Col. Moses Rich was the son of Moses Rich 1730-1816 and Lydia Davis 1734-1777.

He is a Mayflower descendant through his ancestor Hannah Goss.

He married Sarah Hickox in 1785 in Granville, Massachusetts. By 1787 the couple moved to Middlefield, Otsego, New York. He was elected Commissioner of Highways at the first Middlefield town meeting in 1797.

Col. Moses Rich, who settled in the southern portion of town, known as the hamlet of Westville, is credited with setting up the first saw mill in 1795. He later added to his holdings by setting up a grist mill and in 1798 opened a tavern. In the early part of the nineteenth century he helped his son, also named Moses, establish a mill in the hamlet of Clarksville, later known as the hamlet of Middlefield. -- A brief history of the Town of Middlefield.

By 1822 Moses and some of his children moved to Sandbank, Richland Township, Oswego County, New York. He erected the first gristmill in Sandbank.

The couple had 14 children.


Children:


Mary,

Polly,

Reuben 1791, moved to Albion, Oswego County, by 1820, married Julia Jaquith, lived in Albion, 8 children,

Moses 1792, married Hannah Manchester, lived Middlefield, Otsego County, 7 children,

Elsa (Amos) Brown 1794, lived in Middlefield, Otsego County, 5 children,

Cynthia (Manley) Bass apx 1795, lived in Albion, Oswego County, 2 children,

Sarah (Ebenezer) Ingersoll 1800, lived in Sandy Creek, Oswego County, 10 children,

Dr Van Rensselaer 1800, married Clarissa Gurley, lived Albion, Oswego County, 6 children,

Elijah 1805, married Olive Hubbard, lived in Middlefield, Otsego County,

Rufus 1805, married Saloma Gillett, lived in Middlefield, Otsego County, then Albion, Oswego County, 11 children,

Morgan L 1811, married Caroline Stearns, lived in Sandbank, Oswego County, 6 children,

Lydia 1813,

Clarissa 1816-1829, buried in Riverside Cemetery, Altmar, Oswego County,

unknown 14th child.