Greetings Elaine, John, Gary, et al! ;-) I have been in contact with many Richardson researchers over the years and, as you say, John seems to be the given name of choice for the majority of the Richardson lines on which we have exchanged information. However, I've found several Seth Richardson's in the 1850 and 1860 US Censuses. Through my Richardson contacts I have learned that my g,g grandfather Seth Richardson's father was Nathan Richardson, b. 1760 in Coventry, Tolland Co., CT. His siblings were: John, b. Nov. 16, 1756; William, b. July 22, 1784; and Rhoda, b. Dec. 31, 1785. I do not have any information on their father or mother One of my contacts has an extensive listing of descendants of the above John Richardson Nathan Richardson m. Elizabeth Powell. I have no further information on Nathan and Elizabeth's offspring except that of my g,g grandfather, Seth. Back in September of 2001 I found a website with the title "The History of the Richardson Family in America". It was at http://www.mindspring.com/~dcrichardson/hrfa.htm but I cannot find it anymore (note: I believe that Mindspring is now a part of Earthlink). But I did print out the 17 page report which gives a lot of information about the Richardson surname here in the USA. It is too long for this message (and may be copyrighted so I wouldn't be allowed to copy it anyways) but has some interesting facts which say that the name is so widely spread throughout the US that it would be nearly impossible to connect all of the Richardson lines. The author also says that he (she?) couldn't find any record of the name (here in the US) before 1630. The author mentions that the first encounter of this surname was Ezekiel Richardson who came to these shores in 1630 from Great Britain. His brothers Samuel and Thomas came in 1636. Wish that I could locate 'dcrichardson' to get his permission to make copies of this document so that I could send them to you. If any of you know who 'dcrichardson' is please let me know so that I may make contact. Tom

Tom, you'll soon discover that "dcrichardson" is an active participant of this very mailing list. I believe your reference work may be JA Vinton's Richardson Memorial, which details the 3 brothers you mention plus another John (of Medfield) which is my line, and at least one other Richardson. The Vinton works are available in book form as well as CD from numerous sources, including the person you're seeking. Not long ago, we had a discussion in these pages about "plugging" particular sources for documents, etc. Perhaps if you reviewed the archives, you'd find what you're looking for! Gary Richardson

At 02:29 PM 3/24/2005, you wrote: >Through my Richardson contacts I have learned that my g,g grandfather Seth >Richardson's father was Nathan Richardson, b. 1760 in Coventry, Tolland >Co., CT. His siblings were: John, b. Nov. 16, 1756; William, b. July 22, >1784; and Rhoda, b. Dec. 31, 1785. I do not have any information on their >father or mother > >One of my contacts has an extensive listing of descendants of the above >John Richardson > >Nathan Richardson m. Elizabeth Powell. I have no further information on >Nathan and Elizabeth's offspring except that of my g,g grandfather, Seth. Tom, Were these Seth Sr.'s siblings, or the siblings of Nathan--as I read your sentence, I interpret them to be Seth's? Let me get to my real question (the one I have been asking anyone and everyone discussing NE Richardsons of the late 18th/early 19th century): Does ANYONE have/know anything about a Betsey Richardson, b. July 1783. She married Joseph Jones, possibly in Wardsboro, VT; moved to Chautauqua, NY before early 1820s, probably with the move of the whole John Jones clan. Richardson may NOT have been her maiden name--could have been married to a Richardson before marrying Joseph Jones. So I am looking for Richardson widows as well. I notice that your Nathan was married to an Elizabeth Powell, but she would be too old for my "Betsey." Any and all help appreciated. Bob Robert W. Strong <><><>"Things are more like they are right now strong@ischool.utexas.edu<><><><>than they have ever been."