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  Page 7 of 10

RICHARDSON HISTORY

Copyright © 2006 Bruce H. Richardson

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

1. Generation 7

    Thomas Richardson, b. 11 Jul 1724 Attleborough, MA 

 

 

 7th Generation

{THOMAS [JONAS] RICHARDSON}⁷

(Francis⁶, Stephen⁵, Samuel⁴, Thomas³, Thomas², Thomas¹)

b. 11 Jul 1724 Attleborough, MA

d. 05 May 1806 Nelson, Cheshire, NH age 82

m1. 05 Oct 1749 Esther Wellman

b. 01 Nov 1726 Attleborough, MA

d. 05 Feb 1795 Nelson, NH age 68

m2. 22 Dec 1795 Judith Cobb

b. 1731

d. 17 May 1809 Nelson, NH,

 

Esther is buried in Nelson Village Cemetery.  Her Gravestone reads:

Mrs. Esther Richardson wife of Mr. Thomas Richardson died Feb. 5th 1795 in ye 69th year of her age.

 "Remember me as you pass by.  As you are now so once was I.  As I am now, so you must be.

  Therefore prepare to follow me."

  

     

 

I visited Nelson Village Cemetery in Aug 2003 and was struck by how well most of these old slate gravestones have endured over the years--an extremely hard substance.

 

 The row of Richardson graves at Nelson Village Cemetery.

Left to Right: Judith, Thomas, Eshter, Rachel, Charity, John, Dorothy, Amos, Mehitable (not standing)

 

     

 

 

                          Entrance to Nelson Cemetery:

     

Judith, along with Thomas, joined the First Congregational Church in 1798.  Her gravestone reads: In Memory of Mrs. Judith Richardson relict of Mr. Thomas Richardson who died 17th May 1809 in the 78th year of her age.  "Retire my friends, dry up your tears, Here I must lie 'till Christ Appears."

 

         

History of Nelson, New Hampshire by Parke Hardy Struthers notes of Thomas:  “Father of John and Amos Richardson.  Came to Packersfield [Nelson], from Attleboro, Mass., at the end of the Revolutionary War and settled on the Cabot place, now Merriconn farm.  Died in Packersfield and is buried in the cemetery on old Town Common.

 

 Thomas’s Gravestone reads:

In Memory of Mr. Tho. Richardson who died 5 May 1806 in the 82 year of his age "The stroke of death has laid my head in this dark silent grave, here this body must reside, my wife and children by my side."

 

          

1734 - In December, the Great Awakening religious revival movement begins in Massachusetts. The movement will last ten years and spread to all of the American colonies.

1754 - The French and Indian War erupts as a result of disputes over land in the Ohio River Valley.

1756 - French drive Britain from the Great Lakes in North America.

1759 - British gain Quebec from the French. 

1763 - The French and Indian War ends. The British defeat France and acquire the French empire in North America.

1764 - The Currency Act prohibits the colonists from issuing any legal tender paper money. This act threatens to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it.

1765 - Britain passes the Stamp Act to directly tax the colonists. The act requires that revenue stamps be put on all legal documents, deeds, newspapers, pamphlets, dice, and playing cards; Delegates from nine colonies draw up a declaration of rights and liberties.

1766 - The Stamp Act is repealed. However, a Declaratory Act reiterates Britain's right to pass laws for and levy taxes on the colonies.

1770 - The Boston Massacre occurs as a mob harasses British soldiers who then fire their rifles point-blank into the crowd, killing three instantly, mortally wounding two others and injuring six.

1773 - Boston Tea Party.

1774 - Intolerable Acts are passed. They close the port of Boston, curtail the powers of the Massachusetts assembly and town meetings, provide for compulsory quartering of troops by colonists, and exempt imperial officials from trial in Massachusetts.

The first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington and Concord. Since June, 1774, six-months after a rowdy group of Bostonians masquerading as Indians had dumped the British East India Company's tea into the harbor, the port of Boston had been closed by an act of British Parliament. 4,000 British troops were sent and quartered in the city. By 2 am, on the morning 19 April 1775, 800 of them started out on the road to Lexington and Concord for the purpose of seizing and destroying all "Artillery, Ammunition, Provisions, Tents, Small Arms, and all Military Stores whatever." Paul Revere had slipped out of Boston and began his infamous ride about 11 pm that same night to warn the colonists.

The actual Battle of Lexington was a brief skirmish between some 70 colonial minutemen commanded by Captain John Parker, and the 800 British soldiers marching on Concord under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith. The American militia had assembled to halt the British. Inspired by the words of Captain Parker: "Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here," the Americans refused to disperse when ordered to do so by the commander of the British advance units. Gunfire was exchanged and eight Americans were killed before the minutemen retreated. The British moved on to Concord, arriving there at 7:30 AM.

 

At Concord, the minutemen, numbering between 300 and 400, took position on the farther side of the North Bridge over the Concord River and stubbornly resisted the British advance. Several men on both sides were killed or wounded. The British troops fell back and began a retreat toward Boston.

      
                     North Bridge

They were constantly harassed on the way by irregular colonial militia, steadily increasing in number, who fired from every vantage point and prevented any concerted attack. The British troops, exhausted and demoralized, finally reached Lexington, where they were reinforced by troops commanded by Brigadier General Hugh Percy from Boston. The colonists pursued the British all the way to Charlestown, Massachusetts, until the retreat became little better than a rout.

The battle was significant, not in terms of casualties--more than 270 British and fewer than 100 Americans--but in demonstrating the resolution and fighting power of the Americans.

 

       

LEXINGTON. Light infantry skirmishers defended the flanks of the British column as the tired soldiers trudged toward Boston. The burning house was set afire because snipers had shot from its windows. In every house the British killed anyone they caught with a gun in his hand.

 

 

Moses Richardson, 4th cousin, b. 08 Apr 1722, d. 19 Apr 1775, lived in Cambridge, Mass. which has a city monument listing Moses "Died in Lexington Fight." His name appears on broadsides (posters) listing names of those provincials killed and wounded at Lexington and Concord. These were distributed widely to attract the sympathies of colonists whose loyalty to the mother country was wavering. The Richardson Memorial has the following account:                                                                                             

Moses Richardson lived in Cambridge, doubtless in West Cambridge, now Arlington. He was one of six Cambridge men who were killed by the British troops on the afternoon of Lexington fight, April 19, 1775, on their flight from Concord.  Three at least of those six men were non-combatants, and were killed by the British regulars in sheer wantonness and spite. . . . Dr. Nathaniel Shepherd Prentiss, who Was born in Cambridge, in 1766, and lived there till he was twenty years of age, remembered to have seen Mr. Richardson's body with a bullet hole through his head.[40]

             

 

Henry Richardson, 2nd cousin in our direct line, is characterized in The History of Attleborough as "a bold and honest but heedless fellow." His daring-do exploit follows:

One Henry Richardson of this town, a bold and honest fellow, on his way to Roxbury swore he would have one the red-coats before he went back. On his arrival at headquarters, the moment he had opportunity he charged his long musket and, not thinking with Falstaff that 'discretion is the better part of valor,' cooly marched down in front of our lower guard and taking deliberate aim at the opposite British sentinel discharged his musket and badly wounded him, as his companions were seen to lead him off the ground and his place was supplied by another. Much to his astonishment, our hero was immediately arrested (for doing, as he thought, so good a service) and put under guard, but on the representations of his friends was soon after discharged without further punishment, in consideration of good intentions. On meeting afterwards one of his townsmen, he exclaimed with exultation: 'There, I told you I'd have one of them 'ere British rascals!'[41]

Thomas Richardson’s⁷  [g’-grandfather in direct line] war service is recorded in Volume 13 of a 17 volume set entitled Massachusetts Secretary Of the Commonwealth Revolutionary War Records:

Richardson, Thomas, Attleborough. Private, Capt. Stephen Richardson's (Attleborough) co. of Minute-men, which marched probably on the alarm of April 19, 1775; service, 9 days; reported returned home; also, Capt. Stephen Richardson's 4th (2nd Attleborough, also given Attleborough No. 12) co., Col. Daggett's regt.; list of men serving in the 6 weeks campaign at Roxbury in 1775, known as the 3d (also given 2d) campaign; also, copy of an order on Ephraim Newell, Town Treasurer of Attleborough, dated July 5, 1776, for wages due said Richardson and others for service on the alarm caused by the battle of Bunker Hill; also, Capt. Stephen Richardson's co.; marched Sept 25, 1777; discharged Oct. 29, 1777; service, 1 mo. 6 days; company marched from Attleborough under command of Col. George Williams on a secret expedition; also, Capt. Alexander Foster's co., Col. John Daggett's regt.; service, 8 days; company marched to Rhode Island on the alarm of Dec. 8, 1777.[42]

 As can be seen from above, Thomas was a “Minute Man” in the Revolutionary War.  Minute-men represented a small force selected from the ranks of local militia companies and regiments. Approximately one-third of the men in each militia unit were chosen "to be ready to march or fight at a minute's notice."

 

     

 

                   They left the ploughshare in the mould,

                    Their flocks and herds without a fold,

                        The sickle in the unshorn grain,

                    The corn, half garnered, on the plain,

                     And mustered, in their simple dress,

                      For wrongs to seek a stern redress,

             To right those wrongs, come weal, come woe,

                        To perish, or overcome their foe."

                            From "New England's Dead"

                                              by Isaac McLellan

 

Both Thomas⁷ and his son John⁸ [also in our direct line] marched on the alarm caused by Bunker Hill, but it is not certain that they were on the front lines. Historian and writer Richard Ketchum notes:

"Of nine Massachusetts regiments ordered out from Cambridge [where most of the minute-men assembled] at the time of the alarm, only five were even partially represented on the field when the British attacked. Whole regiments and fragments of regiments went astray, wandering hither and yon because the orders were uncertain or garbled to begin with."[43]

History of Attleborough Massachussets, 1894 tells of anxious times at home for the families of Thomas and John and others:

The time of Bunker Hill battle was a day of solemn feeling and fearful expectations. The cannonade was distinctly heard at this distance--thirty-five miles--and the occasion of it was fully recognized. It was so heavy as to shake the windows in the houses and the plates upon the shelves. The earth trembled as in the heaviest thunder. The town was almost deserted by all able to bear arms. Women were in tears for the fate of fathers, husbands, and brothers who had gone to the scene of action.[44]

Also from History of Attleborough, Thomas and son John, as well as cousins are listed among those who marched on the alarm of Bunker Hill:

List of men who marched on the alarm of Bunker-Hill Battle. The record is dated July 5, 1776, and was copied from one of the town books by Harvey Claflin, and certified by him December 30, 1844. See Muster Rolls, vol. 49, p.84.

Capt. Jacob Ide, Stephen Fuller, Nathl Clafflin,

Elisha May, Nathan Bishop, Amos Daggett,

Ensign Saml Slack, Samuel Tingley, Joseph Foster,

Benj. Tingley, William Stanley, Joseph French,

Ebenr Tiffany, Joel Metcalf, Joseph French, Jr.,

Benjn Maxcy, Jabez Gay, John Fisher,

Amos Read, Nathan Sweetland, Archues Hunt (Hewet),

Sali Atherton, Oliver Blackinton, Comfort Moore,

James Orne, Elijah Robinson, John Martin,

Josiah Pidge, Gideon Barrows, Daniel Martin,

Eliphalet Holmes, Samuel Robinson, Abel Martin,

John Bates, Capt. Stephen Richardson, Job Martin,

Jacob Bates, Capt. Moses Wilmarth, Caleb Parmenter, Jr.,

Phineas Claflin, Lt. Alexander Foster, Thos. Richardson,

Nathan Tingley, Lt. Nathl Bishop, John Richardson,

David Huckins, Michael Sweet, Wyman Richardson,

Aaron Barrows, Elijah Barrows, Benjn Read,

Araunah Tingley, Elijah Jones, Ebenr Robinson,

John Draper, Elijah Capron, Thos Sweet,

James Pulling, John Foster, William Starkey,

Geo. Robinson Abiathar Richardson, Capt. John Tyler,

David Richardson, Zephaniah Rose, Thos Wilmarth, Jr.,

Phillip Alien, Abiel Danham, Eliphalet Wilmarth,

Clark Sweetland, Israel Bates, David Woodcock,

Robert Swan, Consider Brown, John Woodcock,

Israel Hatch, Sherebiah Cobb, Elisha Wilmarth,

William Sweetland, Benjn Capron, Jun., Dan Wilmarth,

Amos Ide, Daniel Carpenter, Abisha Washburn,

Jeduthan Fuller, Thos. Cooper, Benoni Wilmarth.[45]

As local militia, and especially Minutemen, were required to have rifle and powder and shot available, each town had a central repository to store quantities of powder. Amazingly, the town powder magazine of North Attleborough, built in 1768, still survives.

 

       

 

From the town records of Attleborough:

September 12, 1768. "Voted to Build for Keeping the Town Stock of ammunition in for the futer and proseaded to Chuse a commety [committee] for that purpose namely Capt. John Stearns, Capt. Daniel Read, Capt. Henry Sweet ware chosen as commety men for that purpos, and then the commety went and looked a place to set s'd. [said] house and they said that they found a place in Jacob Newells Land which s'd Newell said he wold give the ground to buld the hous upon."[46]

Jacob Newell, the giver of the land, was town treasurer at that time, and he made the following entry upon the book:

"Where as ye Town of Attleborough have agreed to Buld a Powder house and set s'd house on ye High Hill eastardly from ye Meeting-House on my Land I give liberty to set s'd House their, and also for my Heirs and assigns I agree ye People shall have Liberty to Pass to and from sd House to carry their Powder or any other ammunition and bring of again ye same at any time or times so that they in Passing Regurly Not to Leve Down fence or and Enclosen thing to Do Damage as witness my hand --- "Attleborough, Oct. ye 4th 1768 Jacob Newell."[47]

From History of Attleborough is recorded the company muster roll in which Thomas⁷ and John⁸, along with other related Richardsons, led by their cousin, Capt. Stephen Richardson:

The following is Capt. Stephen Richardson's company of minute-men. At what special times they served the muster roll does not show.

Stephen Richardson, Capt., George Hull,

Alexander Foster, Lieut. Thomas Horton,

Michel Sweet, Ensign, John Richardson,

Sheribiah Cobb, Thomas Richardson,

Elijah Capron, Sergeant Benj. Richardson,

Abiathar Richardson, Sergeant Seth Richardson

David Woodcock, Sergeant Zepheniah Rose

John Robinson, Cor. Benj. Starkey,

Joseph Foster, Cor. Nathaniel Sweet,

Daniel Richardson, Cor. Hoseah Tiffany,

Thomas Wilmarth, Cor. John Tiffany,

Nathaniel Robinson, Drummer, Noah Tiffany,

Elijah Bolkcom, Fifer, Samuel Tiffany,

Wm. Bolkcom, John Woodcock,

Benj. Capron, Ebenr Wilmarth,

John Daggett, Jr. Eliphalet Wilmarth,

Peter Fisher, Amos Wilmarth,

David Foster, John Wilkinson,

Rufus Gavy, Jonathan Woodcock,

Comfort Martin, Zachariah White.[48]

Captain Stephen Richardson, later Colonel, was 2nd cousin of g'-grandfather John⁸, and 1st cousin once removed of g'-grandfather Thomas⁷. He deserves mention for his role in the war and as leader that John & Thomas served under:

Stephen Richardson. He passed his life in Attleborough, and was a man of note and influence in that town and vicinity. He was a military captain in 1774; a colonel in 1778. At the first outbreak of the Revolution, he took an active and leading part in opposition to the oppressive measures of the British ministry. The town, Dec. 6, 1774, established "a superior and an inferior court, to hear and determine controversies that had arisen, or might arise in that town." Of seven inferior judges, Capt. Stephen Richardson was one.

 

March 19, 1776, he was chosen a member of the "Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety." May 22, 1776, he was chosen one of a committee of five to prepare instructions to the representative of the town, Capt. John Stearns. Among other things, it was enjoined on the representative, that if the Continental Congress should declare the country independent of Great Britain, he should, in behalf of the town, sustain and defend them in so doing.

 

In October, 1777, he commanded a company, under Col. John Daggett, grandfather of the historian of that name, from Attleborough, stationed for one month on Rhode Island.

January 12, 1778, Col. Stephen Richardson, his brother, Capt. Caleb Richardson, and five others, were chosen to prepare instructions to the representatives of the town, relative to the Articles of Confederation.

Col. Stephen Richardson and two others were chosen, Aug. 2, 1779, members of the convention to meet at Concord the following October, for the purpose of forming a State Constitution.

He was a representative of the town of Attleborough in 1783 and 1785.

He died Nov. 18, 1808, aged 71. The wife Mary died Nov. 18, 1804, aged 69.[49]

Caleb Richardson, 2nd cousin in the direct line, was brother of Stephen mentioned above. He was active as an army regular in the war:

Capt. Caleb Richardson; born in Attleborough, July 7, 1739; married Esther Tiffany. He passed his life in Attleborough. Like his brother Stephen, he was an active patriot in the time of the Revolution. He was captain of a company of "eight months' men," sixty-four in number, enlisted to serve from May 1, 1775, to the end of the year. During the occupation of Boston by the British, they were stationed at Roxbury. In July, 1776, he had command of a company enlisted for five months, or during the remainder of the year, with his cousin, Stephen Richardson [another Stephen in addition to his brother], for lieutenant. They were stationed in New Jersey, and shared in the hardships and disasters of that campaign. He commanded a company on Rhode Island, during Sullivan's fruitless campaign there, in September, 1778.[50]

An account of the Battle of Bunker Hill from a variety of sources follows:[51]

About six p.m. on the night of June 16, 1775, under cover of darkness, troops from Massachusetts and Connecticut marched from Cambridge to occupy Breeds Hill, over looking Boston harbor. Bunker Hill had been their destination according to orders, but in the dark of night the other hill seemed to offer a better position for fighting and it was selected as the site. Under the directions of Col. William Prescott, the soldiers hastily constructed some crude earthwork fortifications. They barely finished shortly before dawn before their work was discovered by the British, one of whose ships, HMS Lively, opened fire from the harbor at 4am.

 

             

    

With the daylight, Prescott could see that both his flanks were unprotected and the soldiers began working feverishly again, especially on the left.

To one side of the main fortification, the rebel position was established behind a 600-foot rail fence which sloped toward the Mystic River. It was defended by Capt. Knowlton and 200 Connecticut militia. They gathered hay and reinforced the fence the best they could.

Prescott was sensitive to the vulnerability of his position and lack of men. He sent a messenger to Gen. Ward [at Roxbury] for much needed supplies and reinforcements, but received little in return.  Shortly after noon, a partial contingent of New Hampshire troops from Stark's regiment arrived under Lt. Col. Wyman. They were detailed to fill in gaps on the line. New Hampshire regiments under the commands of Col. Stark and Col. Reed were also summoned from Medford about twenty miles away.

On the British side of the river, the decision to mount a frontal assault in the "best traditions of the European battlefield" had already been made. It was assumed, of course, that the rebel troops consisted universally of "scoundrels" and "cowards" who would flee after the first bayonet charge. They didn't figure on even firing their rifles, but just making a bayonet charge to easily rout the rebels. The British took their time and it wasn't until about 2 in the afternoon before the actual attack began.

From the vantage point of Bunker Hill, Minute-men were treated to a daunting panorama as 28 barges of disciplined figures arrayed in brilliant color glided rhythmically toward Morton's Point. Flashing oars, polished brass field pieces, oiled metal, gleaming match boxes reflected the warm June sun. In command of this awesome symmetry was Gen. Howe. On landing, he immediately sent back for additional troops and allowed his men to break ranks for a late lunch.

On the American side, raw recruits faced the coming reality of life and death battle. Bells began to peal in Charlestown and drums beat in assembly and alarm. Across the river in Boston, the whole city was on roof tops and vantage points to witness the first full fledged battle of the Revolutionary War.

 

      

The British had begun to use incendiary cannon balls and parties rowed across to torch the town of Charlestown to drive out snipers. It was mid-afternoon and the moment of truth had come for both sides. The Patriots, dirty, hungry, tired, nervously awaited the onslaught of the famed British war machine--mightiest in the world. British Attack. 2,300 trained British soldiers plus artillery moved out against 1,000 or less, rag tag untrained colonial farmers. Along the beach and through the swamp on their left, Howe's 5th, 2nd and Grenadiers moved forward in disciplined ranks. The assault was spearheaded by Gen. Pigot with the 38th, 43rd and Grenadiers, and on the other flank the 47th and the Royal Marines. As cannons ceased firing so as not to hit their own men, rebels peering over the breastwork could hear hardware clanking against marching legs, the crackling of uncontrolled fires in Charlestown and the pounding of their own hearts and temples. They waited until the British were only 50 feet away before the order to fire rang out.

 

       

 

The murderous effect of the rebels' fusillade is well described by Richard M. Ketchum in his book, Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill (Doubleday): . . . "a row of dull musket barrels leveled along the stone wall, a nasal New England voice twanged and the wall disappeared in a sheet of flame and oily black smoke. The blurt of fire tore apart the leading ranks of Fuseliers and as the rows behind closed up they were shattered by the violent hail of bullets.

Officers fell, men spun around and dropped headlong into the shallow water, and the column stopped, recoiled, then came on again. The King's own regiment showing through the broken Fuseliers clambering over the dead and wounded only to be met with that withering fire from the wall. Officers' voices shouted hoarsely through the din, ordering the men forward, but with each advance the men in the lead simply melted away, falling grotesquely and piling up the awful carnage on the narrow beach until there was nothing to do but turn back. The British stormed again, but with that attempt came another deadly failure."

Howe, the British commander, was, by this time, almost entirely bereft of officers. The 35th regiment, for example, had only six men left, and no leadership. He looked for an opening and decided to attack the space between the redoubt and the fence, using 400 reinforcements recently arrived from Boston.

The second attack was repulsed like the first. But now the rebels had run critically short on powder and shot. They passed up and down the lines what little there was, but it wasn't near enough meet another attack. When the British attacked the third time, the Patriots tried to repulse the attack by firing nails, and bits of metal, whatever they could find. They even threw rocks, but before long the British were pouring over the barricades and they were forced to retreat.

Knowlton, Stark and Reed protected the withdrawal, sustaining heavier losses than before. The pullback was orderly, with only 31 Colonials falling into the hands of the British and most of those mortally wounded. By 5:30 the battle for Bunker Hill was over.

The casualties were staggering: of some 2300 British, 1054--or nearly fifty percent--had fallen (226 killed and 828 wounded of which many later died). On the American side, estimates have varied, but the most reliable report listed 138 killed, 36 missing, and 276 wounded.

The effect of this battle was to electrify both sides of the Atlantic. The Yankee farmers had held their ground. They had been defeated, not by the professional soldiers drawn up against them, but by a lack of ammunition. Throughout the colonies, Americans began to believe that independence from Britain was not only desirable, but also possible.

The British at Boston made no further attempt to leave the safety of the city until the following April, when they woke one morning to find Dorchester Heights crowned with American cannon under leadership of George Washington. Realizing that their position had become hopeless, they took to their ships and sailed back to England for the time being.

 

 

We Richardsons are not all of sterling and salutary integrity and character. There are, indeed, as one would expect, a few skeletons in the genealogical closet, not the least of which is our cousin Ebenezer, a convicted murderer and traitor to his country. Ebenezer Richardson, b. 31 Mar 1718, of which The Richardson Memorial states:

This Ebenezer Richardson was a worthless fellow, in common parlance, "a big rascal," as appears from the facts stated in the notice of him on p. 242 et seq. of this volume, and which have found a place in the history of the country. [which follows]

 

On the twenty-second day of February, 1770, this man, then residing in Boston, made himself unpleasantly notorious. The British parliament, in June 1767 passed an act imposing duties on glass, paper, painters' colors, and tea, imported into the colonies. . . The act being therefore regarded as a direct invasion of the liberties of the colonies, the merchants of Boston, in the October following, entered into an agreement not to import or sell any of the above-named articles. The movement had the sympathy and encouragement of the colonies.

A strict adherence to the non-importation agreement was considered essential to the liberties of America; but there were four merchants of Boston who determined no longer to abide by it. For this conduct they were, at a town meeting held October 1769, by name declared enemies to their country, and as deserving to be treated as such. . . . To give the greater effect to this proscription, posts were planted before their doors, with a hand affixed pointing at them in derision.

 

One of these men, Theophilus Lillie, having been thus assailed, Ebenezer Richardson, a neighbor and confederate of his, endeavored to persuade a teamster, who was passing to drive his cart against the post to break it down; the teamster refused. A crowd soon gathered; the boys chased Richardson to his house not far off; bricks and stones were thrown at the windows. Richardson, provoked, fired at random into the crowd of boys, dangerously wounding one of them, Samuel Gore, and mortally wounding another, Christopher Schneider, a poor German boy of eleven or twelve years of age, who died the next morning. This was on Feb. 22, 1770.

The excitement was intense. The funeral of the boy was attended by "all the friends of liberty;" five hundred children, in couples, walked in front of the coffin; after them came his relatives and thirteen hundred inhabitants on foot; chaises and chariots closed the procession. Boston seldom, if ever, witnessed a more impressive spectacle. The first blood had been shed; the first martyr to liberty had fallen. The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, soon followed and added to the general excitement and prepared the people for a forcible and bloody resistance of the wrongs they were suffering.

 

Richardson, on the 20th of April following, was tried on a charge of murder. A verdict of guilty was rendered. Richardson, after lying in prison two years, was, on application to the king, pardoned and set free. To reward Richardson for the service he had thus rendered to the British, one of the ships from London brought to him in April 1773 an appointment as an officer of the customs in Philadelphia. . . . It was prudent for him, after his release from prison, to get out of the way as soon as possible; for there was an intention to give him a coat of tar and feathers. Happily his case, so far as I know, is wholly singular in the Richardson family.[52]

 

Loammi Baldwin 1745-1807, 3rd cousin in the direct line, (his mother was Ruth Richardson, 2nd cousin) is probably the most famous of our posterity. My dictionary depicts him: "American engineer who built (1794-1804) the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts and developed the Baldwin apple. His son Loammi (1780-1838) designed canals and the Bunker Hill Monument."

Among his other accomplishments--was commander of a Regiment in the Revolutionary War who was with Washington in his retreat through New Jersey and the crossing of the Delaware:

Loammi's numerous credentials include: Trained as a cabinet maker, was a builder of pumps, the first sheriff of Middlesex County, a state senator, a state representative, and from his knowledge of mathematics was chosen a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, incorporated 1780.

 

     

                   

              Colonel Loammi Baldwin                Woburn First Burial Ground

 

A plaque on his burial monument states: "To the Memory of the Hon. Loammi Baldwin Who died Oct. 20'th 1807 AEt. 63.  Erected by his children."

 

An interesting note concerning David Richardson, 2nd cousin: His 2nd wife, Hannah Mills, between 04 Aug 1779 and 04 Sep 1784 (5 years and 1 mo.), gave birth to 7 children! Think of it! The record states: "The last seven, i.e., all the children of the second wife, Hannah Mills, were, at one time, rocked together in one cradle. Three pairs of twins within three and a half years!"[54]  [Lord have mercy!]

A fascinating, but tragic story, involved 3rd cousin in the direct line that is the stuff of movies. Here's the account from Vinton's The Richardson Memorial:

 

 

 A colorful anecdote concerning Capt. John Richardson, 3rd cousin:

When a mere boy, he ran away and enlisted as a soldier in the Continental army, but his mother followed him on horseback and brought him back. He was in early life engaged in cutting nails, and was the first to apply water power to that business. He afterwards engaged in the cotton manufacture; putting out the yarn to weave in private families, as was then the custom, there being no power looms at that time. Later, John was a captain in the local militia, a deputy sheriff, and a member of the Mass. legislature.[56]

 

1775 - The British defeat the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Continental Congress commissions George Washington to lead the Continental Army (June).

1776 - The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence (July).

1776 - The British defeat American troops at the Battle of Long Island, seizing the city of New York (August).

1776 - Washington and his troops cross the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack; they defeat the British at the battles of Trenton and Princeton (December).

1777 - British troops capture Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home of the Continental Congress (September).

1777 - British troops are defeated at Saratoga, New York, failing to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies (October).

1778 - The Continental Congress enters a formal alliance with France, which provides money, weapons, and soldiers (February).

1778 - The British capture Savannah, Georgia, in an effort to implement their Southern strategy, an attempt to capture Southern colonies with support of Southern Loyalists (December).

1779 - Colonial troops seize a British fort at Vincennes, taking control of the war in the west (February).

1780 - British forces capture Charleston, SC, as part of the Southern strategy (May).

1781 - The British are defeated at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina and realize that their Southern strategy is unlikely to succeed (March).

1781 - The British surrender at Yorktown, ending most of the fighting in North America (October).

1783 - The Treaty of Paris is signed, recognizing the independence of the United States (September).

1787 - The Constitution of the United States is signed by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention (September).

1788 - United States Constitution ratified.

1789 - The French Revolution begins; George Washington inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America; The Constitution becomes effective.

 

And thus ends the colonial era of the Richardsons.  Ensuing accounts will see our ancestors as pioneers in the Westward expansion of burgeoning America. 

 

 Copyright © 2006 Bruce H. Richardson. This data file may not be copied except for small quotations used with citation of source.

 

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