Following
is more information supplied by some very generous genealogists. They
personify what a genealogist should be!
From
Donald Plucknett donpluckn@aol.com I was glad to find the questions concerning the
Richards family on the message board. My wife is a direct descendant of William
Bird (also Byrd) Richards of King and Queen County, and I have been working some
on the Colonial Richards family. My wife descends from a half-brother of John
Richards of Falmouth and his brother, Captain William Richards, who, I believe,
was the father of William Richards of Culpeper. Thus, as Jerrilynn Eby has
stated, I am sure William of Culpeper and William of Falmouth and Fredericksburg
(son of John of Falmouth) were first cousins.
William of Culpeper did live in the piece of land delineated by the Rappahannock
River on the north and the Rapidan River on the south. His home was near
Richardsville, which today is a tiny village, with a small store and a few
homes. The road from Falmouth crossed the Rappahannock at Richards Ferry, and
almost certainly made its way to Richardsville and on west to Culpeper.
Humphrey Richards was a tobacco merchant and attorney who lived near Petersburg.
He was a brother of John Richards of Falmouth and Captain William Richards of
King and Queen, whom I believe was the father of William of Culpeper.
My wife's g-g-g grandfather was Gabriel Richards, who was a pioneer in
Pittsylvania County, VA and later, about 1790 or so, moved to Roane County and
McMinn Counties, TN. His mother was Elizabeth (Wilson) Clark Richards, the
second wife of Wm. Bird Richards. She was the widow of Jonathan Clark,
grandfather of the famous Clark brothers, Generals Jonathan Clark and George
Rogers Clark, and their younger brother, Captain (later General) William Clark,
co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Humphrey Richards and Frances Baylor made their home near Petersburg. I do not
know their children. It should be noted that the Richards and Baylors were
neighbors in King and Queen, long before the American Revolution. Other families
with whom they were associated were the Clarks, Colemans, Birds, Pendletons,
etc.
I will check my records to see if I can pull out more information on both
William of Culpeper and Humphrey Richards. A last note on Humphrey Richards, who
had a significant business in Pittsylvania County and northern counties of North
Carolina, loaned significant amounts of money to tobacco farmers in south
central Virginia and northern North Carolina. He was quite wealthy. I have
transcribed many court and public records on his business activities in
Pittsylvania County.
From
Jerrilynn Eby EBYJ@pwcs.edu
Based on your information it looks like William Richards (1765-after 1803) of
Falmouth is a cousin of William Richards (1755-1817) of Culpeper. William of
Falmouth was the son of John Richards (1734-1785). I am a historian and don't
pretend to be a genealogist. Does this seem accurate to you?
I don't know if there is much that I can do to help you, but I will do my best.
My interest in William Richards is strictly as he relates to John and Thomas
Strode. I have abstracted the Culpeper and Fauquier County deeds that involve
the Strodes, some of which also include William Richards. To complicate matters,
there were two William Richards living in the area simultaneously. Both were
doing business in the Stafford/Fredericksburg area and, in the Stafford records,
were designated as "William Richards of Culpeper" and "William
Richards." The latter William lived on the hill above the town of Falmouth
in Stafford. From the deeds I've read, I believe that William of Culpeper lived
in the fork of the Rappahannock River. A copy of his will is on file in
Fredericksburg. I do not know if or how the two Williams were related. William
of Culpeper was born in 1755 and died in 1817. William of Falmouth was born in
1765 and died after 1803
