BACK TO THE FARM by Katherine Carey-Place 1878-1934

You may talk about your city,

                With its hurry, strife and noise,

Its great white ways and theatres,

                Its social life and joys.

The place you dine, the temple grand,

                The club you proudly boast,

The hurry and confusion,

                And the things you like the most.

 

But I am here to tell you,

                If you want to taste real charm,

Just turn you back on cities,

                Make a visit to the farm,

Why you’re going to have the pleasure,

                Where ever it may be,

Of knowing real enjoyment,

                And hospitality.

 

You’re going to get a welcome,

                And a handclasp that is true,

Not weighted by clothes nor money,

                Nor the kind of work you do,

But a real old-fashioned greeting,

                Full of pleasure and food fare,

That will thrill you o’er and o’er,

                The while you visit there.

 

You’re going to know the gladness,

                Of a real old-fashioned rest,

And taste the old-time cooking,

                That you used to like the best,

The chicken fried in golden brown,

                With biscuits light and neat,

A swimming in the gravy,

                That no city chef can beat.

 

With golden corn, right on the ear,

                And early fresh green peas,

Potatoes in a snowy heap.

                And honey made from bees.

A welcome that renews your years,

                With its simple grace and charm,

If you want to taste these pleasures,

                Make a visit to the farm.

 

Katherine Carey-Place 1878-1934

 

Copyright Roy Richard

40 by Gaylia Kenslow – Stogsdill

 

Oh say can “Thou” see what has happened to “Thee”?

Why, just overnight – it has happened – Oh me!

I can’t understand “Thy” thinning hair –

And it seems “thy” waistline has drifted somewhere.

Now yesterday “Thou” was dapper and sporty!

Is this what happens when “Thy” turns 40?

 

Gaylia Kenslow – Stogsdill

Written for Howard Bishop on his 40^th birthday

 

Copyright Roy Richard

AUTUMN by Katherine Carey-Place 1878-1934

 

Oh, Autumn, in gorgeous raiment,

                What artist is the blame?

He has daubled his colors here and there,

                In one great glory of color and prayer,

Till the woods are all aflame.

 

There are browns and deepest crimsons,

                Orange and sunny tans,

Scarlet and dim old yellows,

                Done by a Master’s hand,

It is spread for eyes to feast on,

                And it helps to understand.

 

Katherine Carey-Place 1878-1934

October 1915

 

Copyright Roy Richard

40? by Gaylia Kenslow – Stogsdill

Sweet “16” – long time gone –

“21” – has rolled along –

“29” – well, it’s gone too –

Though we’re not late models, we’re good as new,

The chassis, she ain’t what she once was I know –

But at times she can really get up and go.

A look to the future – what’s in store?

They say “40” is better than what’s been before!

So thinking back on the things we have done –

If “40” is better, we’re just getting ready to run,

By the looks of us now, as “40” draws near –

Who knows what happens in our “80^th” year!

                Cheer up!

 

Gaylia Kenslow – Stogsdill

Written for Geneva Mosbey on her 40^th birthday.

 

Copyright Roy Richard

AUNT MARY’S VISIT by Katherine Carey-Place 1878-1934

 

She came to visit us at last,

                Aunt Mary sweet and dear,

How we planned to make her stay,

                A time of joy and cheer.

 

The sky was blue with, fleecy clouds,

                The bird sang loud and clear,

As if to tell Aunt Mary,

                They were happy she was here.

 

She came from out the golden west,

                Back to her girlhood home,

Once again to see the hills,

                And o’er the fields to roam,

 

To meet and greet the loved ones,

                And renew old friendships o’er,

To clasp their hands in greetings,

                As in olden days of yore.

 

Dear Aunt Mary,

                How we love her,

How we’ll miss her smile and cheer,

                How we wish that we might keep her,

Always hold her with us here.

 

For we need her wit and laughter,

                We need her understanding heart,

If we could we would not let her,

                From our home or life depart.

 

And the lessons which she taught us,

                Of patience, faith and love,

Shall be a beacon light to us,

                When she shall rest above.

 

Katherine Carey-Place 1878-1934

August 12, 1931

 

Copyright Roy Richard   

MARYLAND CONNECTION Part 3 (My 6th Great-grandparents)

 

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           

               

6^th 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

AUNT FANNIE by Gaylia Kenslow – Stogsdill

 

Now you’re my aunt and you’re full of fun --

When I’ve run down, you’ve just begun

There are many tales you’ve told to me --

And they’re filled away in memory.

When I would visit you as a child

The stories you told me were far from mild.

Each night when we would go out to “wee”—

This is what you would say to me –

“It’s dark outside and in the woods –

Is a man who gets girls and boys who aren’t good.

He carries a bag upon his back and walks among the farms –

Inside that bag are the girls and boys, and he’s cut off their legs and arms”.

Many, many years ago I went home with you –

When dark came I got lonesome and was feeling blue.

I asked you to take me home – I promised to walk all the way –

But you said no, we’d have to pass the cemetery, and the dead would be sitting on their graves

One day in California, when my birthday rolled around –

You gave me a gift, it was socks for Joe, and I threw them on the ground.

My Mom and I went home one day and found a man in bed –

To our relief, it was one of your pranks, it was a “dummy” instead.

I always liked to visit you and go swimming in the creek –

Until the day I went home from your house with poison ivy on both bottom cheeks.

Even throughout my life, you’ve scared me out of my wits –

I wouldn’t trade these memories for a billion times “two-bits”.

You’re really worth your weight in gold, and that’s a fact “by-granny” –

For in all this world there is no match for that Aunt of mine called Fannie.

 

Gaylia Kenslow – Stogsdill

Written for Aunt Fannie Morris who tormented and teased constantly.

 

Copyright Roy Richard