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Friday, November 12, 2021

52 Ancestors - Week 405: #628 Crispus Richards (1681-1763) of Lynn, Massachusetts

Crispus Richards (1681-1763is #628 on my Ahnentafel  List, my 7th great-grandfather, who marrie#629 Sarah Collins (1678-1757)  i1702 in Lynn, Essex County,  Massachusetts Bay Colony.

I am descended through:

* their son #314 Joseph Richards (1703-1748) who married #315 1726 Mary Bouden (1705-1755).
* their daughter #157 Mary Richards (1733-????). who did not marry #156 Isaac Buck (1732-????).
*  their son #78 Isaac Buck (1757-1846) married #79 Martha Phillips (1757-1830) in 1791.
* their daughter #39 Sophia Buck (1797-1882)married #38 Lambert Brigham (1794-1834)  in 1817.
* their daughter #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) married #18 Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) in 1852.
* their daughter #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) married #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) in 1874.
* their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) married #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
* their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 

*  Name:                              Crispus Richards[1–4]
*  Alternate Name:              Crispas Richards[5,7]

*  Sex:                                 Male

*  Father:                            John Richards 1644-1713
*  Mother:                          Mary Brewer 1653-1706

2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Birth:                             20 October 1681, Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States[1,3,5]

*  Will:                              10 April 1756 (age 74), will written; Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States[1,4]

*  Death:                           17 May 1763 (age 81), Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States[1,3,6]
*  Burial:                          after 17 May 1763 (after age 81) Pride of Lynn Cemetery, Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States[3]

*  Probate:                       11 July 1763 (age 81), will proved; Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States[1,4]

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Spouse 1:                      Sarah Collins 1678-1757
*  Marriage:                      21 December 1702 (age 21), Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States[1,7]

*  Child 1:                        Joseph Richards 1703-1748
*  Child 2:                        Esther Richards 1705-1805
*  Child 3:                        John Richards 1707-1758
*  Child 4:                        Sarah Richards 1709-    
*  Child 5:                        Hannah Richards 1711-1740
*  Child 6:                        Mary Richards 1713-1758
*  Child 7:                        Deborah Richards 1715-1756                        
   
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  

Winifred Lovering Holman's work, "Edward Richards of Lynn" in The Essex Genealogist provides a fairly complete review of the life and activities of Crispus Richards[1].

Crispus Richards was born 20 October 1681 in Lynn, Massachusetts, the son of John and Mary (Brewer) Richards of Lynn[1,3,5].

He married at age 21 Sarah Collins (1678-1757) on 21 December 1702 in Lynn[1,7].  She was the daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Silsbee) Collins.  Some genealogies say she is the widow of Joseph Elliot of Boston, and had four children by him before he died in 1702.

Crispus and Sarah (Collins) Richards had seven children, all born in Lynn but the births were not recorded in the town record books[1]:

*  Joseph Richards (1703-1748), married 1726 Mary Bouden (1705-1755).
*  Esther Richards (1705-1805), married 1723 Aaron Estey (1699-1783).
*  John Richards (1707-1758), married (1) 1733 Lydia Phillips (1714-1753); (2) 1756 Katherine Burchstead (1732-????).
*  Sarah Richards (1709-????), married 1734 Henry Ingalls (1701-1796).
*  Hannah Richards (1711-1740), married 1738 John Stocker (1713-1810).
*  Mary Richards (1713-1758)
*  Deborah Richards (1715-1756), married 1739 William Briggs (1715-1769).

The web site An American Family History[2] has information about some of the civic activities of Crispus Richards from the Town Meeting records of Lynn, including:
*  In Oct. 1713 Crispus was chosen Town Constable.  At the next town meeting in March 1713/14 he "Refused to serve & paid five pounds...and now sd Richards presented Joseph Jacobs to serve in his Roome...& sd Crispus Richards money Returned: sd Jacobs present & accepted."

*  In Nov 1715, "Crispas" Richards was appointed a fence viewer.
Upon his father's death in the winter of 1712/13, Crispus Richards received, at the age of 32, all his father's land because "he hath born the Burthen of my Work & Taken keare of Mee in all my long and Tedious Sickness & lameness for this Many Yeares past...."[1,3]

The Holman article provides information about the land dealings of Crispus Richards in Lynn[1].

The Town Records of Lynn contain several more items about the activities of Crispus Richards[2]:
*  "At the same meting october ye 8th 1722, Consideration Being had about a peace of Land that Chrispas Richards had Libery to fence in:"

*  "Whereas at ye Town Meeting May ye 16th 1722 the Town voted that Chrispas Richards should Pay six pound for ye Land hee complaining that it was moar than it was worth"

*  "Therefore the question Being asked wheither the Town would reconsider that Vot of six pound and wheither he should have the land for five pound and it Pased in the affermitive and that Chrispas Richars shall Pay to the selectmen for ye use of the town five Pounds for ye Land which is about one hundred pole."

*  "Receive of Chrispas Richards according to ye Town Vote five Pound January ye 22th 1722/23. "
At the town meeting of March 1, 1741/42:
*   "the body of the Town Complain they are in great want of Bulls being Kept in sd Bounderies as hath bin in years past that is to say from the Great Bridg so through the body of the Town & those near to it with the Newmans John farringtons eben Tarbox Isaac Latherbe Capt Collins Crispus Richards & so all within sd bounderys Except Squir burrill & the farmes beyond him: Therefore Voted that the Assessors shall at the time when they make the Town Rate assess Each person within sd Boundery at two shillings a Cow."[2]
Crispus Richards died at age 82 on 17 May 1763 in Lynn, Massachusetts[1,3,6].  He was buried in the Pride of Lynn Cemetery in Lynn[3], but no extant gravestone is available.

The will of Crispus Richards is included in Essex County (Massachusetts) Probate Court docket #23,539.  It was written on 10 April 1756, and proved by the Court at Salem on 11 July 1763.  The will reads[4]:
"In the Name of God Amen, The tenth day of April anno Domini 1756 I Crispus Richards of Lynn in the County of Essex in the Province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England yeoman, being decaying in body but of sound mind calling to Mind ye Mortality of body knowing it is appointed for all men once to die, do make & Ordain in this my last Will and Testament, that is to say principally and first of all I recommend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it, and my body I recommend to ye Earth to be buried in christian and decent Manner at the discretion of my Execetutor hereafter named and as touching my worldly Estate I give demise and dispose of as follows:  And my will is that all my just Debts and funeral Charges be duly and honestly paid by my Executor out of my Estate.

"Imprimis I give and bequeath to my beloved Wife Sarah all my indoor moveable estate to be at her own Disposal and also the Improvement of the one half of my real estate during.

"Item  I give and bequeath to yt several Children of my Son Joseph Richards dec-d (Viz) to William Richards, Joseph Richard, Mary Richards, Ebenezer Richards, Hannah Richards, Esther Richards, John Richards & Martha Richards to each of them the Sum of one Shilling lawfull Money to be paid by my Executor within two years after my decease & wifes and that to be their Portion out of my Estate having given their father his portion in his life Time.

"Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Esther Estess one pound six shillings and eight pence to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate within one year after my decease and wifes & that with what I have heretofore done for her to be her portion out of my Estate.

"Item  I give to my daughter Sarah Ingulls one pound six shillings & eight pence to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate within two years after I & my Wife shall decease & that with what I have already done for her to be her Portion out of my Estate.

"Item  I give & bequeath to my grand Daughter Thankfull Stocker one pound six shillings and eight pence to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate within two years after my & wifes decease & that to be her portion Out of my Estate.

"Item  I give & bequeath to my daughter Mary Richards ye Sum of four Pounds per year annually each and every year so long as she shall remain unmarried & in Case she marries then to have one Pound six shillings & eight pence to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate.

"Item  I give to my daughter Deborah Richards ten pounds to be paid by my Executor within one year after my decease & Wife's & that to be her portion out of my Estate with ye Priviledge of my west Chamber till married & no longer.

"Item I give devise & bequeath to my son John Richards (whom I likewise constitute make and ordain sole Executor of this my last Will & Testament) all & singular my Housing & Lands Messuages & Tenements in Lynn and elsewhere to him my sd son his heirs and Assigns forever & also all my outdoor moveable Estate of what Name & Nature soever to be to them & his Heirs forever and I do hereby ratify & Confirm this & no other to be my last Will & Testament.  In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal,

"Signed, sealed, published, pronounced & declared by the sd                    his
Crispus Richards as his last Will & Testament in                          Crispus  x  Richards
Presence of we ye Subscribers                                                                  Mark
William Collins, Theophilus Burrill & William Watts."
The will was presented to the Court at Salem on 11 July 1763, with Theophilus Burrill and William Watts making oath that they were present when Crispus Richards late of Lynn deceased signed, sealed, heard him publish and declare this to be his last will and testament, and that he was of sound disposing mind and memory to the best of their discerning and that they, together with William Collins, affixed their hands at the same time in his presence as witnesses.  The Executor appeared and accepted that trust.  The will was proved, approved and allowed by the Judge of Probate, the Honorable John Choate Esquire[4].

5.  SOURCES

1. Winifred Lovering Holman, "Edward Richards of Lynn", The Essex Genealogist, Volume 13, Number 1 (February 1993), pages 29-33, Crispus Richards sketch.

2. "Crispus Richards and Sarah Collins Eliot," An American Family History (https://www.anamericanfamilyhistory.com/Richards%20Family/RichardsCrispusSarah.html : accessed 11 November 2021).

3. Find A Grave, indexed database and digital image,  (http://www.findagrave.com), Pride of Lynn Cemetery, Lynn, Mass., Crispus Richards memorial #186257459.

4. Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881, Crispus Richards of Lynn 176; digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 23 February 2015); includes Will and court approval, 11 July 1763.

5. Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the end of the Year 1849 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1906), 2 Volumes, Births, page 351, Crispas Richards entry, 20 October 1681.

6. Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the end of the Year 1849, Deaths, page 579, Crispus Richards entry, 17 may 1763.

7. Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the end of the Year 1849, Marriages, page 326, Crispas Richards and Sarah Collins entry, 21 December 1702.

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NOTE: In 2014, Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog. I have extended this theme in 2021 for an eighth year to 416 Ancestors in 416 Weeks. The list of 52 Ancestors biographies from my great-grandparents to the 7th great-grandparents (in work) is in https://www.geneamusings.com/p/ancestor-biographies.html.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/11/52-ancestors-week-405-628-crispus.html

Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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