|
|
Facts and Events
References
- ↑ Vinton, John Adams; Franklin Richardson; and Isaac Richardson. The Richardson Memorial: Comprising a Full History and Genealogy of the Posterity of the Three Brothers, Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richardson, Who Came from England and United with Others in the Foundation of Woburn, Massachusetts in the Year 1641; of John Richardson of Medfield, 1679; of Amos Richardson of Boston, 1640; of Edward and William Richardson of Newbury, 1643; with Notices of Richardsons in Endland and Elsewhere. (Portland, Maine: Brown Thurston & Co., 1876)
p. 572.
Children of Major James Richardson and Hannah Reed: Catharine, b. 14 Jan 1763, m. David [sic, marriage record and birth of Elisha both say James] Wilder, had son Elisha.]
- ↑ Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Leominster, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. (Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Rice, 1911)
p. 364.
WILDER, Mrs. Catherine, [died] Sept. 6, 1842.
- ↑ Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Leominster, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. (Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Rice, 1911)
p. 120.
RICHARDSON, Katharine, d. James and Hannah, [born] Jan. 14, 1763.
- Catherine's parentage is not clear. The Richardson Memorial gives her parents as James Richardson and Hannah Reed of Woburn. According to Vinton, James is the son of James Richardson and Sarah Fowle, this younger James and his wife supposedly left Woburn for Leominster about 1754, were prominent citizens, and then returned to Woburn. They had 2 children in Woburn, Hannah 1751 and James 1753, both apparently dying young (since there is no record of these deaths), then in Leominster: another James 1755 and another Hannah 1757 and additional children. However, there already was a James Richardson and wife Hannah in Leominster (James Richardson of Leominster m. 1753 Hannah House of Lancaster, apparently unknown to Vinton since he does not mention the couple), and if Vinton's Woburn couple were parents of the children born in Leominster, what happened to the Leominster couple?
One would suspect the name Catherine originates with the sister of the James Richardson who married Sarah Fowle. Thus, the father of this Catherine does indeed appear to be the James who is son of James Richardson and Sarah Fowle. James and Sarah moved from Woburn to Leominster about 1735, according to Vinton and birth records. The question is whether the son of James and Sarah is the James of Woburn who m. Hannah Reed as Vinton says, or the James of Leominster who m. Hannah House?
The published records of Woburn do not agree with Vinton. They show Hannah b. 3 Mar 1750, and James 23 Nov 1751. These dates are hard to reconcile with the marriage of James Richardson and Hannah Reed on 12 Feb 1750. Mr. Vinton in 1876 predates the publishing of these records in 1891, and he probably used the original records. However, if James was born as early as 1751, this raises the possibility that one James Richardson m. Hannah Reed, had two children, and then the same James Richardson m. (2) 1753 Hannah House?
A further complication: A James and Hannah Richardson had a daughter Ruhamah in Woburn in 1761. This James is described by Vinton as the son of Phineas and Rebecca (Fowle) Richardson. The Hannah he married is only identified as "Hannah ---". He is said to have had only the one child, probably based on probate documents. Like the James above, this James Richardson was also born in 1729, and it is not unreasonable to suspect that it was he that married Hannah Reed since his parents still lived in Woburn at the time of that marriage, whereas James and Sarah (Fowle) Richardson moved to Leominster about 1735. If he was the father of the Hannah in 1751 and James in 1753 and those children died, that would leave him with just the one daughter, Ruhamah (who m. Woburn 1781 Samuel Tidd).
Source:Wilder, Edwin M. Book of the Wilders appears to give Catherine's parents as James Richardson and Hannah House. He was of Leominster and she of Lancaster. Their location makes them the intuitive choice. But it not clear what evidence this is based on.
The Worcester Probate Index says a James Richardson died intestate in Leominster in 1762. This is probably the James who m. Sarah Fowle.
Another James Richardson died in Leominster in 1795. According to Leominster VRs, this is Major James Richardson, and his widow Hannah died there in 1811, age 79. The calculated birth of the widow about 1732 matches Hannah House in 1734 better than Hannah Reed in 1727/28, but is ambiguous enough to prevent a conclusive result.
The Middlesex Probate Index says a James Richardson died in Woburn in 1773. According to Vinton, this is the son of Phineas. Woburn VRs says "Mr. James, s. of ---" d. 1 Oct 1773.
[An unnamed "widow of James" d. in Woburn 11 Dec 1800. Vinton identifies the widow as Lucy Wyman who married James Richardson, s/o James and Hannah (Reed) Richardson, but gives no reason (e.g., death date for younger James, or widow named in probate records, or whether Hannah, widow of James remarried) to indicate which James Richardson it is the widow of.]
|
|
