Person:Henry Richards (13)

"From the final account of his Estate, we learn that Henry resided in Frederick County very near the border of the Shenandoah County line. He was engaged in farming, cattle-growing, milling and fulling. His business contacts extended throughout the counties of Frederick, Shenandoah, Hardy, and Warren. This Henry owned several large tracts of land, including the fulling mill tract in Mt. Falls, a Gravel Springs tract, and Lots 49 and 50 in Newtown-Stevensburg, on which stood a tavern or hotel. . . . Henry built the beautiful old brick mansion at Gravel Springs, now known as the Pifer House. . . . At the time of his death, he owned 19 slaves. [Source: Part I, "A Sketch and (Partial) Genealogy of the Richards Family of Southwestern Frederick County, Virginia", by Sally C. Coates, January 1999, manuscript at the Handley Regional Library in Frederick County, Virginia.]

Children were Ann Jane Richards, who married George W. Kiger on Sept. 3, 1822; James Russell Richards who married Elizabeth Mauzey Blakemore; Margaret E. Richards (two husbands); Jemima D. Richards who married Dr. Joseph B. Lacy in 1832; Eliza C. Richards who married Thomas Blakemore in 1839; Moses R. Richards, unmarried; Henry Richards who moved to Ohio; and Harriet Richards who married George R. Long in 1842. [Source: ibid., Coates.]

1850 census, Frederick County, Virginia: Henry Richards, 71, farmer; Lydia Richards, 68; Jane Kiger, 46; Moses Richards, 32; William Blakemore, 6; and Alice G. Blakemore, 2. All were born in Virginia.