**
THIS MEMORIAL IS FOR MOSES RICHARDS, THE HUSBAND OF RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS.
The birth data belong to MOSES RICHARDS, born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. The death data belong to Moses Richards from Columbia, Herkimer County, NY. The following analysis shows these data are for the same decedent.
A death notice for Moses Richards, age 79, appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824:
Died
In Columbia, on the 2nd inst. [March 2, 1824], Mr. Moses Richards, aged 79.
His death was also reported in the New York, New York, Spectator of April 1, 1824, "DIED,...—At Columbia, Moses Richards, 79--" His date of death was not listed.
Family trees report that he died in Herkimer County, NY, on March 3, 1824.
Herkimer County, NY, Surrogates Records confirm the death of the patriarch of the Richards family in 1824
(indexed erroneously under "Maris Richards"):
In the Matter of the Estate of)
Moses Richards, Deceased)
October 8, 1824,
On reading and filing the deposition of Moses Richards Jr. one of the next of kin: Ordered that letters of administration in said estate be granted unto the said Moses Richards and Ruth Richards and that they give a bond with surety to "The People" in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars.
That the native of Groton, MA, was both the decedent in Columbia, NY, and Ruth's husband, is now verified to the satisfaction of this researcher, but determining whether he or another Moses Richards was the one who married Ruth Willard was not an easy task. The ultimate links were contained in the probate file of our subject and the obituary of another relative named Moses Richards, presumed, and all but confirmed, to be his grandson, who is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY.
Before the confirming evidence was discovered, eight contemporary Moses Richards were analyzed as prospects for Ruth's husband. Six were quickly eliminated.
The husband of Ruth Willard (born in Harvard, MA, on June 22, 1746) was probably born in 1747 or earlier to have married her on February 18, 1768. Harvard's marriage records showed that he was a resident of Lunenburg, MA, when he and Ruth obtained their license to marry in 1767, but his birthplace was not specified. "Mose Richards of Lunenburge and Ruth Willard of Harvard were married to each other Feb. 18, 1768 by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler." Town Records Vol. 2, Town of Harvard, p. 201.
However, the birthplace of the Moses Richards whose data are currently displayed, Groton, is close to both Lunenburg and Harvard. He and Ruth had 3 girls and 1 boy in Harvard, MA, from 1769-1775, and apparently at least 4 more boys before the 1790 census. The youngest daughter, Ruth Willard Richards (who married Isaac Tiffany, the elder), was born in Otsego, NY (then in Montgomery County), on October 5, 1790, where the 10 member family was recorded in the 1790 U.S. census. Thereafter, a Moses Richards family and a separate family for Moses Richards, Jr. are recorded in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, Tax rolls in 1798, 1799, and 1800. Moses Richards households also appear in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, in the 1800 and 1810 U.S. census, and in Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, in 1820 U.S. census. The absence of such a household in Herkimer County after 1820 is consistent with the move of the Moses Richards, Jr. family to Solon, OH, and the death in 1824, now confirmed, of Moses Richards, Sr.
On March 4, 1796, Moses Richards purchased from William and Martha Micks, Lots 60 & 61 in German Flatts, Herkimer County, NY on the south side of the Mohawk River;recorded in 1810, Deed Record,vol. 4, pp.511-512 (image 546 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
On October 14, 1800, Moses and Ruth Richards sold real property on the south side of the Mohawk river in Warren Township, Herkimer County, NY, to Jeremiah Brown and Peter Terpining, Jr., recorded in Vol 4. p. 539 in the Herkimer County deed records of 1810 (image 560 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
Ruth Willard Richards (the wife of Moses, not their daughter) died on June 4, 1838, and is interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY.
Two potential candidates were shown in family trees as the husband of Ruth Willard Richards:
1. Moses Richards, son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, who was born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. A date of death is shown in these trees as March 3, 1824, in Herkimer County, NY.
The death notice for Moses Richards, in Columbia, age 79, of March 2, 1824, which appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824, placed him in the correct location for the husband of Ruth. A birth year of 1745 is consistent with this notice for a decedent aged 79, and since Little Falls and Herkimer are in close proximity to Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, the potential for this date of death to be that of Moses Richards born in Groton, MA, was greatly improved. The probate file for this Herkimer County decedent, in which both Ruth and Moses, Jr. were named, confirmed the relationships.
Other family trees alleged that the husband of Ruth Willard was:
2. Moses Richards,
January 11, 1739, Dedham, MA—No date of death is shown but the place of death is listed as Dover, England.
son of
Josiah Richards
September 22, 1713— October 24, 1771
and
Hannah Whiting [spelled Whitting in marriage record]
July 3, 1718— April 4, 1788 (Roxbury)
(married in Dedham, MA, on September 22, 1737)
This potential candidate ultimately failed for the following reason--A marriage record for Moses Richards and Mehitable Battle Richards, both of Dedham, on December 8, 1762, in Dedham, MA, along with a birth record of their daughter, Mehitable, on May 28, 1772, in Dedham, MA, conflict with birth records of the children of Moses Richards and Ruth Willard Richards, who were born from 1769— 1775 in Harvard, MA. Thus, the son of Josiah and Hannah is the Moses Richards who married Mehitable Battle, and not the Moses Richards who married Ruth Willard.
Each of the following Moses Richards also proved not to be Ruth's husband:
3. Moses, son of Moses, Sr. and Deborah Reynolds Richards, from Norwalk, CT, to Dutchess and Putnam Counties, NY.
February 17, 1761—March 3, 1824
At first, the family trees that identified the husband of Ruth Willard as Moses Richards (sometimes spelled Richard), the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, with a date of birth of May 24, 1745, and date of death on March 3, 1824, Herkimer County, NY, appeared to have combined the birth date of the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards with the death date, March 3, 1924, of the son of Moses Richards, Sr., and Deborah Reynolds Richards who died in Putnam County, NY. But further investigation revealed that two different Moses Richards died on or about March 3, 1824--the one who died at age 79 in Columbia, Herkimer County, and the one who died at age 63 in Putnam County.
The Putnam County Moses, shown in Find A Grave memorial # 44680374, is clearly not the husband of Ruth Willard. A 1745 birthdate for the Putnam County Moses does not match the age on his headstone, 63 years. Instead, the age for the decedent in that memorial matches that of Moses Richards, Jr., born February 17, 1861, in Norwalk, CT (who is the son of Moses Richards, Sr., March 6, 1733— November 1805, [who died between October 29, 1805 (will signing) and December 4, 1805 (probate date, Dutchess County, NY)], from Norwalk, CT. The wife of Moses Richards, Jr., from Putnam County, was Mary Paddock Richards, and she and 6 of their children, Charles Floyd Richards, Orrin Richards, David B. Richards, Mariah Richards, Loretta Richards, and Roxanna Richards, were identified in his Will, which was probated in Putnam County, NY, March 17, 1824.
4. Moses Richards from Rowley, Essex County, MA. Moses, Sr., married to Elizabeth Lambert Richards, died May 29, 1756; Moses, Jr. August 5, 1753—December 2, 1808, married twice and continued to live in Rowley, MA. Memorial # 11558697.
5. Moses Richards, born in New Jersey, April 12, 1805, died in November, 1892, in Springwater, Livingston County, NY, married to Eveline Richards [1809—March 23, 1900 from obits, despite marker which shows year of death as 1890], son of Abraham Richards and Hannah York. Children: Caroline Richards, Dunning W. Richards, Juliann Richards Niely.
6. Moses Richards from Niagara County, NY, husband of Pulchera Fargo Richards.
August 1, 1798—February 16, 1875.
7. Moses Richards from Barnes Corners, Town of Pinckney, Lewis County, NY. (twin of John). This Moses and twin brother John were sons of Hezekiah Richards, interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, and thus grandsons of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
March 19, 1805—January 15, 1898.
8. Moses Richards from Jefferson County, NY (May 24, 1807— January 5, 1886), husband of Janette M. Rice Richards (October 28, 1814— October 27, 1895), both died in Painesville, OH, but are interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY. Per 1855 census he moved to Adams in 1830 (resident for 25 years). Appears to be son of Moses Jr. (1773-1851) and grandson of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
Records confirm the following information about RUTH WILLARD AND HER HUSBAND, MOSES:
Massachusetts Town and Vital Records reflect
Intention to Marry between Moses Richards of Lunenburg, MA, and Ruth Willard of Harvard, MA: December 26, 1767; Ceremony performed on February 18, 1768, in Harvard, MA, by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler.
Ruth Willard
daughter of Hezekiah Willard and Lydia Haskell
June 22, 1746—June 4, 1838
(birth record of Harvard, MA)
(date of death on marker)
Children born in Harvard, MA:
LURANA RICHARDS
May 16, 1769
ANNA WILLARD RICHARDS DONALDSON
February 7, 1771—1835
MOSES RICHARDS, JR.
March 28, 1773 (birth & baptism date)—September 14, 1851
married Nancy Adelia {middle name from Lydia Richards Barnard Mich death record]
[maiden name unknown] Richards
June 1, 1780—December 16, 1860 (aged 80y, 6m, 16d)
Children of Moses, Jr. and Nancy:
*****Ruth Richards
*****1801—March 17,1831
*****Lydia Richards Barnard
*****June 6, 1803—September 29, 1896
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[PROBABLE 2 SONS OF MOSES, JR. BETWEEN LYDIA & SABRA]
[OR SONS OF ONE OF 3 OTHER UNNAMED SONS OF MOSES, SR.]
*****[MOSES RICHARDS]
*****[1807—1886][ELMWOOD CEMETERY, ADAMS, NY]
*****WILLIAM W. RICHARDS
*****1809—1870 [WOODLANDS CEMETERY, CLEVELAND, OH)
obituary of this William W. Richards confirmed his birth in Herkimer County, NY,
and move first to Solon, OH, consistent with migration of presumed brother Mitchell Richards and presumed father & mother, Moses Richards & Nancy Adelia Richards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****Sabra Richards
*****1811—November 14, 1831
*****Edward W. Richards
*****1816—April 10, 1841
*****Mitchell Richards
*****Oct. 12, 1822—Oct. 28, 1856
*****Delia Richards
*****August 1823—April 15, 1850
SABRA RICHARDS HUNT BAKER [wife of second husband, Isaac Baker 1771-February 16, 1844]
January 15, 1775 (baptism date)—December 3, 1855
Children born between
Harvard, MA, and Otsego County, NY
HEZEKIAH RICHARDS, SR.
1779—January 24, 1826
Male Child
c. 1781
Male Child
c. 1784
Male Child
c. 1787
Child born in Otsego, NY:
RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS TIFFANY
October 5, 1790—October 10, 1874
*******************************************************************************
Two of the foregoing potential sons of Moses, Sr. are reported by a reliable Richards family tree maintained by a descendant of Josiah, Sr. to be
Josiah Richards, Sr.
March 17, 1777--July 3, 1835
&
Samuel Richards
also appearing in Herkimer, NY, and Adams, NY contemporaneously with Moses, Jr. & Hezekiah.
*************************************************************************
The 1790 U.S. census of Moses Richards in Otsego County, NY, shows 10 family members -(Moses, Moses, Jr. = 2 males over 16) 4 boys under 16, and 4 females = mother Ruth, and the 3 daughters listed above, exclusive of daughter Ruth who was born in October). Under the following analysis, we had originally identified Hezekiah Richards, Sr., and the unnamed father of Moses Richards and William W. Richards, as two of the four boys under 16, born after Sabra (1775) and before Ruth (1790). The current version of our hypothesis is that the father of Moses (1807-1886) and William W. Richards (1809—1870) is in fact, Moses, Jr. (1773—1851, wife Nancy).
Hezekiah Richards, Sr. (1779—January 24, 1826), has a consistent birth date and potential location to be one of the 4 boys born to Moses (the elder) and Ruth Willard Richards during their migration from Massachusetts to New York. According to the 1855 NY census of Moses 1805, his twin son, Moses 1805 and all of the children of Moses 1805 were born in Herkimer County, NY., and his father [Hezekiah Richards, Sr.] and mother [Sinai Mills per some family trees] were born in Massachusetts. We conclude, therefore, that Moses Richards from Barnes Corners (1805) and his twin brother John (1805), are grandsons of Ruth Willard Richards and Moses Richards, the elder. Both are interred with their father, Hezekiah Richards, Sr., in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, along with Ruth Willard Richards, the oldest member of the Richards family in that cemetery.
Moses Richards (1807—1886) interred in Elmwood cemetery, Jefferson County, is also a relative, most likely another grandson, of Moses Richards, Sr. and Ruth Willard. His reported birthplace is Herkimer County and, according to his obituary, he was one of 14 children who, save for one sister, had predeceased him. Returning from Ohio to attend his funeral was Nancy Tiffany Richards Hannaford, (daughter of Ruth Willard Richards Tiffany, granddaughter of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard, and widow of her first cousin Mitchel Richards) and his nephew Moses I. Richards, also from Cleveland. Moses Ira Richards is the son of William W. Richards and Sarah M. Pettibone Richards, all of whom are interred in Ohio. William W. Richards (1809—1870) and Moses Richards (1807—1886) are brothers (undoubtedly grandsons of Mose's Sr) whose father's given name remains unknown. One theory is that their father is one of the unnamed sons of Moses, Sr.
But these 2 brothers are almost certainly the sons of Moses, Jr. Their birth dates fit well between sisters, Lydia Richards Barnard and Sabra Richards, and Lydia Bernard is likely to be the sole surviving sister described in the following obit of Moses Richards 1807—1886.
His obituary, which follows, confirms this family connection:
The Independent,
Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio
Friday, January 15, 1886
Entered into Rest.
Last Thursday we were called to attend the last rites which can be paid on earth to a valued friend and former neighbor—Mr. Moses Richards of Jackson st., Painesville, who had died after a brief illness on the previous Tuesday, in his 79th year. Possessing those attributes which always characterize the true gentleman, together with his genial and courteous manners, won for him our highest respect, and we were pleased to be accounted one of best friends. Mr. Richards was one of fourteen children (but one sister now survives)—and was born in Columbia, Herkimer co., N. Y. When 19 years of age he removed to Adams, Jefferson co., in the same State, where he was married to Jane Ette M. Rice, and whose union proved to be one of perfect happiness and contentment. This event occurred on the 7th of January, 1836; and it was a painful and singular coincidence that the day of the funeral was to have been celebrated as their golden wedding, and to the recurrence of which the deceased had been anticipating with considerable pleasure. It was a sore trial to the bereaved ones to be the recipients on that day and for several days previous of many costly mementos of the anniversary — among them a large and elegantly bound bible, silver spoons, and $83.00 in gold. The arrival of these gifts, while the loved husband and father was lying in death, made the occasion doubly sad, and was a striking evidence of the vicissitudes attending earthly life.
In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Richards, with their only daughter (now Mrs. J. B. Collacott), removed to Solon, O., where they lived four years; afterward coming to Madison in this county, and finally taking up their abode in Painesville about thirteen years ago. During these periods Mr. Richards followed various pursuits, as his health permitted, chiefly however, that of a carpenter—and many monuments of his skill as a builder dot the country. He had been a member of the Baptist denomination for nearly half a century, and his life and conversation brought no discredit to his profession in all that time. He was a great student of the bible, and by its teachings he was governed. He was a man of comparatively few words and of unassuming manners, and to some might appear reserved, but nevertheless he was strong and constant in his attachments when once formed. He was strictly conscientious, methodical and precise in all his undertakings. Being the soul of honor and honesty himself, he looked for those qualities in his fellow man, and any dereliction in this regard met with sharp reproof. His life was an active one, being of extremely industrious habits, and if able to be out at all would be engaged in some duty—in truth, his death may have been hastened by over-anxiety to accomplish some out-door matters upon which he had fixed his attention. In all the varied relations of life, his example has been a safe one to follow and imitate. Surrounded by loved ones, with every want anticipated and cared for, his declining years have been peaceful and serene; and he has gone to the grave honored and beloved. His pastor, the Rev. J. F. Bapson, of the Baptist church, conducted the funeral ceremonies, and a quartet from the choir furnished appropriate music. The remains were taken on the late train to Adams, N. Y., his former home—and where one son and two daughters, who died young, are buried—accompanied by Mrs. Richards, Mr. J. B. Collacott, Mr. Moses I. Richards (a nephew of the deceased) of Cleveland, and Mrs. Nancy Hannaford, also of that city. The party arrived at their destination at 2-30 p. m. on Friday, and were met by a large number of relatives and friends. The remains were immediately conveyed to the chapel in the cemetery grounds and the burial service read by the pastor of the Adams Baptist church, of which Mr. Richards was for many years a member.
Accompanied by some of the presents above referred to, Mrs. Richards received a letter from her sister, Mrs. Dr. Mansfield of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and from which we publish extracts:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jan. 7, 1886.
MY DEAREST SISTER—On this your 50th wedding anniversary I feel like saying a few words to tell you of my love and affection, which has lasted through these many years. Half a century! What a period of time as we look at it in the future, but how quickly passed when taking the back view! I remember indistinctly the event of this day fifty years ago, but I remember enough to know that there was quite a mystery about something, and in my child-like questionings I was told to never mind but be a good little girl. The mystery was revealed when I was to be dressed in a new red dress, just for the occasion, and then told that there was to be a wedding, that I was to lose my sister. I remember as well to-day as then that I was not pleased at the prospect of losing you—to know that you were going away from me, to leave the old home never to be one of us as of old, was even at that time a great relief. But children remember and have, I believe, greater grief than is usually thought of. You were always kind to me, always had a sympathizing word, a soothing kiss, and many ways of kindness that have always been cherished and remembered. My heart is too full to-day to utter all I would say to you. I feel thankful that your life has bean spared so many years, and I hope you will have many returns of this your wedding day. It is a great disappointment that I cannot be with you; it was not thought advisable for me to leave home this winter, as I have just recovered from a severe sickness—in spirit I shall be there. I have sent you and brother Richards a wedding cake, marked with the flight of time. I hope this day will he a pleasant one to you both—that kind friends may surround you, and that you can say in your heart that you are glad you have lived to see this day, I believe you have lived a pure life, one worthy of example. I feel that it will be written of you "Well done! at last enter into your rest." * * The little gifts I present you to-day accept with my best love; that you may live and be restored to a comfortable degree of health is the sincere wish of your sister. With congratulations and love to both of you,
I remain Your aff. sister,
MARY E. MANSFIELD
JEFFERSON COUNTY JOURNAL, October 29, 1895, p.5
—Word has been received of the death
of Mrs. Jannette Richards, of Painesville,
Ohio, widow of Moses Richards, who
formerly resided in this village and were
very active members of the Baptist
church. The remains will reach here
Wednesday; afternoon on the 8:3O train,
and will be placed by the side of her
husband in Elmwood cemetery. She
leaves one daughter, Mrs. J. B. Collacott,
of Painesville, Ohio, one sister, Miss Caroline
Rice, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one
brother, Parley E. Warriner, of the
town of Adams. Her's is the close of a
lovely Christian life.
1855 N.Y. census, Adams, Jefferson County, NY
Calvin Warriner, Abiah [Read] Rice Warriner, Caroline Rice, Parley Warriner, Mary E. Warriner. [Stepfather, mother & siblings of Jane Ette Rice Richards]
[half-sister of Jane Ette Rice Richards
Mary E. Warriner Mansfield
1830—February 3, 1889]
Bio by Greg Stull
THIS MEMORIAL IS FOR MOSES RICHARDS, THE HUSBAND OF RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS.
The birth data belong to MOSES RICHARDS, born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. The death data belong to Moses Richards from Columbia, Herkimer County, NY. The following analysis shows these data are for the same decedent.
A death notice for Moses Richards, age 79, appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824:
Died
In Columbia, on the 2nd inst. [March 2, 1824], Mr. Moses Richards, aged 79.
His death was also reported in the New York, New York, Spectator of April 1, 1824, "DIED,...—At Columbia, Moses Richards, 79--" His date of death was not listed.
Family trees report that he died in Herkimer County, NY, on March 3, 1824.
Herkimer County, NY, Surrogates Records confirm the death of the patriarch of the Richards family in 1824
(indexed erroneously under "Maris Richards"):
In the Matter of the Estate of)
Moses Richards, Deceased)
October 8, 1824,
On reading and filing the deposition of Moses Richards Jr. one of the next of kin: Ordered that letters of administration in said estate be granted unto the said Moses Richards and Ruth Richards and that they give a bond with surety to "The People" in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars.
That the native of Groton, MA, was both the decedent in Columbia, NY, and Ruth's husband, is now verified to the satisfaction of this researcher, but determining whether he or another Moses Richards was the one who married Ruth Willard was not an easy task. The ultimate links were contained in the probate file of our subject and the obituary of another relative named Moses Richards, presumed, and all but confirmed, to be his grandson, who is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY.
Before the confirming evidence was discovered, eight contemporary Moses Richards were analyzed as prospects for Ruth's husband. Six were quickly eliminated.
The husband of Ruth Willard (born in Harvard, MA, on June 22, 1746) was probably born in 1747 or earlier to have married her on February 18, 1768. Harvard's marriage records showed that he was a resident of Lunenburg, MA, when he and Ruth obtained their license to marry in 1767, but his birthplace was not specified. "Mose Richards of Lunenburge and Ruth Willard of Harvard were married to each other Feb. 18, 1768 by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler." Town Records Vol. 2, Town of Harvard, p. 201.
However, the birthplace of the Moses Richards whose data are currently displayed, Groton, is close to both Lunenburg and Harvard. He and Ruth had 3 girls and 1 boy in Harvard, MA, from 1769-1775, and apparently at least 4 more boys before the 1790 census. The youngest daughter, Ruth Willard Richards (who married Isaac Tiffany, the elder), was born in Otsego, NY (then in Montgomery County), on October 5, 1790, where the 10 member family was recorded in the 1790 U.S. census. Thereafter, a Moses Richards family and a separate family for Moses Richards, Jr. are recorded in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, Tax rolls in 1798, 1799, and 1800. Moses Richards households also appear in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, in the 1800 and 1810 U.S. census, and in Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, in 1820 U.S. census. The absence of such a household in Herkimer County after 1820 is consistent with the move of the Moses Richards, Jr. family to Solon, OH, and the death in 1824, now confirmed, of Moses Richards, Sr.
On March 4, 1796, Moses Richards purchased from William and Martha Micks, Lots 60 & 61 in German Flatts, Herkimer County, NY on the south side of the Mohawk River;recorded in 1810, Deed Record,vol. 4, pp.511-512 (image 546 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
On October 14, 1800, Moses and Ruth Richards sold real property on the south side of the Mohawk river in Warren Township, Herkimer County, NY, to Jeremiah Brown and Peter Terpining, Jr., recorded in Vol 4. p. 539 in the Herkimer County deed records of 1810 (image 560 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
Ruth Willard Richards (the wife of Moses, not their daughter) died on June 4, 1838, and is interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY.
Two potential candidates were shown in family trees as the husband of Ruth Willard Richards:
1. Moses Richards, son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, who was born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. A date of death is shown in these trees as March 3, 1824, in Herkimer County, NY.
The death notice for Moses Richards, in Columbia, age 79, of March 2, 1824, which appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824, placed him in the correct location for the husband of Ruth. A birth year of 1745 is consistent with this notice for a decedent aged 79, and since Little Falls and Herkimer are in close proximity to Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, the potential for this date of death to be that of Moses Richards born in Groton, MA, was greatly improved. The probate file for this Herkimer County decedent, in which both Ruth and Moses, Jr. were named, confirmed the relationships.
Other family trees alleged that the husband of Ruth Willard was:
2. Moses Richards,
January 11, 1739, Dedham, MA—No date of death is shown but the place of death is listed as Dover, England.
son of
Josiah Richards
September 22, 1713— October 24, 1771
and
Hannah Whiting [spelled Whitting in marriage record]
July 3, 1718— April 4, 1788 (Roxbury)
(married in Dedham, MA, on September 22, 1737)
This potential candidate ultimately failed for the following reason--A marriage record for Moses Richards and Mehitable Battle Richards, both of Dedham, on December 8, 1762, in Dedham, MA, along with a birth record of their daughter, Mehitable, on May 28, 1772, in Dedham, MA, conflict with birth records of the children of Moses Richards and Ruth Willard Richards, who were born from 1769— 1775 in Harvard, MA. Thus, the son of Josiah and Hannah is the Moses Richards who married Mehitable Battle, and not the Moses Richards who married Ruth Willard.
Each of the following Moses Richards also proved not to be Ruth's husband:
3. Moses, son of Moses, Sr. and Deborah Reynolds Richards, from Norwalk, CT, to Dutchess and Putnam Counties, NY.
February 17, 1761—March 3, 1824
At first, the family trees that identified the husband of Ruth Willard as Moses Richards (sometimes spelled Richard), the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, with a date of birth of May 24, 1745, and date of death on March 3, 1824, Herkimer County, NY, appeared to have combined the birth date of the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards with the death date, March 3, 1924, of the son of Moses Richards, Sr., and Deborah Reynolds Richards who died in Putnam County, NY. But further investigation revealed that two different Moses Richards died on or about March 3, 1824--the one who died at age 79 in Columbia, Herkimer County, and the one who died at age 63 in Putnam County.
The Putnam County Moses, shown in Find A Grave memorial # 44680374, is clearly not the husband of Ruth Willard. A 1745 birthdate for the Putnam County Moses does not match the age on his headstone, 63 years. Instead, the age for the decedent in that memorial matches that of Moses Richards, Jr., born February 17, 1861, in Norwalk, CT (who is the son of Moses Richards, Sr., March 6, 1733— November 1805, [who died between October 29, 1805 (will signing) and December 4, 1805 (probate date, Dutchess County, NY)], from Norwalk, CT. The wife of Moses Richards, Jr., from Putnam County, was Mary Paddock Richards, and she and 6 of their children, Charles Floyd Richards, Orrin Richards, David B. Richards, Mariah Richards, Loretta Richards, and Roxanna Richards, were identified in his Will, which was probated in Putnam County, NY, March 17, 1824.
4. Moses Richards from Rowley, Essex County, MA. Moses, Sr., married to Elizabeth Lambert Richards, died May 29, 1756; Moses, Jr. August 5, 1753—December 2, 1808, married twice and continued to live in Rowley, MA. Memorial # 11558697.
5. Moses Richards, born in New Jersey, April 12, 1805, died in November, 1892, in Springwater, Livingston County, NY, married to Eveline Richards [1809—March 23, 1900 from obits, despite marker which shows year of death as 1890], son of Abraham Richards and Hannah York. Children: Caroline Richards, Dunning W. Richards, Juliann Richards Niely.
6. Moses Richards from Niagara County, NY, husband of Pulchera Fargo Richards.
August 1, 1798—February 16, 1875.
7. Moses Richards from Barnes Corners, Town of Pinckney, Lewis County, NY. (twin of John). This Moses and twin brother John were sons of Hezekiah Richards, interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, and thus grandsons of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
March 19, 1805—January 15, 1898.
8. Moses Richards from Jefferson County, NY (May 24, 1807— January 5, 1886), husband of Janette M. Rice Richards (October 28, 1814— October 27, 1895), both died in Painesville, OH, but are interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY. Per 1855 census he moved to Adams in 1830 (resident for 25 years). Appears to be son of Moses Jr. (1773-1851) and grandson of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
Records confirm the following information about RUTH WILLARD AND HER HUSBAND, MOSES:
Massachusetts Town and Vital Records reflect
Intention to Marry between Moses Richards of Lunenburg, MA, and Ruth Willard of Harvard, MA: December 26, 1767; Ceremony performed on February 18, 1768, in Harvard, MA, by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler.
Ruth Willard
daughter of Hezekiah Willard and Lydia Haskell
June 22, 1746—June 4, 1838
(birth record of Harvard, MA)
(date of death on marker)
Children born in Harvard, MA:
LURANA RICHARDS
May 16, 1769
ANNA WILLARD RICHARDS DONALDSON
February 7, 1771—1835
MOSES RICHARDS, JR.
March 28, 1773 (birth & baptism date)—September 14, 1851
married Nancy Adelia {middle name from Lydia Richards Barnard Mich death record]
[maiden name unknown] Richards
June 1, 1780—December 16, 1860 (aged 80y, 6m, 16d)
Children of Moses, Jr. and Nancy:
*****Ruth Richards
*****1801—March 17,1831
*****Lydia Richards Barnard
*****June 6, 1803—September 29, 1896
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[PROBABLE 2 SONS OF MOSES, JR. BETWEEN LYDIA & SABRA]
[OR SONS OF ONE OF 3 OTHER UNNAMED SONS OF MOSES, SR.]
*****[MOSES RICHARDS]
*****[1807—1886][ELMWOOD CEMETERY, ADAMS, NY]
*****WILLIAM W. RICHARDS
*****1809—1870 [WOODLANDS CEMETERY, CLEVELAND, OH)
obituary of this William W. Richards confirmed his birth in Herkimer County, NY,
and move first to Solon, OH, consistent with migration of presumed brother Mitchell Richards and presumed father & mother, Moses Richards & Nancy Adelia Richards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****Sabra Richards
*****1811—November 14, 1831
*****Edward W. Richards
*****1816—April 10, 1841
*****Mitchell Richards
*****Oct. 12, 1822—Oct. 28, 1856
*****Delia Richards
*****August 1823—April 15, 1850
SABRA RICHARDS HUNT BAKER [wife of second husband, Isaac Baker 1771-February 16, 1844]
January 15, 1775 (baptism date)—December 3, 1855
Children born between
Harvard, MA, and Otsego County, NY
HEZEKIAH RICHARDS, SR.
1779—January 24, 1826
Male Child
c. 1781
Male Child
c. 1784
Male Child
c. 1787
Child born in Otsego, NY:
RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS TIFFANY
October 5, 1790—October 10, 1874
*******************************************************************************
Two of the foregoing potential sons of Moses, Sr. are reported by a reliable Richards family tree maintained by a descendant of Josiah, Sr. to be
Josiah Richards, Sr.
March 17, 1777--July 3, 1835
&
Samuel Richards
also appearing in Herkimer, NY, and Adams, NY contemporaneously with Moses, Jr. & Hezekiah.
*************************************************************************
The 1790 U.S. census of Moses Richards in Otsego County, NY, shows 10 family members -(Moses, Moses, Jr. = 2 males over 16) 4 boys under 16, and 4 females = mother Ruth, and the 3 daughters listed above, exclusive of daughter Ruth who was born in October). Under the following analysis, we had originally identified Hezekiah Richards, Sr., and the unnamed father of Moses Richards and William W. Richards, as two of the four boys under 16, born after Sabra (1775) and before Ruth (1790). The current version of our hypothesis is that the father of Moses (1807-1886) and William W. Richards (1809—1870) is in fact, Moses, Jr. (1773—1851, wife Nancy).
Hezekiah Richards, Sr. (1779—January 24, 1826), has a consistent birth date and potential location to be one of the 4 boys born to Moses (the elder) and Ruth Willard Richards during their migration from Massachusetts to New York. According to the 1855 NY census of Moses 1805, his twin son, Moses 1805 and all of the children of Moses 1805 were born in Herkimer County, NY., and his father [Hezekiah Richards, Sr.] and mother [Sinai Mills per some family trees] were born in Massachusetts. We conclude, therefore, that Moses Richards from Barnes Corners (1805) and his twin brother John (1805), are grandsons of Ruth Willard Richards and Moses Richards, the elder. Both are interred with their father, Hezekiah Richards, Sr., in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, along with Ruth Willard Richards, the oldest member of the Richards family in that cemetery.
Moses Richards (1807—1886) interred in Elmwood cemetery, Jefferson County, is also a relative, most likely another grandson, of Moses Richards, Sr. and Ruth Willard. His reported birthplace is Herkimer County and, according to his obituary, he was one of 14 children who, save for one sister, had predeceased him. Returning from Ohio to attend his funeral was Nancy Tiffany Richards Hannaford, (daughter of Ruth Willard Richards Tiffany, granddaughter of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard, and widow of her first cousin Mitchel Richards) and his nephew Moses I. Richards, also from Cleveland. Moses Ira Richards is the son of William W. Richards and Sarah M. Pettibone Richards, all of whom are interred in Ohio. William W. Richards (1809—1870) and Moses Richards (1807—1886) are brothers (undoubtedly grandsons of Mose's Sr) whose father's given name remains unknown. One theory is that their father is one of the unnamed sons of Moses, Sr.
But these 2 brothers are almost certainly the sons of Moses, Jr. Their birth dates fit well between sisters, Lydia Richards Barnard and Sabra Richards, and Lydia Bernard is likely to be the sole surviving sister described in the following obit of Moses Richards 1807—1886.
His obituary, which follows, confirms this family connection:
The Independent,
Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio
Friday, January 15, 1886
Entered into Rest.
Last Thursday we were called to attend the last rites which can be paid on earth to a valued friend and former neighbor—Mr. Moses Richards of Jackson st., Painesville, who had died after a brief illness on the previous Tuesday, in his 79th year. Possessing those attributes which always characterize the true gentleman, together with his genial and courteous manners, won for him our highest respect, and we were pleased to be accounted one of best friends. Mr. Richards was one of fourteen children (but one sister now survives)—and was born in Columbia, Herkimer co., N. Y. When 19 years of age he removed to Adams, Jefferson co., in the same State, where he was married to Jane Ette M. Rice, and whose union proved to be one of perfect happiness and contentment. This event occurred on the 7th of January, 1836; and it was a painful and singular coincidence that the day of the funeral was to have been celebrated as their golden wedding, and to the recurrence of which the deceased had been anticipating with considerable pleasure. It was a sore trial to the bereaved ones to be the recipients on that day and for several days previous of many costly mementos of the anniversary — among them a large and elegantly bound bible, silver spoons, and $83.00 in gold. The arrival of these gifts, while the loved husband and father was lying in death, made the occasion doubly sad, and was a striking evidence of the vicissitudes attending earthly life.
In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Richards, with their only daughter (now Mrs. J. B. Collacott), removed to Solon, O., where they lived four years; afterward coming to Madison in this county, and finally taking up their abode in Painesville about thirteen years ago. During these periods Mr. Richards followed various pursuits, as his health permitted, chiefly however, that of a carpenter—and many monuments of his skill as a builder dot the country. He had been a member of the Baptist denomination for nearly half a century, and his life and conversation brought no discredit to his profession in all that time. He was a great student of the bible, and by its teachings he was governed. He was a man of comparatively few words and of unassuming manners, and to some might appear reserved, but nevertheless he was strong and constant in his attachments when once formed. He was strictly conscientious, methodical and precise in all his undertakings. Being the soul of honor and honesty himself, he looked for those qualities in his fellow man, and any dereliction in this regard met with sharp reproof. His life was an active one, being of extremely industrious habits, and if able to be out at all would be engaged in some duty—in truth, his death may have been hastened by over-anxiety to accomplish some out-door matters upon which he had fixed his attention. In all the varied relations of life, his example has been a safe one to follow and imitate. Surrounded by loved ones, with every want anticipated and cared for, his declining years have been peaceful and serene; and he has gone to the grave honored and beloved. His pastor, the Rev. J. F. Bapson, of the Baptist church, conducted the funeral ceremonies, and a quartet from the choir furnished appropriate music. The remains were taken on the late train to Adams, N. Y., his former home—and where one son and two daughters, who died young, are buried—accompanied by Mrs. Richards, Mr. J. B. Collacott, Mr. Moses I. Richards (a nephew of the deceased) of Cleveland, and Mrs. Nancy Hannaford, also of that city. The party arrived at their destination at 2-30 p. m. on Friday, and were met by a large number of relatives and friends. The remains were immediately conveyed to the chapel in the cemetery grounds and the burial service read by the pastor of the Adams Baptist church, of which Mr. Richards was for many years a member.
Accompanied by some of the presents above referred to, Mrs. Richards received a letter from her sister, Mrs. Dr. Mansfield of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and from which we publish extracts:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jan. 7, 1886.
MY DEAREST SISTER—On this your 50th wedding anniversary I feel like saying a few words to tell you of my love and affection, which has lasted through these many years. Half a century! What a period of time as we look at it in the future, but how quickly passed when taking the back view! I remember indistinctly the event of this day fifty years ago, but I remember enough to know that there was quite a mystery about something, and in my child-like questionings I was told to never mind but be a good little girl. The mystery was revealed when I was to be dressed in a new red dress, just for the occasion, and then told that there was to be a wedding, that I was to lose my sister. I remember as well to-day as then that I was not pleased at the prospect of losing you—to know that you were going away from me, to leave the old home never to be one of us as of old, was even at that time a great relief. But children remember and have, I believe, greater grief than is usually thought of. You were always kind to me, always had a sympathizing word, a soothing kiss, and many ways of kindness that have always been cherished and remembered. My heart is too full to-day to utter all I would say to you. I feel thankful that your life has bean spared so many years, and I hope you will have many returns of this your wedding day. It is a great disappointment that I cannot be with you; it was not thought advisable for me to leave home this winter, as I have just recovered from a severe sickness—in spirit I shall be there. I have sent you and brother Richards a wedding cake, marked with the flight of time. I hope this day will he a pleasant one to you both—that kind friends may surround you, and that you can say in your heart that you are glad you have lived to see this day, I believe you have lived a pure life, one worthy of example. I feel that it will be written of you "Well done! at last enter into your rest." * * The little gifts I present you to-day accept with my best love; that you may live and be restored to a comfortable degree of health is the sincere wish of your sister. With congratulations and love to both of you,
I remain Your aff. sister,
MARY E. MANSFIELD
JEFFERSON COUNTY JOURNAL, October 29, 1895, p.5
—Word has been received of the death
of Mrs. Jannette Richards, of Painesville,
Ohio, widow of Moses Richards, who
formerly resided in this village and were
very active members of the Baptist
church. The remains will reach here
Wednesday; afternoon on the 8:3O train,
and will be placed by the side of her
husband in Elmwood cemetery. She
leaves one daughter, Mrs. J. B. Collacott,
of Painesville, Ohio, one sister, Miss Caroline
Rice, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one
brother, Parley E. Warriner, of the
town of Adams. Her's is the close of a
lovely Christian life.
1855 N.Y. census, Adams, Jefferson County, NY
Calvin Warriner, Abiah [Read] Rice Warriner, Caroline Rice, Parley Warriner, Mary E. Warriner. [Stepfather, mother & siblings of Jane Ette Rice Richards]
[half-sister of Jane Ette Rice Richards
Mary E. Warriner Mansfield
1830—February 3, 1889]
Bio by Greg Stull
**
THIS MEMORIAL IS FOR MOSES RICHARDS, THE HUSBAND OF RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS.
The birth data belong to MOSES RICHARDS, born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. The death data belong to Moses Richards from Columbia, Herkimer County, NY. The following analysis shows these data are for the same decedent.
A death notice for Moses Richards, age 79, appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824:
Died
In Columbia, on the 2nd inst. [March 2, 1824], Mr. Moses Richards, aged 79.
His death was also reported in the New York, New York, Spectator of April 1, 1824, "DIED,...—At Columbia, Moses Richards, 79--" His date of death was not listed.
Family trees report that he died in Herkimer County, NY, on March 3, 1824.
Herkimer County, NY, Surrogates Records confirm the death of the patriarch of the Richards family in 1824
(indexed erroneously under "Maris Richards"):
In the Matter of the Estate of)
Moses Richards, Deceased)
October 8, 1824,
On reading and filing the deposition of Moses Richards Jr. one of the next of kin: Ordered that letters of administration in said estate be granted unto the said Moses Richards and Ruth Richards and that they give a bond with surety to "The People" in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars.
That the native of Groton, MA, was both the decedent in Columbia, NY, and Ruth's husband, is now verified to the satisfaction of this researcher, but determining whether he or another Moses Richards was the one who married Ruth Willard was not an easy task. The ultimate links were contained in the probate file of our subject and the obituary of another relative named Moses Richards, presumed, and all but confirmed, to be his grandson, who is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY.
Before the confirming evidence was discovered, eight contemporary Moses Richards were analyzed as prospects for Ruth's husband. Six were quickly eliminated.
The husband of Ruth Willard (born in Harvard, MA, on June 22, 1746) was probably born in 1747 or earlier to have married her on February 18, 1768. Harvard's marriage records showed that he was a resident of Lunenburg, MA, when he and Ruth obtained their license to marry in 1767, but his birthplace was not specified. "Mose Richards of Lunenburge and Ruth Willard of Harvard were married to each other Feb. 18, 1768 by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler." Town Records Vol. 2, Town of Harvard, p. 201.
However, the birthplace of the Moses Richards whose data are currently displayed, Groton, is close to both Lunenburg and Harvard. He and Ruth had 3 girls and 1 boy in Harvard, MA, from 1769-1775, and apparently at least 4 more boys before the 1790 census. The youngest daughter, Ruth Willard Richards (who married Isaac Tiffany, the elder), was born in Otsego, NY (then in Montgomery County), on October 5, 1790, where the 10 member family was recorded in the 1790 U.S. census. Thereafter, a Moses Richards family and a separate family for Moses Richards, Jr. are recorded in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, Tax rolls in 1798, 1799, and 1800. Moses Richards households also appear in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, in the 1800 and 1810 U.S. census, and in Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, in 1820 U.S. census. The absence of such a household in Herkimer County after 1820 is consistent with the move of the Moses Richards, Jr. family to Solon, OH, and the death in 1824, now confirmed, of Moses Richards, Sr.
On March 4, 1796, Moses Richards purchased from William and Martha Micks, Lots 60 & 61 in German Flatts, Herkimer County, NY on the south side of the Mohawk River;recorded in 1810, Deed Record,vol. 4, pp.511-512 (image 546 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
On October 14, 1800, Moses and Ruth Richards sold real property on the south side of the Mohawk river in Warren Township, Herkimer County, NY, to Jeremiah Brown and Peter Terpining, Jr., recorded in Vol 4. p. 539 in the Herkimer County deed records of 1810 (image 560 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
Ruth Willard Richards (the wife of Moses, not their daughter) died on June 4, 1838, and is interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY.
Two potential candidates were shown in family trees as the husband of Ruth Willard Richards:
1. Moses Richards, son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, who was born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. A date of death is shown in these trees as March 3, 1824, in Herkimer County, NY.
The death notice for Moses Richards, in Columbia, age 79, of March 2, 1824, which appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824, placed him in the correct location for the husband of Ruth. A birth year of 1745 is consistent with this notice for a decedent aged 79, and since Little Falls and Herkimer are in close proximity to Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, the potential for this date of death to be that of Moses Richards born in Groton, MA, was greatly improved. The probate file for this Herkimer County decedent, in which both Ruth and Moses, Jr. were named, confirmed the relationships.
Other family trees alleged that the husband of Ruth Willard was:
2. Moses Richards,
January 11, 1739, Dedham, MA—No date of death is shown but the place of death is listed as Dover, England.
son of
Josiah Richards
September 22, 1713— October 24, 1771
and
Hannah Whiting [spelled Whitting in marriage record]
July 3, 1718— April 4, 1788 (Roxbury)
(married in Dedham, MA, on September 22, 1737)
This potential candidate ultimately failed for the following reason--A marriage record for Moses Richards and Mehitable Battle Richards, both of Dedham, on December 8, 1762, in Dedham, MA, along with a birth record of their daughter, Mehitable, on May 28, 1772, in Dedham, MA, conflict with birth records of the children of Moses Richards and Ruth Willard Richards, who were born from 1769— 1775 in Harvard, MA. Thus, the son of Josiah and Hannah is the Moses Richards who married Mehitable Battle, and not the Moses Richards who married Ruth Willard.
Each of the following Moses Richards also proved not to be Ruth's husband:
3. Moses, son of Moses, Sr. and Deborah Reynolds Richards, from Norwalk, CT, to Dutchess and Putnam Counties, NY.
February 17, 1761—March 3, 1824
At first, the family trees that identified the husband of Ruth Willard as Moses Richards (sometimes spelled Richard), the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, with a date of birth of May 24, 1745, and date of death on March 3, 1824, Herkimer County, NY, appeared to have combined the birth date of the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards with the death date, March 3, 1924, of the son of Moses Richards, Sr., and Deborah Reynolds Richards who died in Putnam County, NY. But further investigation revealed that two different Moses Richards died on or about March 3, 1824--the one who died at age 79 in Columbia, Herkimer County, and the one who died at age 63 in Putnam County.
The Putnam County Moses, shown in Find A Grave memorial # 44680374, is clearly not the husband of Ruth Willard. A 1745 birthdate for the Putnam County Moses does not match the age on his headstone, 63 years. Instead, the age for the decedent in that memorial matches that of Moses Richards, Jr., born February 17, 1861, in Norwalk, CT (who is the son of Moses Richards, Sr., March 6, 1733— November 1805, [who died between October 29, 1805 (will signing) and December 4, 1805 (probate date, Dutchess County, NY)], from Norwalk, CT. The wife of Moses Richards, Jr., from Putnam County, was Mary Paddock Richards, and she and 6 of their children, Charles Floyd Richards, Orrin Richards, David B. Richards, Mariah Richards, Loretta Richards, and Roxanna Richards, were identified in his Will, which was probated in Putnam County, NY, March 17, 1824.
4. Moses Richards from Rowley, Essex County, MA. Moses, Sr., married to Elizabeth Lambert Richards, died May 29, 1756; Moses, Jr. August 5, 1753—December 2, 1808, married twice and continued to live in Rowley, MA. Memorial # 11558697.
5. Moses Richards, born in New Jersey, April 12, 1805, died in November, 1892, in Springwater, Livingston County, NY, married to Eveline Richards [1809—March 23, 1900 from obits, despite marker which shows year of death as 1890], son of Abraham Richards and Hannah York. Children: Caroline Richards, Dunning W. Richards, Juliann Richards Niely.
6. Moses Richards from Niagara County, NY, husband of Pulchera Fargo Richards.
August 1, 1798—February 16, 1875.
7. Moses Richards from Barnes Corners, Town of Pinckney, Lewis County, NY. (twin of John). This Moses and twin brother John were sons of Hezekiah Richards, interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, and thus grandsons of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
March 19, 1805—January 15, 1898.
8. Moses Richards from Jefferson County, NY (May 24, 1807— January 5, 1886), husband of Janette M. Rice Richards (October 28, 1814— October 27, 1895), both died in Painesville, OH, but are interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY. Per 1855 census he moved to Adams in 1830 (resident for 25 years). Appears to be son of Moses Jr. (1773-1851) and grandson of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
Records confirm the following information about RUTH WILLARD AND HER HUSBAND, MOSES:
Massachusetts Town and Vital Records reflect
Intention to Marry between Moses Richards of Lunenburg, MA, and Ruth Willard of Harvard, MA: December 26, 1767; Ceremony performed on February 18, 1768, in Harvard, MA, by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler.
Ruth Willard
daughter of Hezekiah Willard and Lydia Haskell
June 22, 1746—June 4, 1838
(birth record of Harvard, MA)
(date of death on marker)
Children born in Harvard, MA:
LURANA RICHARDS
May 16, 1769
ANNA WILLARD RICHARDS DONALDSON
February 7, 1771—1835
MOSES RICHARDS, JR.
March 28, 1773 (birth & baptism date)—September 14, 1851
married Nancy Adelia {middle name from Lydia Richards Barnard Mich death record]
[maiden name unknown] Richards
June 1, 1780—December 16, 1860 (aged 80y, 6m, 16d)
Children of Moses, Jr. and Nancy:
*****Ruth Richards
*****1801—March 17,1831
*****Lydia Richards Barnard
*****June 6, 1803—September 29, 1896
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[PROBABLE 2 SONS OF MOSES, JR. BETWEEN LYDIA & SABRA]
[OR SONS OF ONE OF 3 OTHER UNNAMED SONS OF MOSES, SR.]
*****[MOSES RICHARDS]
*****[1807—1886][ELMWOOD CEMETERY, ADAMS, NY]
*****WILLIAM W. RICHARDS
*****1809—1870 [WOODLANDS CEMETERY, CLEVELAND, OH)
obituary of this William W. Richards confirmed his birth in Herkimer County, NY,
and move first to Solon, OH, consistent with migration of presumed brother Mitchell Richards and presumed father & mother, Moses Richards & Nancy Adelia Richards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****Sabra Richards
*****1811—November 14, 1831
*****Edward W. Richards
*****1816—April 10, 1841
*****Mitchell Richards
*****Oct. 12, 1822—Oct. 28, 1856
*****Delia Richards
*****August 1823—April 15, 1850
SABRA RICHARDS HUNT BAKER [wife of second husband, Isaac Baker 1771-February 16, 1844]
January 15, 1775 (baptism date)—December 3, 1855
Children born between
Harvard, MA, and Otsego County, NY
HEZEKIAH RICHARDS, SR.
1779—January 24, 1826
Male Child
c. 1781
Male Child
c. 1784
Male Child
c. 1787
Child born in Otsego, NY:
RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS TIFFANY
October 5, 1790—October 10, 1874
*******************************************************************************
Two of the foregoing potential sons of Moses, Sr. are reported by a reliable Richards family tree maintained by a descendant of Josiah, Sr. to be
Josiah Richards, Sr.
March 17, 1777--July 3, 1835
&
Samuel Richards
also appearing in Herkimer, NY, and Adams, NY contemporaneously with Moses, Jr. & Hezekiah.
*************************************************************************
The 1790 U.S. census of Moses Richards in Otsego County, NY, shows 10 family members -(Moses, Moses, Jr. = 2 males over 16) 4 boys under 16, and 4 females = mother Ruth, and the 3 daughters listed above, exclusive of daughter Ruth who was born in October). Under the following analysis, we had originally identified Hezekiah Richards, Sr., and the unnamed father of Moses Richards and William W. Richards, as two of the four boys under 16, born after Sabra (1775) and before Ruth (1790). The current version of our hypothesis is that the father of Moses (1807-1886) and William W. Richards (1809—1870) is in fact, Moses, Jr. (1773—1851, wife Nancy).
Hezekiah Richards, Sr. (1779—January 24, 1826), has a consistent birth date and potential location to be one of the 4 boys born to Moses (the elder) and Ruth Willard Richards during their migration from Massachusetts to New York. According to the 1855 NY census of Moses 1805, his twin son, Moses 1805 and all of the children of Moses 1805 were born in Herkimer County, NY., and his father [Hezekiah Richards, Sr.] and mother [Sinai Mills per some family trees] were born in Massachusetts. We conclude, therefore, that Moses Richards from Barnes Corners (1805) and his twin brother John (1805), are grandsons of Ruth Willard Richards and Moses Richards, the elder. Both are interred with their father, Hezekiah Richards, Sr., in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, along with Ruth Willard Richards, the oldest member of the Richards family in that cemetery.
Moses Richards (1807—1886) interred in Elmwood cemetery, Jefferson County, is also a relative, most likely another grandson, of Moses Richards, Sr. and Ruth Willard. His reported birthplace is Herkimer County and, according to his obituary, he was one of 14 children who, save for one sister, had predeceased him. Returning from Ohio to attend his funeral was Nancy Tiffany Richards Hannaford, (daughter of Ruth Willard Richards Tiffany, granddaughter of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard, and widow of her first cousin Mitchel Richards) and his nephew Moses I. Richards, also from Cleveland. Moses Ira Richards is the son of William W. Richards and Sarah M. Pettibone Richards, all of whom are interred in Ohio. William W. Richards (1809—1870) and Moses Richards (1807—1886) are brothers (undoubtedly grandsons of Mose's Sr) whose father's given name remains unknown. One theory is that their father is one of the unnamed sons of Moses, Sr.
But these 2 brothers are almost certainly the sons of Moses, Jr. Their birth dates fit well between sisters, Lydia Richards Barnard and Sabra Richards, and Lydia Bernard is likely to be the sole surviving sister described in the following obit of Moses Richards 1807—1886.
His obituary, which follows, confirms this family connection:
The Independent,
Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio
Friday, January 15, 1886
Entered into Rest.
Last Thursday we were called to attend the last rites which can be paid on earth to a valued friend and former neighbor—Mr. Moses Richards of Jackson st., Painesville, who had died after a brief illness on the previous Tuesday, in his 79th year. Possessing those attributes which always characterize the true gentleman, together with his genial and courteous manners, won for him our highest respect, and we were pleased to be accounted one of best friends. Mr. Richards was one of fourteen children (but one sister now survives)—and was born in Columbia, Herkimer co., N. Y. When 19 years of age he removed to Adams, Jefferson co., in the same State, where he was married to Jane Ette M. Rice, and whose union proved to be one of perfect happiness and contentment. This event occurred on the 7th of January, 1836; and it was a painful and singular coincidence that the day of the funeral was to have been celebrated as their golden wedding, and to the recurrence of which the deceased had been anticipating with considerable pleasure. It was a sore trial to the bereaved ones to be the recipients on that day and for several days previous of many costly mementos of the anniversary — among them a large and elegantly bound bible, silver spoons, and $83.00 in gold. The arrival of these gifts, while the loved husband and father was lying in death, made the occasion doubly sad, and was a striking evidence of the vicissitudes attending earthly life.
In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Richards, with their only daughter (now Mrs. J. B. Collacott), removed to Solon, O., where they lived four years; afterward coming to Madison in this county, and finally taking up their abode in Painesville about thirteen years ago. During these periods Mr. Richards followed various pursuits, as his health permitted, chiefly however, that of a carpenter—and many monuments of his skill as a builder dot the country. He had been a member of the Baptist denomination for nearly half a century, and his life and conversation brought no discredit to his profession in all that time. He was a great student of the bible, and by its teachings he was governed. He was a man of comparatively few words and of unassuming manners, and to some might appear reserved, but nevertheless he was strong and constant in his attachments when once formed. He was strictly conscientious, methodical and precise in all his undertakings. Being the soul of honor and honesty himself, he looked for those qualities in his fellow man, and any dereliction in this regard met with sharp reproof. His life was an active one, being of extremely industrious habits, and if able to be out at all would be engaged in some duty—in truth, his death may have been hastened by over-anxiety to accomplish some out-door matters upon which he had fixed his attention. In all the varied relations of life, his example has been a safe one to follow and imitate. Surrounded by loved ones, with every want anticipated and cared for, his declining years have been peaceful and serene; and he has gone to the grave honored and beloved. His pastor, the Rev. J. F. Bapson, of the Baptist church, conducted the funeral ceremonies, and a quartet from the choir furnished appropriate music. The remains were taken on the late train to Adams, N. Y., his former home—and where one son and two daughters, who died young, are buried—accompanied by Mrs. Richards, Mr. J. B. Collacott, Mr. Moses I. Richards (a nephew of the deceased) of Cleveland, and Mrs. Nancy Hannaford, also of that city. The party arrived at their destination at 2-30 p. m. on Friday, and were met by a large number of relatives and friends. The remains were immediately conveyed to the chapel in the cemetery grounds and the burial service read by the pastor of the Adams Baptist church, of which Mr. Richards was for many years a member.
Accompanied by some of the presents above referred to, Mrs. Richards received a letter from her sister, Mrs. Dr. Mansfield of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and from which we publish extracts:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jan. 7, 1886.
MY DEAREST SISTER—On this your 50th wedding anniversary I feel like saying a few words to tell you of my love and affection, which has lasted through these many years. Half a century! What a period of time as we look at it in the future, but how quickly passed when taking the back view! I remember indistinctly the event of this day fifty years ago, but I remember enough to know that there was quite a mystery about something, and in my child-like questionings I was told to never mind but be a good little girl. The mystery was revealed when I was to be dressed in a new red dress, just for the occasion, and then told that there was to be a wedding, that I was to lose my sister. I remember as well to-day as then that I was not pleased at the prospect of losing you—to know that you were going away from me, to leave the old home never to be one of us as of old, was even at that time a great relief. But children remember and have, I believe, greater grief than is usually thought of. You were always kind to me, always had a sympathizing word, a soothing kiss, and many ways of kindness that have always been cherished and remembered. My heart is too full to-day to utter all I would say to you. I feel thankful that your life has bean spared so many years, and I hope you will have many returns of this your wedding day. It is a great disappointment that I cannot be with you; it was not thought advisable for me to leave home this winter, as I have just recovered from a severe sickness—in spirit I shall be there. I have sent you and brother Richards a wedding cake, marked with the flight of time. I hope this day will he a pleasant one to you both—that kind friends may surround you, and that you can say in your heart that you are glad you have lived to see this day, I believe you have lived a pure life, one worthy of example. I feel that it will be written of you "Well done! at last enter into your rest." * * The little gifts I present you to-day accept with my best love; that you may live and be restored to a comfortable degree of health is the sincere wish of your sister. With congratulations and love to both of you,
I remain Your aff. sister,
MARY E. MANSFIELD
JEFFERSON COUNTY JOURNAL, October 29, 1895, p.5
—Word has been received of the death
of Mrs. Jannette Richards, of Painesville,
Ohio, widow of Moses Richards, who
formerly resided in this village and were
very active members of the Baptist
church. The remains will reach here
Wednesday; afternoon on the 8:3O train,
and will be placed by the side of her
husband in Elmwood cemetery. She
leaves one daughter, Mrs. J. B. Collacott,
of Painesville, Ohio, one sister, Miss Caroline
Rice, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one
brother, Parley E. Warriner, of the
town of Adams. Her's is the close of a
lovely Christian life.
1855 N.Y. census, Adams, Jefferson County, NY
Calvin Warriner, Abiah [Read] Rice Warriner, Caroline Rice, Parley Warriner, Mary E. Warriner. [Stepfather, mother & siblings of Jane Ette Rice Richards]
[half-sister of Jane Ette Rice Richards
Mary E. Warriner Mansfield
1830—February 3, 1889]
Bio by Greg Stull
THIS MEMORIAL IS FOR MOSES RICHARDS, THE HUSBAND OF RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS.
The birth data belong to MOSES RICHARDS, born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. The death data belong to Moses Richards from Columbia, Herkimer County, NY. The following analysis shows these data are for the same decedent.
A death notice for Moses Richards, age 79, appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824:
Died
In Columbia, on the 2nd inst. [March 2, 1824], Mr. Moses Richards, aged 79.
His death was also reported in the New York, New York, Spectator of April 1, 1824, "DIED,...—At Columbia, Moses Richards, 79--" His date of death was not listed.
Family trees report that he died in Herkimer County, NY, on March 3, 1824.
Herkimer County, NY, Surrogates Records confirm the death of the patriarch of the Richards family in 1824
(indexed erroneously under "Maris Richards"):
In the Matter of the Estate of)
Moses Richards, Deceased)
October 8, 1824,
On reading and filing the deposition of Moses Richards Jr. one of the next of kin: Ordered that letters of administration in said estate be granted unto the said Moses Richards and Ruth Richards and that they give a bond with surety to "The People" in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars.
That the native of Groton, MA, was both the decedent in Columbia, NY, and Ruth's husband, is now verified to the satisfaction of this researcher, but determining whether he or another Moses Richards was the one who married Ruth Willard was not an easy task. The ultimate links were contained in the probate file of our subject and the obituary of another relative named Moses Richards, presumed, and all but confirmed, to be his grandson, who is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY.
Before the confirming evidence was discovered, eight contemporary Moses Richards were analyzed as prospects for Ruth's husband. Six were quickly eliminated.
The husband of Ruth Willard (born in Harvard, MA, on June 22, 1746) was probably born in 1747 or earlier to have married her on February 18, 1768. Harvard's marriage records showed that he was a resident of Lunenburg, MA, when he and Ruth obtained their license to marry in 1767, but his birthplace was not specified. "Mose Richards of Lunenburge and Ruth Willard of Harvard were married to each other Feb. 18, 1768 by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler." Town Records Vol. 2, Town of Harvard, p. 201.
However, the birthplace of the Moses Richards whose data are currently displayed, Groton, is close to both Lunenburg and Harvard. He and Ruth had 3 girls and 1 boy in Harvard, MA, from 1769-1775, and apparently at least 4 more boys before the 1790 census. The youngest daughter, Ruth Willard Richards (who married Isaac Tiffany, the elder), was born in Otsego, NY (then in Montgomery County), on October 5, 1790, where the 10 member family was recorded in the 1790 U.S. census. Thereafter, a Moses Richards family and a separate family for Moses Richards, Jr. are recorded in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, Tax rolls in 1798, 1799, and 1800. Moses Richards households also appear in Warren, Herkimer County, NY, in the 1800 and 1810 U.S. census, and in Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, in 1820 U.S. census. The absence of such a household in Herkimer County after 1820 is consistent with the move of the Moses Richards, Jr. family to Solon, OH, and the death in 1824, now confirmed, of Moses Richards, Sr.
On March 4, 1796, Moses Richards purchased from William and Martha Micks, Lots 60 & 61 in German Flatts, Herkimer County, NY on the south side of the Mohawk River;recorded in 1810, Deed Record,vol. 4, pp.511-512 (image 546 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
On October 14, 1800, Moses and Ruth Richards sold real property on the south side of the Mohawk river in Warren Township, Herkimer County, NY, to Jeremiah Brown and Peter Terpining, Jr., recorded in Vol 4. p. 539 in the Herkimer County deed records of 1810 (image 560 of 568, U.S. New York Land Records, familysearch.org).
Ruth Willard Richards (the wife of Moses, not their daughter) died on June 4, 1838, and is interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY.
Two potential candidates were shown in family trees as the husband of Ruth Willard Richards:
1. Moses Richards, son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, who was born in Groton, Town of Shirley, MA, on May 24, 1745. A date of death is shown in these trees as March 3, 1824, in Herkimer County, NY.
The death notice for Moses Richards, in Columbia, age 79, of March 2, 1824, which appeared in the People's Friend, Little Falls, NY, of March 31, 1824, placed him in the correct location for the husband of Ruth. A birth year of 1745 is consistent with this notice for a decedent aged 79, and since Little Falls and Herkimer are in close proximity to Columbia, Herkimer County, NY, the potential for this date of death to be that of Moses Richards born in Groton, MA, was greatly improved. The probate file for this Herkimer County decedent, in which both Ruth and Moses, Jr. were named, confirmed the relationships.
Other family trees alleged that the husband of Ruth Willard was:
2. Moses Richards,
January 11, 1739, Dedham, MA—No date of death is shown but the place of death is listed as Dover, England.
son of
Josiah Richards
September 22, 1713— October 24, 1771
and
Hannah Whiting [spelled Whitting in marriage record]
July 3, 1718— April 4, 1788 (Roxbury)
(married in Dedham, MA, on September 22, 1737)
This potential candidate ultimately failed for the following reason--A marriage record for Moses Richards and Mehitable Battle Richards, both of Dedham, on December 8, 1762, in Dedham, MA, along with a birth record of their daughter, Mehitable, on May 28, 1772, in Dedham, MA, conflict with birth records of the children of Moses Richards and Ruth Willard Richards, who were born from 1769— 1775 in Harvard, MA. Thus, the son of Josiah and Hannah is the Moses Richards who married Mehitable Battle, and not the Moses Richards who married Ruth Willard.
Each of the following Moses Richards also proved not to be Ruth's husband:
3. Moses, son of Moses, Sr. and Deborah Reynolds Richards, from Norwalk, CT, to Dutchess and Putnam Counties, NY.
February 17, 1761—March 3, 1824
At first, the family trees that identified the husband of Ruth Willard as Moses Richards (sometimes spelled Richard), the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards, with a date of birth of May 24, 1745, and date of death on March 3, 1824, Herkimer County, NY, appeared to have combined the birth date of the son of Charles Richards and Janet Mitchell Richards with the death date, March 3, 1924, of the son of Moses Richards, Sr., and Deborah Reynolds Richards who died in Putnam County, NY. But further investigation revealed that two different Moses Richards died on or about March 3, 1824--the one who died at age 79 in Columbia, Herkimer County, and the one who died at age 63 in Putnam County.
The Putnam County Moses, shown in Find A Grave memorial # 44680374, is clearly not the husband of Ruth Willard. A 1745 birthdate for the Putnam County Moses does not match the age on his headstone, 63 years. Instead, the age for the decedent in that memorial matches that of Moses Richards, Jr., born February 17, 1861, in Norwalk, CT (who is the son of Moses Richards, Sr., March 6, 1733— November 1805, [who died between October 29, 1805 (will signing) and December 4, 1805 (probate date, Dutchess County, NY)], from Norwalk, CT. The wife of Moses Richards, Jr., from Putnam County, was Mary Paddock Richards, and she and 6 of their children, Charles Floyd Richards, Orrin Richards, David B. Richards, Mariah Richards, Loretta Richards, and Roxanna Richards, were identified in his Will, which was probated in Putnam County, NY, March 17, 1824.
4. Moses Richards from Rowley, Essex County, MA. Moses, Sr., married to Elizabeth Lambert Richards, died May 29, 1756; Moses, Jr. August 5, 1753—December 2, 1808, married twice and continued to live in Rowley, MA. Memorial # 11558697.
5. Moses Richards, born in New Jersey, April 12, 1805, died in November, 1892, in Springwater, Livingston County, NY, married to Eveline Richards [1809—March 23, 1900 from obits, despite marker which shows year of death as 1890], son of Abraham Richards and Hannah York. Children: Caroline Richards, Dunning W. Richards, Juliann Richards Niely.
6. Moses Richards from Niagara County, NY, husband of Pulchera Fargo Richards.
August 1, 1798—February 16, 1875.
7. Moses Richards from Barnes Corners, Town of Pinckney, Lewis County, NY. (twin of John). This Moses and twin brother John were sons of Hezekiah Richards, interred in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, and thus grandsons of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
March 19, 1805—January 15, 1898.
8. Moses Richards from Jefferson County, NY (May 24, 1807— January 5, 1886), husband of Janette M. Rice Richards (October 28, 1814— October 27, 1895), both died in Painesville, OH, but are interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Adams, Jefferson County, NY. Per 1855 census he moved to Adams in 1830 (resident for 25 years). Appears to be son of Moses Jr. (1773-1851) and grandson of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard Richards.
Records confirm the following information about RUTH WILLARD AND HER HUSBAND, MOSES:
Massachusetts Town and Vital Records reflect
Intention to Marry between Moses Richards of Lunenburg, MA, and Ruth Willard of Harvard, MA: December 26, 1767; Ceremony performed on February 18, 1768, in Harvard, MA, by the Rev. Mr. Joseph Wheeler.
Ruth Willard
daughter of Hezekiah Willard and Lydia Haskell
June 22, 1746—June 4, 1838
(birth record of Harvard, MA)
(date of death on marker)
Children born in Harvard, MA:
LURANA RICHARDS
May 16, 1769
ANNA WILLARD RICHARDS DONALDSON
February 7, 1771—1835
MOSES RICHARDS, JR.
March 28, 1773 (birth & baptism date)—September 14, 1851
married Nancy Adelia {middle name from Lydia Richards Barnard Mich death record]
[maiden name unknown] Richards
June 1, 1780—December 16, 1860 (aged 80y, 6m, 16d)
Children of Moses, Jr. and Nancy:
*****Ruth Richards
*****1801—March 17,1831
*****Lydia Richards Barnard
*****June 6, 1803—September 29, 1896
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[PROBABLE 2 SONS OF MOSES, JR. BETWEEN LYDIA & SABRA]
[OR SONS OF ONE OF 3 OTHER UNNAMED SONS OF MOSES, SR.]
*****[MOSES RICHARDS]
*****[1807—1886][ELMWOOD CEMETERY, ADAMS, NY]
*****WILLIAM W. RICHARDS
*****1809—1870 [WOODLANDS CEMETERY, CLEVELAND, OH)
obituary of this William W. Richards confirmed his birth in Herkimer County, NY,
and move first to Solon, OH, consistent with migration of presumed brother Mitchell Richards and presumed father & mother, Moses Richards & Nancy Adelia Richards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****Sabra Richards
*****1811—November 14, 1831
*****Edward W. Richards
*****1816—April 10, 1841
*****Mitchell Richards
*****Oct. 12, 1822—Oct. 28, 1856
*****Delia Richards
*****August 1823—April 15, 1850
SABRA RICHARDS HUNT BAKER [wife of second husband, Isaac Baker 1771-February 16, 1844]
January 15, 1775 (baptism date)—December 3, 1855
Children born between
Harvard, MA, and Otsego County, NY
HEZEKIAH RICHARDS, SR.
1779—January 24, 1826
Male Child
c. 1781
Male Child
c. 1784
Male Child
c. 1787
Child born in Otsego, NY:
RUTH WILLARD RICHARDS TIFFANY
October 5, 1790—October 10, 1874
*******************************************************************************
Two of the foregoing potential sons of Moses, Sr. are reported by a reliable Richards family tree maintained by a descendant of Josiah, Sr. to be
Josiah Richards, Sr.
March 17, 1777--July 3, 1835
&
Samuel Richards
also appearing in Herkimer, NY, and Adams, NY contemporaneously with Moses, Jr. & Hezekiah.
*************************************************************************
The 1790 U.S. census of Moses Richards in Otsego County, NY, shows 10 family members -(Moses, Moses, Jr. = 2 males over 16) 4 boys under 16, and 4 females = mother Ruth, and the 3 daughters listed above, exclusive of daughter Ruth who was born in October). Under the following analysis, we had originally identified Hezekiah Richards, Sr., and the unnamed father of Moses Richards and William W. Richards, as two of the four boys under 16, born after Sabra (1775) and before Ruth (1790). The current version of our hypothesis is that the father of Moses (1807-1886) and William W. Richards (1809—1870) is in fact, Moses, Jr. (1773—1851, wife Nancy).
Hezekiah Richards, Sr. (1779—January 24, 1826), has a consistent birth date and potential location to be one of the 4 boys born to Moses (the elder) and Ruth Willard Richards during their migration from Massachusetts to New York. According to the 1855 NY census of Moses 1805, his twin son, Moses 1805 and all of the children of Moses 1805 were born in Herkimer County, NY., and his father [Hezekiah Richards, Sr.] and mother [Sinai Mills per some family trees] were born in Massachusetts. We conclude, therefore, that Moses Richards from Barnes Corners (1805) and his twin brother John (1805), are grandsons of Ruth Willard Richards and Moses Richards, the elder. Both are interred with their father, Hezekiah Richards, Sr., in Adams State Road Cemetery, Honeyville, Jefferson County, NY, along with Ruth Willard Richards, the oldest member of the Richards family in that cemetery.
Moses Richards (1807—1886) interred in Elmwood cemetery, Jefferson County, is also a relative, most likely another grandson, of Moses Richards, Sr. and Ruth Willard. His reported birthplace is Herkimer County and, according to his obituary, he was one of 14 children who, save for one sister, had predeceased him. Returning from Ohio to attend his funeral was Nancy Tiffany Richards Hannaford, (daughter of Ruth Willard Richards Tiffany, granddaughter of Moses, Sr. and Ruth Willard, and widow of her first cousin Mitchel Richards) and his nephew Moses I. Richards, also from Cleveland. Moses Ira Richards is the son of William W. Richards and Sarah M. Pettibone Richards, all of whom are interred in Ohio. William W. Richards (1809—1870) and Moses Richards (1807—1886) are brothers (undoubtedly grandsons of Mose's Sr) whose father's given name remains unknown. One theory is that their father is one of the unnamed sons of Moses, Sr.
But these 2 brothers are almost certainly the sons of Moses, Jr. Their birth dates fit well between sisters, Lydia Richards Barnard and Sabra Richards, and Lydia Bernard is likely to be the sole surviving sister described in the following obit of Moses Richards 1807—1886.
His obituary, which follows, confirms this family connection:
The Independent,
Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio
Friday, January 15, 1886
Entered into Rest.
Last Thursday we were called to attend the last rites which can be paid on earth to a valued friend and former neighbor—Mr. Moses Richards of Jackson st., Painesville, who had died after a brief illness on the previous Tuesday, in his 79th year. Possessing those attributes which always characterize the true gentleman, together with his genial and courteous manners, won for him our highest respect, and we were pleased to be accounted one of best friends. Mr. Richards was one of fourteen children (but one sister now survives)—and was born in Columbia, Herkimer co., N. Y. When 19 years of age he removed to Adams, Jefferson co., in the same State, where he was married to Jane Ette M. Rice, and whose union proved to be one of perfect happiness and contentment. This event occurred on the 7th of January, 1836; and it was a painful and singular coincidence that the day of the funeral was to have been celebrated as their golden wedding, and to the recurrence of which the deceased had been anticipating with considerable pleasure. It was a sore trial to the bereaved ones to be the recipients on that day and for several days previous of many costly mementos of the anniversary — among them a large and elegantly bound bible, silver spoons, and $83.00 in gold. The arrival of these gifts, while the loved husband and father was lying in death, made the occasion doubly sad, and was a striking evidence of the vicissitudes attending earthly life.
In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Richards, with their only daughter (now Mrs. J. B. Collacott), removed to Solon, O., where they lived four years; afterward coming to Madison in this county, and finally taking up their abode in Painesville about thirteen years ago. During these periods Mr. Richards followed various pursuits, as his health permitted, chiefly however, that of a carpenter—and many monuments of his skill as a builder dot the country. He had been a member of the Baptist denomination for nearly half a century, and his life and conversation brought no discredit to his profession in all that time. He was a great student of the bible, and by its teachings he was governed. He was a man of comparatively few words and of unassuming manners, and to some might appear reserved, but nevertheless he was strong and constant in his attachments when once formed. He was strictly conscientious, methodical and precise in all his undertakings. Being the soul of honor and honesty himself, he looked for those qualities in his fellow man, and any dereliction in this regard met with sharp reproof. His life was an active one, being of extremely industrious habits, and if able to be out at all would be engaged in some duty—in truth, his death may have been hastened by over-anxiety to accomplish some out-door matters upon which he had fixed his attention. In all the varied relations of life, his example has been a safe one to follow and imitate. Surrounded by loved ones, with every want anticipated and cared for, his declining years have been peaceful and serene; and he has gone to the grave honored and beloved. His pastor, the Rev. J. F. Bapson, of the Baptist church, conducted the funeral ceremonies, and a quartet from the choir furnished appropriate music. The remains were taken on the late train to Adams, N. Y., his former home—and where one son and two daughters, who died young, are buried—accompanied by Mrs. Richards, Mr. J. B. Collacott, Mr. Moses I. Richards (a nephew of the deceased) of Cleveland, and Mrs. Nancy Hannaford, also of that city. The party arrived at their destination at 2-30 p. m. on Friday, and were met by a large number of relatives and friends. The remains were immediately conveyed to the chapel in the cemetery grounds and the burial service read by the pastor of the Adams Baptist church, of which Mr. Richards was for many years a member.
Accompanied by some of the presents above referred to, Mrs. Richards received a letter from her sister, Mrs. Dr. Mansfield of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and from which we publish extracts:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jan. 7, 1886.
MY DEAREST SISTER—On this your 50th wedding anniversary I feel like saying a few words to tell you of my love and affection, which has lasted through these many years. Half a century! What a period of time as we look at it in the future, but how quickly passed when taking the back view! I remember indistinctly the event of this day fifty years ago, but I remember enough to know that there was quite a mystery about something, and in my child-like questionings I was told to never mind but be a good little girl. The mystery was revealed when I was to be dressed in a new red dress, just for the occasion, and then told that there was to be a wedding, that I was to lose my sister. I remember as well to-day as then that I was not pleased at the prospect of losing you—to know that you were going away from me, to leave the old home never to be one of us as of old, was even at that time a great relief. But children remember and have, I believe, greater grief than is usually thought of. You were always kind to me, always had a sympathizing word, a soothing kiss, and many ways of kindness that have always been cherished and remembered. My heart is too full to-day to utter all I would say to you. I feel thankful that your life has bean spared so many years, and I hope you will have many returns of this your wedding day. It is a great disappointment that I cannot be with you; it was not thought advisable for me to leave home this winter, as I have just recovered from a severe sickness—in spirit I shall be there. I have sent you and brother Richards a wedding cake, marked with the flight of time. I hope this day will he a pleasant one to you both—that kind friends may surround you, and that you can say in your heart that you are glad you have lived to see this day, I believe you have lived a pure life, one worthy of example. I feel that it will be written of you "Well done! at last enter into your rest." * * The little gifts I present you to-day accept with my best love; that you may live and be restored to a comfortable degree of health is the sincere wish of your sister. With congratulations and love to both of you,
I remain Your aff. sister,
MARY E. MANSFIELD
JEFFERSON COUNTY JOURNAL, October 29, 1895, p.5
—Word has been received of the death
of Mrs. Jannette Richards, of Painesville,
Ohio, widow of Moses Richards, who
formerly resided in this village and were
very active members of the Baptist
church. The remains will reach here
Wednesday; afternoon on the 8:3O train,
and will be placed by the side of her
husband in Elmwood cemetery. She
leaves one daughter, Mrs. J. B. Collacott,
of Painesville, Ohio, one sister, Miss Caroline
Rice, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one
brother, Parley E. Warriner, of the
town of Adams. Her's is the close of a
lovely Christian life.
1855 N.Y. census, Adams, Jefferson County, NY
Calvin Warriner, Abiah [Read] Rice Warriner, Caroline Rice, Parley Warriner, Mary E. Warriner. [Stepfather, mother & siblings of Jane Ette Rice Richards]
[half-sister of Jane Ette Rice Richards
Mary E. Warriner Mansfield
1830—February 3, 1889]
Bio by Greg Stull
Family Members
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