Richard Rich (abt. 1674 - 1743)

Born about 1674 in Dover Point, Province of New Hampshire

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 5 May 1743 at about age 69 in Truro, Barnstable County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Richard was probably born at Dover Point, Province of New Hampshire, in 1674, the son of Richard Rich and Sally Roberts.^[1] He married Anne ____, by 1695,^[2] who died 11 May 1753, in her 78th year.^[1] (Please review the Disputed Spouse section below.)

Richard Rich, (son of Richard Rich late of Eastham deceased) made oath to the inventory of his father's estate in Barnstable County Probate Court on 19 October 1692. Administration was granted to the son and Mr. Isaac Pepper. The inventory, taken 05 October 1692, was valued at £210 and included a dwelling house, land and meadow at £80.^[3]

The settlement of his father's estate, dated 8 April 1697, showed debt payments of £60, with a residue of £152 to be divided equally among his children, but with the eldest son Richard to have a double share. The settlement named Richard, John, Sarah, Thomas, Samuel and Lydia Rich. The housing and land were to go to Richard, he then paying to his siblings their portions. ^[4]

Richard died, probably in Truro, on 5 May 1743, in his 69th year.^[1] He and his wife were buried in the Old Churchyard in Truro^[5] where their gravestones still stand. A photograph of his gravestone can be viewed at Findagrave.com Memorial #45072510. The original gravestones, when legible in the late 1800s, once read:^[6]

Here lies buried the body of Mr. Richard Rich, who died May ye 3d, 1743, in ye 69th year of his age.

Here lies the body of Mrs. Anna Rich, wife to Mr. Richard Rich, who died May ye 11, 1754. Æt. 74.

Children of Richard & Anna Rich from their family record:^[7]

1. Sarah, born 22 Jan 1695/6
2. Richard, born 28 Feb 1698/9
3. Rebecca, born 15 June 1701
4. Zaccheus, born 02 April 1704
5. Obadiah, born 15 July 1707
6. Priscilla, born 05 Feb 1709/10; died July 1716
7. Huldah, born July 1712
8. Joseph, born 05 Oct 1715
9. Sylvanus, born 04 Sept 1720

Disputed Spouse

Anne's surname is unknown, but there is a "strong feeling" among some of their descendants that she was Anne Mulford, born in 1676, the daughter of Thomas Mulford, Sr. Records do not confirm this, nor do they give the marriage of the Anne Mulford who was born in 1676 to anyone. The will of Thomas Mulford, dated 12 Jan 1706, does not refer to his daughter Ann, although all his other children are carefully given. Such an omission leads one to think that she was not living at that time.

Another "belief," equally tenacious, existed in the Eaton family of Brighton, Mass., to the effect that she was Anne Thatcher of Yarmouth, Mass., born 31 Oct 1674/5. This theory also lacks proof."^[8]

U.S. and International Marriage Records, states that Richard Rich married Anne Mulford. This index is a compendium of good and bad sources. This particular item was taken from two "Pedigree Charts"^[9]

Another more reliable compendium, Torrey's New England Marriages state that Richard Rich married Ann/Anna/Ann ______.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Evelyn Rich, Richard Rich of Eastham on Cape Cod and some of his Descendants, {link via subscription to AmericanAncestors.org} NEHGR (Jul 1929) Vol. 83:262-3.
2. ↑ Orleans & Eastham Records 1637-1853, p. 320, Richard & Anne Rich family record
3. ↑ Barnstable County Probate Records, Vol. 1:67-68.
4. ↑ Barnstable County Probate Records, Vol. 2:44-45
5. ↑ Source: #S1624 Vol. p. 556
6. ↑ Shebnah Rich, Truro -- Cape Cod, or Land Marks and Sea Marks (Boston, MA: D. Lothrop & Co., 883), p. 556.
7. ↑ Births, marriages, deaths, 1649-ca.1840; intentions of marriage, 1700-ca.1905, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-9F3J : 27 September 2022), FHL microfilm 007009735, image 115, Eastham, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Births, & Deaths, 1654-1797, Page 22.
8. ↑ Evelyn Rich, "Richard Rich of Eastham on Cape Cod and some of his Descendants," NEHGR (Jul 1929), Vol. 83:263.
9. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
10. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Com, 1985.

See also:

• Rich, George, Early Rich History and Ancestry of Jonathan Rich, Jr., Ft. Covington, N. Y., (1922). Citing: Jonathan Rich - Page 17
• Library of Cape Cod History #32, p. 19, "Richard Rich".