| Notes |
- CFB went to E. Bethel, VT in the mid 80's. JLBW went to Royalton, VT, in the late 80's.
CFB... Robert Hydes of E. Bethel has cemetary records and the plot of East Bethel Cemetary. Godfrey, Anna and Patty are all buried there. Mary Perrin (CFB talked with her) lives across from Godfrey's house in E. Bethel.
Godfrey Richardson was a private in Capt. William Upham's Company, and served for two days starting on October 17, 1780. They responded to the Indian raid at Royalton. He received pay for 2 days service, traveling 21 miles. It was paid from the Treasurer's Office in Charlestown.
Letter from Sarah A. Richardson Lindsey (daughter of Israel Richardson, b. 1783) to Alice Richardson Benham in 1901.
(Letter starts with information about Abiel Richardson.)
"My grandfather's name was Godfrey Richardson, he was a Colonel in the Revolutionary war and lived at Royalton and East Bethel, Vermont. He died in 1856, aged ninety-four years. His children were Eunice, H? Israel (my father) Abigail, Abiel, Godfrey, Ira, Converse, Anna, Timothy. Grandmother died many years before.
Abiel settled in DeKalb Center, DeKalb county, Illinois, and I wrote him at the time of my father's death, December 18, 1859, and got a reply telling about his family. I have the letter saved but do not remember about them. Godfrey settled in Defiance, Ohio. Converse andTimothy lived with a rich uncle in New Brunswick. I think all of my aunts died early. I know two did."
(Letter continues with information about Israel Richardson)
Bibliography:
Application for DAR membership of Bertha Kingsley Richardson, March 8, 1910. DAR National number 79330. (for information on Timothy Richardson.)
Application for DAR membership of Helen Martha Palmer Buckley, Feb 26, 1930. DAR National number 227592-233. (for information on Anna Richardson.)
Goodrich, John E., comp. & ed. State of Vermont. Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783. Rutland, VT, Tuttle & Co. 1904.
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1790 Census. Windsor County, Royalton Town
Richardson, Godfrey
1 white male 16+ incl head of household (Godfrey, 31)
2 free white males under 16 (2 sons, Israel and Abiel ?)
3 free white females (Anna and ?)
0 other
Richardson, Jesse
1 male 16+ incl head of household
2 free white males under 16
3 free white females
0 other
Richardson, Sanford
1 male 16+
1 male under 16
2 females
0 other
1800 Census. Royalton, Windsor Co., VT
Richardson, Godfrey
3 males under 10 (Godfrey, Ira, and Converse)
1 male 10 - 16 (Abiel. Israel married in March of 1800)
1 male 26 - 46 (Godfrey would be 41 years old)
1 female under 10 (Abigail or Anna)
1 female 10 - 16
1 female 16 - 26 (daughters Eunice and ?)
1 female 26 - 45 (Anna about 37 years old)
1810 Census. Royalton, Windsor Co., Vt., p 551
Godfrey Richardson
1 male under 10 (Timothy)
1 male 10 - 16 (Godfrey or Ira)
1 male 16 - 26 (Converse)
1 male 45 and over (Godfrey, 51)
1 female 10 - 16 (Abigail)
1 female 45 and over (Anna about 47)
Two daughters may have died young. Both Godfrey, 10, and Ira, 13, were between 10 and 16. One may have been somewhere else.
1820 Census. Royalton, Windsor Co., Vt., page 181 M33-128, Image 226
Richardson, Godfrey
4 males under 10
2 males 16-26 (Timothy, Godfrey , Ira)
1 male 45 and over (Godfrey, 61)
1 female 26 - 45
1 female 45 and over (Anna, 57, d. 1825)
Three engaged in agriculture.
Another young family may be living with Godfrey and Anna.
1830 Census. Braintree Twp., Orange Co., Vt. page 138.
Richardson, Godfrey
1 male 70 - 80 (Godfrey, 71)
1 female 5 - 10
1 female 40 - 50 (Patty 29)
1840 Census. Bethel, Windsor Co., Vt., page 362.
Richardson, Godfrey
2 males 20 - 30
1 male 80 - 90 (Godfrey, 81)
1 female 15 - 20
1 female 40 - 50 (Patty 39)
1850 Census. Bethel, Windsor Co., Vt., page 183
Godfrey Richardson 91 m laborer $2,500 Mass.
Patty 49 f Vt.
Philander House 25 m manufacturer NY
Althera " 25 f Vt.
Harvey " 1 m Vt.
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Godfrey Richardson
by Judith L. Benham Weinstein
On October 16, 1780, an alarm spread among the settlements of the Connecticut Valley in Vermont and New Hampshire the Royalton, Vermont, had been attacked by a band of Indians and British that morning. During the day militia men from throughout the area gathered their weapons and ammunition, formed into units and traveled to Randolph, Vermont. Col. John House of Hanover, New Hampshire, was chosen to be commander. One of the privates was Godfrey Richardson, then about twenty years old. The militia, composed of about three hundred men, began its march around midnight, hoping to catch up with the band of Indians by daylight. Instead, they almost immediately stumbled upon the Indian's rear guard. Shots were exchanged, but, probably because he feared reprisals against the prisoners, Col. House ordered the firing and chase to stop. As they had threatened to do if attacked, the Indians killed two of their prisoners before escaping, but in their haste, left most of their plunder behind. At daylight the militia realized the enemy was gone. They pursued them as far as Brookfield, Vermont, but not finding them, disbanded. The militia men returned to their homes. (1) Godfrey Richardson had served for two days, traveling twenty-one miles, and a year later received nine shillings eight pence for his service. (2)
Godfrey Richardson was born in Little Cambridge, later called Brighton, Massachusetts, on September 13, 1759. His father died in November of 1765, when Godfrey was about six years old. By the beginning of the Revolution he was living in Rindge, NH, and almost immediately responded to the battle at Lexington and Concord. On April 19, 1775, a force of British troops marching from Boston was attacked at Lexington and Concord. The British retreated back to Boston, harassed by Americans along the way. In response men from all over New England converged on the towns around Boston. The New Hampshire convention of delegates met on April 21, and supported Massachusetts by appointing officers and providing supplies to the New Hampshire men who had congregated near Boston to support the uprising and prevent the British forces from marching out of Boston again.
"The total number of Americans then encamped around Boston may have slightly exceeded that number (4, 000 British troops). There were no professional soldiers among them. They were volunteers in the strictest sense of that word, and brought with them their muskets, which were of different calibers and hence not adapted to the use of prepared cartridges. Some of them were not organized in any formal way, but generally they were in companies and regiments. There were no brigades or divisions. They wore no prescribed uniforms, and few, if any, of the soldiers had them. There was no recognized flag, and it is not probable that any flag floated over either the redoubt or the rail fence during the battle." (3)
On April 30, 1775, at the age of seventeen, Godfrey Richardson enlisted for eight months in the Seventh Company, New Hampshire Continental Line, commanded by Col. James Reed and made up of men mostly from Rindge and Jaffrey, NH. In his second wife's obituary, the story is told that he enlisted with a neighbor boy, Nathaniel Draper, "keeping the fact a secret from his father for fear of being forbidden if known." (4) His unit trained for almost two months at Medford, Mass. On the night of June 16, 1775, he and Nathaniel Draper helped build the redoubts on Breed's Hill (5) The next day, promising each other they would not run away they fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. They held this redoubt against two attacks, and long enough in the third so that the Americans on Breed's Hill, out of ammunition, could retreat before the advancing British, and escape to Charlestown. (6)
After the battle he was stationed in Winter Hill in Charlestown where fortifications had been raised. When he had completed his term of enlistment in December, 1775, he was dismissed at Charlestown. He immediately reenlisted for two months to serve as a substitute for a Thomas Henderson in the same regiment (Col. Reed's). In June, 1776, he enlisted as a private again, this time in the Massachusetts militia, enlisting at Medford (then called Mystic) for six months. Under Captain Warren from Little Cambridge, he marched to Ticonderoga or Crown Point, NY. He was stationed on Mount Independence and helped mount 40 cannon for the defense of Ticonderoga. In testimony for his pension, he named W. Wheeler, M. Goddard and Moses Richardson as men who were with him at that time.
Two years later in 1778 he again enlisted from Rindge, NH. His company went to Rhode Island to join the Sullivan Expedition. "I was appointed surgeon's Mate in Said Hale's Regiment and acted as such while I continued in service which was two months or more. There were 3 (?) Regiments Called from N.H. and when we arrived it was expected we should soon take the British but by delay the plan was defeated and we (?) to retreat off the north part of the Island where we were soon dismissed. (7)
After his service in the war, he was on the staff of his uncle, who was a surgeon in Providence. (8) Then he moved to Weathersfield in southeastern Vermont and in 1780 he was living in the Connecticut Valley and responded to the militia call-up after the raid on Royalton. In early 1781 he married Anna Burlingame (b. 1763), then about 18 years old. In the spring of 1781 (9) they moved from Windsor, Vermont, to Royalton, about fifteen miles to the northwest. What might have attracted them to Royalton? Perhaps it was the prosperity of the town and vitality of its inhabitants that drew Godfrey Richardson and his new wife there.
Royalton was founded in 1771 by five households. At that time it was on the frontier, and from 1776-1780 the settlers were protected by a fort commissioned to be built by the New Hampshire Legislature. But the frontier moved north and in the summer 1780 the fort was dismantled and moved to Bethel, becoming Fort Fortitude. (10) By 1780 the thick forests around the settlement had been pushed back to make homesteads for at least twenty-eight families, the number of houses burned in the raid. The rich farmland was well-watered by several branches of the White River, which also supplied power for its mills and transportation to the Connecticut River. Then devastation struck. On October 15, 1780, the raiding party encamped near the settlement to observe the people and their movements. Then in the early morning of the 16th the Indians split into several bands and attacked the farms just as the settlers were beginning their day. During the raid thirty-two men and boys were taken prisoner to Canada, four men were killed, twenty-eight houses burned and all the sheep, cattle and pigs were killed, according to a report by the British commander in chare of the raid, Lieutenant Richard Houghton .(11) The winter was hard for the survivors. The majority remained, and were supported by assistance and provisions from other towns. Temporary houses were built and a community effort rebuilt the saw mill.
In spite of this setback, the town regained its vigor and prosperity. The prisoners, except one who died in Canada, were exchanged and most returned to Royalton. By 1791 ninety-seven family names were on the Grand List for taxation. The town continued to grow and by 1797 one hundred and forty houses were listed. (12) In the years immediately after the raid the town raided money by taxation, subscription, and lottery to build a house for the Congregational minister, to lay out roads, and to build bridges and a meeting house.
To quote the biographical sketch from Lovejoy, (13) "Godfrey removed to Royalton in the spring or 1781, and settled on the Fowler-Benson farm, 32 T.P., near E. Bethel. His first house was of logs, fourteen feet square, located near the Second Branch, opposite the present Dearing house. The train up the branch then ran on the west side, and access to his house was by a ford. He brought his wife and household goods from Windsor on horseback. In making the ford to reach his house, his wife with the household goods was nearly swept away, as the stream was swollen with heavy rains. As illustrative of her courage, it is told that once when her husband was away, hearing a commotion among the pigs, she went out to investigate, and found a bear, which she drove away with a fire brand. Mr. Richardson cleared this land where he settled. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, judgment, and executive ability. He erected a good house and other buildings, about halfway from the present buildings to the branch." His second wife's obituary says, "He picked out his farm and returned to Weathersfield for his bride... He build a log cabin ten by twelve feet, as that was the length of his boards." (14)
Godfrey Richard seems to have settled into the life of a farmer. In addition, he is mentioned as having been appointed as the surveyor for the seventh highway district (of eight) in Royalton by the town selectmen on June 25, 1782. His job was to layout, extend and repair the roads in his district. (15)
Sometime between 1801 and 1806 he was one of forty-one people in Royalton who asked to be excused from supporting the majority, Congregational, church. His reason was that he was a communicant of the Church of England. (16) In 1832 on of the people who supported his claim for a pension was Asahel C. Washburn, a clergyman. The other was Oel Billings, who had represented the town in the General Assembly in 1825.
Beginning in 1783 the first of Godfrey and Anna's eight children were born. They were:
1. Israel (m) b. June 19, 1783, Royalton
2. Abial (m) b. May 20, 1785, Royalton
3. Converse (m), took freedman's oath in 1815
4. Abigail (f), may have married Ezra Gould of Bethel, June 3, 1810. She was called Abigail Durfee at the time of her father's death.
5 Ira (m), took freeman's oath in 1818
6. Anna (f), married Orlan Palmer of Bethel, December 14, 1817.
7. Godfrey (m)
8. Timothy (m), took freeman's oath in 1822 (17).
Our family records list Godfrey Ira as one son and list a daughter, Eunice. It also says that two daughters died young, and that Converse and Timothy lived with a rich uncle in New Brunswick, Canada. We are descendants of Israel Eustace Richardson, their first child.
On February 1, 1825, Anna Burlingame Richardson, aged 62 years, died. Seven years later, April 8, 1832, Godfrey senior married Patty (or Martha) Flint Vinton (b. 1801), the widow of Samuel Vinton, who had died in 1826. They were married in Braintree, Orange County, Vermont, northwest of Royalton, by Gurdon Randall, a Justice of the Peace from Northfield, Vermont. (18) She was 31 years old and he was 73.
Royalton was very proud of two eminent visitors who went there in the early years. On July 23, 1817, President James Monroe passed through Royalton on a trip he made to acquaint himself with the country. They were especially proud of a visit by General Lafayette. In 1825 he made a tour of the country he had helped liberate. States and towns vied with one another to be able to honor this highly esteemed national hero. On June 28, 1825, he passed through Royalton on his way from Windsor to Montpelier. He rode with the governor in an open barouche pulled by six white horses. He was met two miles outside of town by the Turnbridge Cavalry. As the procession entered Royalton, it was met with a salvo fired by the Royalton Revolutionary patriots, men who had fought in the Revolutionary War. In front of Col. Smith's hotel, he was given a formal welcome. Afterwards he was introduced to each of about twenty Revolutionary soldiers. It is doubtful if Godfrey Richardson would have passed up such an honor.
Godfrey Richardson applied for, and on October 11, 1833, began to receive a pension of $55.33 per year for his Revolutionary War service. Pension laws had been passed starting in 1776. They initially restricted eligibility, but gradually became more inclusive. Godfrey Richardson applied under the law passed by Congress on June 7, 1832, which allowed pensions to those who served in the Continental Line, or state troops, volunteers or militia. After his death, his widow continued to receive a pension until her death in 1895.
He and his wife left the farm and moved to East Bethel, Vermont, in 1836, where they lived with his wife's daughter, Philander Chase House. (19)
Godfrey Richardson lived to be ninety-four years old. "When he was ninety years old he was present at a public gathering, and supported on either side he made a speech." (20) He died on April 1, 1854, in East Bethel, Vermont. Patty Richardson died on December 28, 1895, at the age of ninety-four. "Patty retained here bodily and mental powers to a remarkable degree. At the time of her death she was the oldest living person in Bethel." (21). Both were buried in East Bethel.
References
1. Lovejoy, Evelyn M. Wood. History of Royalton, Vermont with Family Genealogies 1769 - 1911. Published by the Town and the Royalton Woman's Club. 2 vols. Burlington, Vermont, Free Press Printing Co. 1911. pg 136 - 137
2. Goodrich, John E., Comp. and ed. The State of Vermont. Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775 - 1783. Rutland, Vt., Tuttle & Co., 1904. pg. 278 - 279
3. Baker, Henry Moore. New Hampshire at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Hampton, N.H., Peter E. Randall, Publisher, 1973, pg. 5.
4. "Death of Aunt Patty Richardson". Mirror and Farmer (Bethel, Vermont), December 28, 1895.
5. Ibid.
6. Baker, pg. 10 - 11.
7. Pension Claim #W26370 of Godfrey Richardson, filed August 24, 1832.
8. "Death of Aunt Patty Richardson". op.cit.
9. In his pension claim he said he had moved to Royalton "about the year 1782."
10. Lovejoy, pg. 88 - 95.
11. Lovejoy, pg. 140 - 141.
12. Lovejoy, pg. 531 - 533.
13. Lovejoy, pg. 922.
14. "Death of Aunt Patty Richardson."
15. Lovejoy, pg. 246.
16. Note: In 1783 the Vermont Legislature passed the Ministerial Act, which enabled towns to tax citizens in order to erect a church and pay a minister. These taxes supported the church of the majority. Later it was amended to allow non-support to any taxpayer who brought a certificate from specified persons stating that the bearer belonged to a different persuasion from the one to which the majority belonged. Later the person only had to say he didn't agree with the majority to be excused. Lovejoy, pf. 221- 222.
17. Lovejoy, pg. 922.
18. Randell, Gurdon. Account Book. Gurdon Randell Papers in the manuscript collecton of the Burton Historical Collection. Detroit Public Library, Detroit, MI.
19. Lovejoy, pg. 921 - 922.
20. Lovejoy, pg 921.
21. Lovejoy, pg. 922.
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1759 - 1854 (94 years)
