1910. Capt. Edward RICHMOND
(958)
(386) was born about 1632 in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England.
(386) He died in Nov 1696 in Little Compton, Newport, RI. "He
first appears in the records in 1657. Among the papers that the Old Colony Historical
Society sent was a letter dated 1930 from 'M.P.C.' to 'Dear Cousin: Have just
a minute -- have no Turner news, but ran across something in some Providence,
R.I. general court records that was interesting to me....Edward Richmond and
Abigail Davis were in trouble. It seems that Abigail's mother and stepfather,
John Cowdall (or some such name) m. Abigail off to someone against her will--she
being in love with Edward Richmond. She ran off from her husband and she and
Edward consulted Obadiah Holmes [a minister at Newport]. Obadiah told them not
to worry, that everything would work out all right, but that they should not
marry immediately, as they desired to do. Evidently, Obadiah was going to try
to get Abigail's first m. annulled, so that she would not be committing bigamy.
However, just then Obadiah went off on one of his trips and Edward and Abigail
started living together unm. and presently had a child. They were brought up
before the court and there was a dreadful time, but finally things were straightened
out, Abigail's m. was annulled and she was duly m. to Edward.' A colonial period
soap opera?! ... In 1656 baby Abigail was born to Edward and Abigail, and
then seven more children, including our Esther in 1669. By then Edward was doing
very well. He was obviously well educated, because in 1667, 69, 70 and 72 he
was General Solicitor, and from 1677 through 1680 he was Attorney General. He
resided at Newport, had the legacy of 40 acres from his father as well as a share
of land appointed to him in Westerly, and in 1677 he and 47 others were granted
5000 acres to be called East Greenwich (this was on the mainland south of Providence,
RI). In 1676 it was voted by the Assembly 'that Lieutenant Edward Richmond,
with his company, shall be allowed and have the one-half of the produce of the
seven Indians they brought in.' By an act of the Assembly certain Indian men
and women able for service were to be sold for nine years. That same year he
was clerk of a court martial that was held for the trial of four Indians, who
according to the sentence of the court were executed. This was the time of King
Philip's War. In January 1680 he took the oath of fidelity at Little Compton,
where he must have moved. Five times between 1683 and 1690 he was Selectman
and in 1686 he was Deputy. He was made lieutenant (probably of a different company)
4 June 1686 and on the same day he was fined £5 for furnishing an Indian
with strong liquor. In 1690 he was made Captain. Edward and his second wife
Amy Bull joined in a deed in 1685, so Abigail must have died before then. Edward
died in November 1696. His estate amounted to £326 6s. and was divided
among his children, including Thomas Burgess whom Esther had married in 1691.
Esther died 12 Nov 1706 and when Thomas Burgess died he left to his son Edward
Burgess his desk 'called father Richmond's desk.' One more interesting and
unusual 'fact' about Edward Richmond is that, according to testimony given by
his eldest child Abigail in 1738 when she was in her eighty-second year, he was
a member of the Church of England." (Hubbard)
Mary S. Van Deusen in an e-mail dated 27 Jun 1999 adds the following to this
interesting, but complicated, story: "Edward is a lawyer, 24 years old and
in love with Abigail. He first sues everybody for trespassing on his property,
Abigail. That doesn't work. He next tries Breach of Contract and that works.
They dissolve Abigail's marriage to Ussell, but can't agree on any financial
payment to go with it. A year later, Edward, Abigail and their baby are back
in court accused of fornication. The baby makes it a bit obvious. They plead
guilty, pay a fine rather than have any public humiliation. Then Edward suggests
that they'll avoid a lot of temptation in the future if the court will let them
marry. So the court does! Later, Edward is General Solicitor of the Newport
Courts. He brings in his mother-in-law, now the Widow Ussell, on fornication
charges. She's found guilty and sentenced to be stript to the waist and bound
to the "great gunn" for a quarter hour. He tries again a year later
with another man but she gets off. Later, he goes after John Remington for fornication
with Edward's daughter, referred to as Abigail Richmond (alias Remington). John
wins. Based on reading those court records, I think fornicating was ALL they
were doing in Newport back then."
He was married to Abigail DAVIS about 1657.
1911.
Abigail DAVIS
(959) died after 1672 in Little Compton, Newport, RI. She was born
1635 ?. "Austin gives the following: '1657, May 20. The petition of Abigail
Davis, daughter-in-law (i.e. stepdaughter) of John Cowdall, having been read
by a committee of the Assembly, it was shown that her marriage with Richard Ussell,
was for fear of being forced to it by her father and mother, and later in the
same year the said marriage was declared an unlawful one by the Assembly. She
was thus enabled to marry Edward Richmond, whom she had declared in her petition
to be her choice.' A check of Savage showed no listing for Ussell, but under
Cowdall he said that John married Mary Davis in 1655 and that she was the widow
of William Davis, of Boston. But Savage also says that Abigail died at the age
of four. Richmond says it was James Davis who must be Abigail's father since
his name is among those forming 'the body politick' of Portsmouth April 30, 1639,
and in the list of the inhabitants of Acqednic Island dated Sep. 1, 1640. Apparently
there were no other Davises in the area except Nicholas, who lived till 1671."
(Bonnie Hubbard)
Children were:
i.
Abigail RICHMOND(386) was born in
1656.
ii.
Edward RICHMOND(386) was born in
1658.
iii.
Elizabeth RICHMOND(386) was born
on 6 Dec 1665.
955 iv.
Esther RICHMOND.
v.
Sylvester RICHMOND(386) was born
in 1672.
vi.
John RICHMOND(386).
vii.
Mary RICHMOND(386).
viii.
Sarah RICHMOND(386).
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