy Armitage, and Johanna my daughter, his wife, all my housing and land in Boston, during their natural life, and after the decease of said Johanna to Timothy and Johanna, their children. He gives to John Franklin five pounds; to Benjamin Franklin Ten pounds. [Surf. Prob. vi. 211.]
    The two Franklins mentioned in this will were probably not relatives certainly not near relatives of the great. American statesman. William Franklin was a blacksmith in 1643; he was chosen constable that year; was admitted townsman that year. In 1645, he was appointed, with Thomas Marshall and two others, to hire eight men for the garrison at the castle. He lived near the drawbridge and mill creek, of which notice has been taken. He was a neighbor of Richard Richardson, and the two men of the name mentioned in the will were doubtless his sons.
    Johanna Richardson, the daughter so generously remembered in the will, was born in Boston, Feb. 25, 1657-8. But there seems to have been a son, older than Johanna, not mentioned in the will, for some
reason which does not appear.
    Richard Richardson 2 was Of Lynn in June, 1665. I presume him to be the son of the former Richard Richardson, with out any positive proof of the fact. It may have been otherwise, but the probability lies in that direction.
    He must have been born about 1640. He was married to Amy Graves, of Lynn, June 20, 1665, and had children as follows:
    Richard,³ b. about 1667;m. first, Hannah Williams, of Boston, July 8, 1703; second, Elizabeth Johnson, of Boston.
    John,³ b. April, 1670; m. Margaret Woodmansey, of Boston, June, 1699.
    Francis,³ b. about 1672; m. Susanna .
    Ebenezer³ b. 1676 ?
    Mary,³ b, 1678 ?
    Richard Richardson, of Lynn, died in 1681, and his widow, Amy Richardson, was appointed administratrix of his estate, 28: 4, 1681; that is, July 28, 1681. On the same day, in a court held in Salem, she made oath to an inventory taken by Robert Rand and William Bassett, amount £77 8s. 8d., the real estate consisting of one house and the land adjoining, valued at On the same paper is the following, still on file:
    "This Court disposeth of this estate as followeth, viz.: To the eldest son, Richard Richardson, £6 and to John and francis and Thomas and Ebenezer and Mary, to each of them £3, to be paid when they come of age, or at marriage; and the widow to have the rest of the estate for her own support and bringing up the children"
    Of these children we will now speak in their order. Richard Richardson,³ the eldest, born about 1667, was the husband of Elizabeth Johnson. This appears from a deed dated April 30, 1708, signed by Samuel Johnson, of the county of Devon, mariner, Edward Johnson, mariner, Jonathan Johnson, chair maker, and Richard Richardson, of Lynn, and Elizabeth, wife of Richard, the only surviving child of Samuel and Phebe Johnson, of Boston. [Surf. Deeds.]
    In a deed dated July 9, 1713, Richard Richardson, of Lynn, shipwright, and Elizabeth his wife, a relative of Hannah Handley, sell land in Boston. In a deed dated 1718, Richard Richardson and wife Elizabeth, of Falmouth, Me., formerly of Lynn, dispose of land in Lynn.     It appears from the deed last quoted that this man, about the year 1718, sold his property in Lynn and removed to what is now the city of Portland, Me., then a part of the town of Falmouth. The town of Falmouth, as their records show, made him a grant at a town meeting, May 4, 1720, of nine rods of land NW. by N., running to the Back Cove. The town also, May 9, 1721, granted him a lot of land containing thirty acres, which is particularly described, running easterly on the Fore River, thirty rods to a birch tree, leaving a highway on the river bank, etc. [Town Record, also York Co. Deeds, xiii. 91.] He, of Falmouth, also bought of Isaac Hoar one-half of one hundred acres of land in Casco Bay, .Dec. 14, 1721. [York Co. Deeds, x. 228.]
    But it seems that for some reason Falmouth [or Portland] did not suit him, and so February, 1723, we find him and his wife Elizabeth firmly settled in Boston; and so in 1730. [Suff. Deeds.] 1721, Sept. 27. Richard Richardson, of Falmouth, Co. of York, shipwright, and Elizabeth his wife sell to Benjamin Ingersol, of Gloucester, Co. of Essex, house carpenter, the house, barn, and lot, where said Richardson now dwells, in Falmouth. [York Co. Deeds, x. 209.] John Richardson,³ brother of the preceding, and second son of Richard and Amy (Graves) Richardson, of Lynn; born there, April, 1670; married, June 22, 1699, Magaret Woodmansey, of Boston, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Carr) Woodmansey, a prosperous merchant in Boston from 1652 till his death in 1684. The wife of John Woodmansey, whom he married May 1, 1662, was the daughter of George Carr, of Salisbury. After his death, the widow Elizabeth became the wife of George Monk, of Boston, who kept a famous tavern in those days. She was again a widow in 1711.
    John Richardson is described as a "mariner"; in all probability he was a shipmaster. After his marriage, he bought, August 15, 1700, of Jonathan Corwin, of Salem, and Sampson Sheafe, late of Boston, now of Newcastle, N. H., the front half of the house which had formerly belonged to John Woodmansey, and was now August, 1700 occupied by. the said John Richardson. This house was situated near the Common or Training Field in Boston. It had been taken by execution, in 1697, from Woodmansey's heirs. This property he found himself obliged to sell, Oct. 30, 1706, for sixty pounds, current silver money of New England, to James Bowdoin, of Boston, mariner.
    His will is dated Feb. 12, 1708-9; proved April 6, 1709. He had no real estate to bequeath, but gave to each of his three children fifty pounds, on their arriving at the age of twenty one years, or being married. [Surf. Prob., xvi. 540.]
    Children:
    John⁴
    Woodmansey.⁴    Elizabeth.⁴ She, a "spinster," in her will, dated June 4, 1744, mentions her mother, Margaret Claxton.
    Their mother married Salmagrave Claxton, Jan. 20, 1714. He was a stranger in Boston and died before 1721.
    Francis Richardson,³ brother of the preceding, and third son of Richard² and Amy (Graves) Richardson, of Lynn; born there about 1672; married Susanna (----).
    He settled in Marblehead. We know next to nothing about him. He died intestate, 1727. His widow Susanna and son John were appointed administrators. [Essex Prob. Records, xvii. 22.]
    The inventory is dated Feb. 9, 1727; doubtless 1727-8. The first account of administration was rendered Jan. 2, 1729-30. A division of the estate was made December, 1733, to the persons following: The widow Susanna, who receives one third. She died previous to March 24, 1755. Mary, then the wife of William Hornan. Elizabeth, who, it appears, was born in 1712, or about that time, a guardian, Richard Reith, having been appointed over her January, 1729-30, when she was eighteen. She is now, 1733, the wife of John Grandy. John, the eldest son, now receives two shares. William. See below. Anna, wife of Ambrose Haskell. John, the eldest son, died previous to Feb. 7, 1745, leaving widow, Margaret, and minor sons, Richard and Thomas. Thomas, just mentioned, grew to man's estate; was of Marblehead; a fisherman; had a wife, Elizabeth, who after his decease was appointed administratrix, March 6, 1775. William Richardson, the other son of Francis Richardson, was also of Marblehead. He died intestate, and his widow, Mary Richardson, was appointed administratrix, Dec. 28, 1744. Their children were Anna and William. [Essex Prob. Records.]
    Thomas Richardson,³ brother of the preceding, and fourth son of Richard² and Amy (Graves) Richardson, of Lynn; born there, April 15, 1674; married (----). He was a rnerchant in Boston till about 1712, then removed to Newport, R.I., where he died, in 1724, aged 50. He was a Quaker, as the following documents will show:
    1709, April 28. William Mumford, of Boston, stonecutter, and Ruth, his wife, for 80 pounds, 10 shillings, current money of New England, convey to Samuel Collins, of Lynn, gunsmith, and Thomas Richardson, of Boston, merchant, all that piece or parcel of land lately purchased of Elisha Cooke, Esq., in Boston, near Governor's Dock, so called, bounded east by Leverett's Lane, there measuring in front 35 feet; south by the said Mumford's part, 146 feet, &c. [Surf. Deeds, xxv. 34.]
    Leverett's Lane was so called from 1708 till 1788, when it received the name of Congress Street. It extended from State to Water Street. It was often called Quaker Lane, from the Friends' meeting house on it.
    1713, June 29. William Mumford, of Boston, and Ruth, his wife, for fifty pounds, sell to Thomas Richardson, late of Boston, now of Rhode ISland, merchant, and Samuel Collins, of Lynn, blacksmith, a parcel of land on Leverett Lane, in Boston, near the Quaker meeting house. [Suff. Deeds, xxvii. 170.] Mumford, Collins, and Thomas Richardson were Quakers. The Quaker meeting house was of brick, thirty by twenty five feet, built in the year 1709, and probably on the land transferred as above by Mumford to Collins and Richardson. It was burned in the great fire of 1760, but soon after repaired.   It stood till 1825, when it was demolished, having been unoccupied nearly twenty years. [Drake's Hist. of Boston, p. 505.]
    Thomas Richardson continuing to own property in Boston, and dying in 1724, administration on his estate was granted June 2, 1724. Of Ebenezer, the fifth son of Richard and Amy (Graves) Richardson, the compiler knows nothing. Some fragmentary material relating to the early times remains to be here preserved.
    John Marrett and Abigail Richardson were married at Cambridge, 20th of 4th month, 1654.
    Thomas Richardson arrived in the Speedwell, 1656. Mary Richardson married William Hamilton in Boston, Aug. 7, 1654.
    Martha Richardson died in Charlestown, Nov. 9, 1677.
    Paul Richardson, of London, owned land in Boston, 1644.
    John Richardson came from England to Nantucket in June, 1701; the founder and leader of the Quakers on that island. His life was published.
    Richard Richardson and Hannah Williams were married July 8, 1703.
    Richard Richardson and Sarah Balch were married March 3, 1711-12.
    1682, Sept. 13. John Richardson, of the city of Bristol, merchant, gives to Adam Winthrop, of Boston, in New England, merchant, a power of attorney to receive money due to him in Boston. [Surf. Deeds, xv. 57.]
    This John Richardson was a son of John and Sarah (Breedon) Richardson. Sarah Breedon I suppose to be a daughter of Capt. Thomas Breedon, a resident and trader in Boston, who had from the town a grant, in 1662, of a place to build a wharf. For some representations made by him in England, unfavorable to the colony, he was put in prison in 1662, and sentenced to pay a fine of two hundred pounds, which was afterwards remitted. He favored the king's commissioners when they visited Boston, in 1665. Sarah Breedon, being left a widow, married Col. Samuel Shrimpton, of Boston, an eminent citizen of that place, who died of apoplexy, Feb. 9, 1697-8. She had a niece, Elizabeth Richardson, who, on the solicitation of Col. and Mrs. Shrimpton, came to this country and married Col. Shrimpton's son Samuel, May 7, 1696; a son probably by a former wife. Col. Shrimpton, and his widow after him, lived on King Street now State Street on the corner of what is now Exchange. Street, then known as Shrimpton's Lane. Capt. Thomas Savage occupied the corresponding corner in Dock Square, then called Savage's Corner. Colonel Shrimpton, in 1670, bought of Sir Thomas Temple the whole of Noddle's Island now East Boston estimated to contain one thousand acres. From him it descended to the Greenough, Hyslop, and Sumner Families, one of whom, General William Hyslop Sumner, son of Gov.
Increase Sumner, having purchased the shares of the other heirs in 1831, projected the settlement of it as a part of the city of Boston.
    We now come to another John Richardson, evidently a stranger. His will was dated May 7, 1683; proved June 27, 1683. "I give and bequeath unto James Guthrie all that I have in the world, except twenty shillings to buy Mr. Peter Harris a Ring and ten shillings to buy John Kyte a Ring." Witnesses, Jonathan Raynsford, John Ramsay. [Surf. Prob, vi. 416.]
    William Richardson's will is dated Oct. 16, 1683; proved Nov. 20, 1683. "My will is that Mr. Nathan Greene, in whose house I have for these sixteen months last past boarded, be fully satisfied and paid for my diet and board, for which I have not yet paid anything. Also, my will is, that if after my decease what I have or may have from England or elsewhere be not sufficient to satisfy and pay Mr. Greene, that then Mr. James Bennet, of Southampton, England, whom I there left as my attorney to receive certain rents or debts for me, do discharge what may be due to Mr. Greene." [Suff. Prob., vi. 449.]
    Will of Francis Richardson, of the city of New York, merchant, dated July 7, 1688; proved there, July 17, 1688: Wife, Rebecca, has my four hundred acre lot in the township of Chiltenham, in Pennsylvania. My three children Francis, Rebecca, and John. [Surf. Deeds, x. 421.] He mentions his "friend, William Richardson."
    Jeffrey Richardson was born in Yorkshire, England, in the year 1693. He married, 1731, Ann Kirkland, born 1712. The first mention of him in Boston is in 1730. His occupation does not appear. He lived some years in Pond Lane, now Bedford Street. At the time of his death he lived with his daughter, Mrs. Mary Scott, in Winter Street. He died Sept. 29, 1775; his wife, Ann, died Jan. 5, 1780, of a cancer. Their children were:
    Elizabeth, b.(----); d. in infancy.
    Ann, b. Feb. 11, 1733; m. first, Capt. George Hetherington, 1752. He died, not long after, at sea, being wrecked off Martha's Vineyard. Second, John Soren, October, 1764. He was a baker on Marlborough Street, now a part of Washington Street, Boston. He died 1774; the wife died Jan. 21, 1813. They were parents of John Soren, b. Oct. 24, 1770, who m. Oct. 12, 1794, Sarah Johnston, daughter of John Johnston. John Soren, the younger, died May 28, 1817; his wife, Sarah, died Nov. 2, 1841, aged 65.

Children:
Sarah (Soren), b. Nov. 8, 1795; m. Jeremiah Stimson, July 12, 1816. Mary Ann (Soren), b. April 25, 1798; m. Thos. W. Haskins, April 11, 1826.
Martha Maria (Soren), b. Nov. 14, 1799; m. John B. Hartford, June, 1832.
Helen (Soren), b. Sept. 3, 1801; never married.
John Johnston (Soren), b. Oct. 18, 1803; m. Fanny Wales, June 3, 1828. For many years cashier of the Boylston bank, Boston.
George Stimson (Soren), b. (----); m. Mrs. (----) Merriam.
Mary Ann and Martha were born in London during a visit made there by their parents. They went out in 1796; returned 1802.

    Mary, b. March 13, 1736; m. July 14, 1760, Capt. James Scott, from London. He died 1780. She died June 18, 1808. He was many years commander of the packet ship Minerva. They lived in Winter Street, Boston, near Winter Place, till after her father's death, when they removed to Woburn. This was early in the Revolutionary war. After the war they returned to Boston. Their daughter Sally (Scott) m. Cornelius Cannon, 1812; their daughter Mary (Scott) m. Cornelius Cannon, 1827.
    Jacob, b. Dec. 22, 1738; m. Abigail Hammond. He was a bookseller in Newport, R. L He died October, 1818.
    Thomas, b. Feb. 23, 1739-40; m. 1763, Mary Webb, daughter of Thomas Webb, of Boston. He served his time as a tailor with Thomas Symmes, tailor, on Devonshire Street. His marriage took place at Mr. Symmes' house, on Tremont Street. He was by trade a tailor. He died Aug. 10, 1790. She died of consumption April 27, 1782, aged 40. They had a son, Thomas, b. March 17, 1770; d. um. 1810; a rope maker.
    Jeffrey, b. Feb. 22, 1743-4; m. first, Hannah Webb, sister of his brother Thomas' wife, March 31, 1766. She died March 4, 1787. Second, Rebecca Brackett, daughter of James Brackett, of Quincy, Oct. 22, 1788.
    He died Oct. 26, 1805. She died Dec. 3, 1843, aged 80. They had six children, three of whom, James,
Sally Brackett, and Ebenezer, died in early childhood. The others were:
    Jeffrey, b. Oct. 9, 1789; m. first, Sept. 16, 1828, Sally Brackett, daughter of Lamuel and Sally Brackett, of Quincy. She died Dec. 2, 1837. Second, June 27, 1839, her sister, Julia Lambert Brackett. James Brackett, b. Sept. 25, 1793; m. Hannah Fiske, daughter of Samuel Fiske, of Boston, Jan. 26, 1818. They lived together fifty six years. She died November, 1874. He died July 30, 1875, of paralysis. Benjamin Parker, b. April 23, 1802; m. Nov. 28, 1828, Rebecca Bridge, daughter of John Bridge, of Littleton, Mass.
    Since 1826, these three brothers have carried on the iron business together, and very extensively, under the firm of J. Richardson & Brothers, No. 2 Central Wharf, Boston.
    Jeffrey Richardson, born 1743-4, and husband of Hannah Webb, commenced business for himself in 1766, near Mr. John Gray's ropewalk, on Atkinson Street, Boston. It was in the immediate vicinity of this ropewalk that the severe affray took place, March 3, 1770, between the ropemakers and a party of British soldiers.
    The affray was, without doubt, witnessed by Mr. Richardson, who was at work near by. It took place two days before the fatal and memorable tragedy, so long known as the "Boston Massacre." For some reasons, greatly exasperated feeling existed between the British soldiers and the people of Boston, among whom the ropemakers, principally young men, stood foremost. A notice of the affray may be seen in Drake's Hist. of Boston, pp. 777, 778. Let it suffice to say, the soldiers got the worst of it. Mr. Richardson was himself a rope maker, and had been an apprentice to Mr. Gray.
    The business of making ropes was introduced into Boston about 1641, It was extensively carried on and very profitable. At one time there were fourteen extensive ropewalks in operation. In 1794, the business received a severe check. July 30, 1794, a fire broke out in Mr. Howe's ropewalk, which spread to the neighboring ropewalks and other buildings and consumed seven ropewalks at one time. Not only so, it destroyed every thing included between Federal Street, Milk Street, and the water. It swept through Atkinson Street, High Street, Pearl Street, Oliver Street, Purchase Street, laying waste all that came in its way. Mr. Richardson's ropewalk, dwelling house, brick store, everything, was wholly consumed; ninety six buildings were destroyed. The loss and damage by the fire was estimated at $210,000. The town voted that the ropewalks should not be rebuilt on their former site, and gave the six owners a piece of marsh land and flats at the bottom of the common, where they were soon after rebuilt. There they stood at my earliest recollection and many years after. Mr. Richardson, in 1804, sold his ropewalk to Isaac P. Davis, who already had a ropewalk on Pleasant Street, near by.
    Jeffrey Richardson, born 1789, and husband of Sally Brackett, commenced business as an iron merchant, Dec. 1, 1811, on the east corner of Kilby and Central Streets, Boston. He removed, June 1, 1812, to the corner of India and Milk Streets. In 1815, after the second war with Great Britain, he became one of fifty men to build Central Wharf. This wharf and stores on it being happily completed in 1817, he had the first choice of a store.   He chose store No. 2, and with his brother James took possession of that exceedingly desirable location, continuing the iron business till the present time. As already mentioned, their younger brother, Benjamin P., became a member of the firm in 1826. This country affords few such examples of stability and permanence. It is the oldest iron firm in New England. Jeffrey Richardson, junior, son of the husband of Sally Brackett, furnished the materials for this sketch of that family.
    Rev. William Richardson was a Presbyterian clergyman, who, in the year 1763, resided in the Waxhaw settlement, on the Catawba River, in the present State of South Carolina. Whether born in this country, or otherwise, is not known to the compiler. He married a lady named Davie, the sister of Archibald Davie, who came from the village of Egremont, near Whitehaven, a seaport on the Irish Sea, in the county of Cumberland, England. Mr. Richardson had no children of his own, and therefore adopted his wife's brother's son, named for himself, William Richardson Davie, who thus became heir to his large estate. He was born at said Egremont, June 20, 1756.
    Young Davie was a regular and successful student at Nassau Hall College, Princeton, N. J., where he graduated with honor in the autumn of 1776. Having chosen the profession of law, he began his legal studies in Salisbury, N.C. But in December, 1777, he left his books for a while to engage in the military service of his country. Commissioned as lieutenant of dragoons, he soon rose to the rank of major, and was in Pulsar's legion. He was in the army of Lincoln, engaged in the defense of Charleston; was in the battle of Stone (?) Ferry, near that city, June 20, 1779, where he was badly wounded, and in several other severe actions. He was hastening to join the army of Gates, when that army received a total defeat at Camden, Aug. 16, 1780. While the American forces were mostly driven from the field, Davie, now a colonel, continued to harass the enemy to the utmost, and not without success.
    The patriot army being in great straits for want of provisions, Colonel Davie was appointed commissary general of North Carolina, and in that capacity rendered very efficient service, though compelled at times to pledge his own credit for the needed supplies.
    At length the war was over, and in 1783 he resumed the practice of his profession. He became eminent for his oratorical talents and successful as an advocate. He was a member of the convention which met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, to form a constitution for the United States. In January, 1794, he was commissioned as major general of the militia of North Carolina. During the political agitation's which arose from the critical state of our affairs with France, in 1794 and after, he sided with the administration of Washington and was a decided federalist. In December, 1798, he was chosen governor of North Carolina. He continued in this office only till September, 1799, when he resigned it to be minister to France, along with William Vans Murky, Oliver Ells worth, and Patrick Henry. The envoys embarked Nov. 3, 1799; reached Lisbon Nov. 27, and Paris March 2, 1800. After some delay, caused by the unfriendly temper of the French government, a treaty was signed Sept. 30, 1800.
    The absence of Mr. Davie from the State during those exciting times was fatal to the ascendancy of the federal party in North Carolina, and some have not hesitated to say that it cost President Adams his reelection. He withdrew from politics in 1805, and died in December, 1820, aged 64.