About the Edward Richards Family of Plymouth, Devonshire
A young, teenaged indentured servant, Edward1Richards, emigrated from Plymouth, in Devonshire, England to Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony in the summer of 1633. He apprenticed as a "joiner", a carpenter doing interior detail. His first wife, and mother of all recorded descendants, is still undocumented.
His second wife, the widow Ann (Ballard) Knight brought to their marriage ownership of an inn, qualifying all our family as members of the Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers. Edward died just two years before the Salem witchcraft delusion in neighboring Salem. His son Daniel was to marry a survivor of that hysteria, Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor, helping raise her five children. One of Edward's descendants, Joseph4 Richards, married Mary Bowden, a great granddaughter of a less fortunate martyr of 1692, Rebecca (Towne) Nurse.
Edward Richards was christened on 26 Jan 1615/16 in St. Andrews parish, Plymouth, Devonshire, England. Edward died at "age 74 yrs." in Lynn, Essex Co. Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The identity of Edward's first wife is undocumented. The famous New England genealogist, Winifred Lovering Holman, in 1954 speculated it was phps. Mary Farnsworth of Lynn, Mass based on circumstantial evidence (which see.) Edward married second abt 1649 to Ann Knight in Lynn MA.
Direct descendants of Edward Richards qualify for membership in Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers by virtue of the inn owned by Edward and Ann (Knight) Richards [see "Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Mass." (Salem MA: Essex Institute, 1916) vol 5, pp 356-57; vol 6, pp 51, 290].
Children of Edward Richards and his first wife:
1.) John Richards, b. 1 Jan 1845; d. abt Mar 1712/13 in Lynn MA. He mar. 18 Nov 1674 Mary Brewer in Lynn. MA
2.) Bathsheba Richards, b. abt. 1647 in Lynn MA; d. abt. 1675 in Boston, Suffolk Co. MA. she mar. 15 Apr 1667 Robert Bronsdon in Lynn MA. They res. in Boston MA.
Children of Edward Richards and his 2nd wife, Ann Knight.:
3.) Daniel Richards, b. abt 1653 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. aft 1712 prob. Lynn MA. He mar. abt. Nov 1699 the widow Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor in Lynn MA, 7 years after the Salem witchcraft hysteria. He helped raise her 6 children children by her 1st husband, John Proctor.
4.) Mary Richards, b. abt 1656 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. aft 1712 prob. Lynn MA. She mar. 22 Mar 1675/76 John Neck in Lynn MA. They had two children: William and Bathsheba.
5.) Deborah Richards, b. abt 1659 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. 24 Dec 1679, Lynn MA.
6.) Abigail Richards. b. abt 1661 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. aft 1712 prob. Lynn MA. She married a Mr. Case.
7.) William Richards, b. 7 Jun 1663 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; res. Salem Village [Danvers] MA in 1700.
Sources: "The Register... of the Parish of St. Andrew's, Plymouth, County Devon" (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1954), p 188. His death is recorded in Vital Records of Lynn, II, 579,
Over the centuries, Edward's descendants spread throughout the United States, into Canada, back to England, and on to New Zealand. This website is a connection for sharing those family stories. Some of his descendants stayed in Essex County into the Civil War era, and later. They began as farmers, and became shipwrights, shoemakers, and businessmen, one serving as a state legislator.
His second wife, the widow Ann (Ballard) Knight brought to their marriage ownership of an inn, qualifying all our family as members of the Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers. Edward died just two years before the Salem witchcraft delusion in neighboring Salem. His son Daniel was to marry a survivor of that hysteria, Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor, helping raise her five children. One of Edward's descendants, Joseph4 Richards, married Mary Bowden, a great granddaughter of a less fortunate martyr of 1692, Rebecca (Towne) Nurse.
Edward Richards was christened on 26 Jan 1615/16 in St. Andrews parish, Plymouth, Devonshire, England. Edward died at "age 74 yrs." in Lynn, Essex Co. Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The identity of Edward's first wife is undocumented. The famous New England genealogist, Winifred Lovering Holman, in 1954 speculated it was phps. Mary Farnsworth of Lynn, Mass based on circumstantial evidence (which see.) Edward married second abt 1649 to Ann Knight in Lynn MA.
Direct descendants of Edward Richards qualify for membership in Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers by virtue of the inn owned by Edward and Ann (Knight) Richards [see "Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Mass." (Salem MA: Essex Institute, 1916) vol 5, pp 356-57; vol 6, pp 51, 290].
Children of Edward Richards and his first wife:
1.) John Richards, b. 1 Jan 1845; d. abt Mar 1712/13 in Lynn MA. He mar. 18 Nov 1674 Mary Brewer in Lynn. MA
2.) Bathsheba Richards, b. abt. 1647 in Lynn MA; d. abt. 1675 in Boston, Suffolk Co. MA. she mar. 15 Apr 1667 Robert Bronsdon in Lynn MA. They res. in Boston MA.
Children of Edward Richards and his 2nd wife, Ann Knight.:
3.) Daniel Richards, b. abt 1653 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. aft 1712 prob. Lynn MA. He mar. abt. Nov 1699 the widow Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor in Lynn MA, 7 years after the Salem witchcraft hysteria. He helped raise her 6 children children by her 1st husband, John Proctor.
4.) Mary Richards, b. abt 1656 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. aft 1712 prob. Lynn MA. She mar. 22 Mar 1675/76 John Neck in Lynn MA. They had two children: William and Bathsheba.
5.) Deborah Richards, b. abt 1659 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. 24 Dec 1679, Lynn MA.
6.) Abigail Richards. b. abt 1661 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; d. aft 1712 prob. Lynn MA. She married a Mr. Case.
7.) William Richards, b. 7 Jun 1663 in Lynn, Essex Co. MA; res. Salem Village [Danvers] MA in 1700.
Sources: "The Register... of the Parish of St. Andrew's, Plymouth, County Devon" (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1954), p 188. His death is recorded in Vital Records of Lynn, II, 579,
Over the centuries, Edward's descendants spread throughout the United States, into Canada, back to England, and on to New Zealand. This website is a connection for sharing those family stories. Some of his descendants stayed in Essex County into the Civil War era, and later. They began as farmers, and became shipwrights, shoemakers, and businessmen, one serving as a state legislator.
By the 1730's great-grandchildren of Edward were settling in the newly opened lands of central Massachusetts, and by the 1820's their grandchildren were settling on bounty lands in the Berkshire Mountains.
Out of the Bay State
The descendants of Edward, Joseph and Rhoda (Howe) Richards, who were living in the Berkshires, migrated out of New England when several related families along the Hudson Valley joined the Latter-Day Saints. The family bonds created by sisters Rhoda (Howe) Richards and Nabby (Howe) Young were a prime cause for the cousins, Phinehas Richards and Brigham Young, to follow together on a quest for 'right religion', first settling their families at Kirtland OH, next in Far West MO, then Nauvoo IL, before persecution finally drove the survivors on to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1847.
The history of Samuel Whitney Richards' six families in Salt Lake is intimately tied to the growth and spread of the Mormon Church. A colorful branch, the Richards family in Wyoming, were shaped by their exile from Salt Lake, and their return to 'gentile' life on the American frontier.
The history of Samuel Whitney Richards' six families in Salt Lake is intimately tied to the growth and spread of the Mormon Church. A colorful branch, the Richards family in Wyoming, were shaped by their exile from Salt Lake, and their return to 'gentile' life on the American frontier.
