My oldest granddaughter recently started attending Notre
Dame University of Maryland in Baltimore. Most of our family research has
centered around Missouri and parts south, but just before my sister Sula passed
she found the proof of the missing link in the Richard family. That of Edward
Richards (1678-1755). He came from England and lived in Baltimore for a time.
John Richards
Mary Kidder Edward
Richards
William Head Benjamin
Richards
Ann Bigger Mary
Head
Charles Merryman Sr
Mary Haile Charles
Merryman Jr
Thomas Long Ann
Merryman
Jane Peake Jane
Long
6th
Great-grandparents
Benjamin Richards
BIRTH: 1710, Baltimore County, Maryland, USA
DEATH: unknown, Franklin County, Virginia, USA
BURIAL: Richards Cemetery, Callaway, Franklin County,
Virginia, USA
MARYLAND ROOTS
- Benjamin was the first-born son of Edward Richards [1678] and Mary Head [1690]. His birth was recorded in St. Paul's Parish of Baltimore County MD. Benjamin first lived in the Dorchester County area on the east side of Chesapeake Bay.
- In 1729 Benjamin's father, Edward, sold property he owned in Dorchester County and prepared to move his family. They settled, perhaps late in 1729, and associated with the Gunpowder Meeting of Quakers north of Baltimore [in present-day Cockeysville]. In 1730 Benjamin had a tract named "Spring Garden" surveyed for future purchase according to Maryland Land records. This was probably the year he married Ann.
MARRIAGE
- Benjamin married Ann Merryman [1711], the daughter of Charles Merryman Jr. [1680-1722] and Jane Long [1675-1739],
- though the exact date is unknown to me. They had the following children:
1. Edward [25 June 1731] MD
2. Ruth [27 April 1733] MD
3. Charles [23 Feb 1747] MD
4. unknown daughter
5. unknown daughter
- In January of 1737, Benjamin purchased the 50 acre tract "Spring Garden" [see record at upper left].
- From a document describing the Hampstead Historical District for the Maryland Historical Trust:
- "The first land to be owned by a white man in the present Hampstead District was surveyed on January 5, 1737 for Benjamin Richards and patented to him on February 7, 1738 for 50 acres."
- Then, by 1739, both Benjamin and father Edward moved onto their properties "Spring Garden" and "Rattlesnake Ridge" that would grow into, first, a wagon stop named Spring Garden, and then the town of Hampstead MD, in what is present Carroll County. They, along with Isaac Wright, founded a Quaker Meeting there.
MOVE TO VIRGINIA
- Benjamin sold "Spring Garden" to William Stiles in April of 1750 in preparation for moving his family. The Edward Richards Bible records: "April the 27 1750 Benjamin Richards took his journey with all his family to go to Stanton River in Virginia with his wife and two sons and three daughters. And Dickey boys."
- Benjamin and his son Edward Richards [1731] appear on the 1750 tax records of old Lunenburg County Virginia.
- Benjamin [47 yrs. old] and son Edward [27 yrs. old] appear on the Settler's map of Franklin County. Benjamin was designated as living "below 5 mile mountain". The location is approximately 12 miles due west of Rocky Mount VA [about 3 miles south west of Callaway VA]. Edward's property was about 6 miles south of Rocky Mount.
TAX ROLLS
- 1799 and 1800 Tax rolls of Franklin County VA still have Benjamin Richards listed, along with son Edward 69 yrs. old, grandsons Shadrack 40 yrs. old and Waitman 35 yrs. old. Benjamin would have been 90 years old.
RICHARDS CEMETERY
- There is a Richards cemetery that coincides with the "below 5 mile mountain" description of Benjamin's homestead [Google search locates it there], and though the stones are buried or lost [as told to me by a local resident]; I believe he and other family are buried there.
- Anyone viewing this memorial with further information on Benjamin or his descendants are invited to contact me. HGR---a grateful descendant.
LINEAGE:
- Edward Richards [1678] Manchester, Lancashire England/MD
Ann Merryman Richards
BIRTH: 1711, Maryland, USA
DEATH: unknown, Franklin County, Virginia, USA
BURIAL: Richards Cemetery, Callaway, Franklin County,
Virginia, USA
- Ann was the daughter of Charles Merryman Jr [1680-1722] and Jane Long [1675-1739], who were married June 24 1702, Baltimore County, Maryland.
- She married Benjamin Richards [1710] MD, probably circa 1730 in old Baltimore County Maryland in the town of Hampstead.
Their children were:
1. Edward [1731] MD
2. Ruth [27 April 1733] MD
3. Charles [23 Feb 1747] MD
- [Ann's father-in-law, Edward Richards [1678-1755]; recorded in his Bible that there were other children born to Benjamin and Ann--though their names were not given.]
Ann's father's estate:
- Charles Merryman 17.187 A BA £86.15.7 Aug 3 1739
- Payments to: William Hall who married a daughter (unnamed, her portion), Benjamin Richards who married a daughter (unnamed, her portion), Joseph Cross who married a daughter (unnamed, her portion), Charles Merryman (son, his portion), Jemima Merryman (daughter, her portion), Ketdemie Merryman (daughter, her portion), accountant (1/3).
- Executrix: Jane Knight, wife of Benjamin Knight.
- Benjamin and Ann removed their family into Virginia in 1750, where Benjamin & son Edward appeared on the tax roll. By 1755 they had moved into newly forming Franklin County VA, where they settled to the end or their lives. Son Edward became a prominent plantation owner and livestock breeder just a few miles south east of Rocky Mount in Franklin County.
NOTE: [Burials in the "Richards" cemetery are
speculative. The cemetery stones are lost to time, and only the location is
known. Please contact me if you have information that would be helpful.]
LINEAGE:
- Charles Merryman Jr. [1680] Lancaster Co VA
- Charles Merryman Sr. [1655] Lancaster Co VA
Thank you Harold Richard for your work on this
Copyright Roy Richard
