VIRGINIA
Edmund Hendley Richards Jr. was born the son of Edmund Hendley Richards Sr. and Sarah Ann Warren in Franklin County Virginia, just 6.4 miles south east of Rocky Mount [between Sydnorsville and Sontag], on his grandfather Edward Richards' plantation.

TO TENNESSEE
Following the death of family patriarch Edward Richards in 1812, Edmund Sr. packed up his family in spring 1814 for the 450 mile move through the Cumberland Gap into land being settled in Robertson County Tennessee [north of Nashville]. With him came his sister Charity Stewart & husband Charles, nephew Brice Stewart & family, sister Rhoda Warren & husband Jesse, nephew John Stewart & wife Agnes, brother-in-law Robert A. C. Jones & family, and several other aunts, uncles, and family friends. Once there they purchased land, built their homes, and farmed.

MARRIAGE, AND ON TO ILLINOIS
Edmund Jr., at age 23, married Nancy Jane Warner on March 22 1829 [his father's 46nd birthday] in Robertson Co TN. The very next spring they packed up their wagons and made the nearly 300 mile trek north into Macoupin County Illinois. Edmund Sr. and most of the same relatives--with many additions by now--joined in the move! They amazingly survived "The Winter of the Deep Snow" which tested the preparedness of every settler in Illinois. This was one of the most brutal winters ever recorded in Illinois. It is worth reading about in historical accounts. It must have been a shock after their time spent in milder Tennessee.

WORKING THE LAND
They settled in North Otter township, about 3.5 miles east of Modesto IL. They purchased land at $1.25 @ acre, Macoupin County having just been organized in 1829. They were among the earliest settlers in that area, and are noted in the book "A History of Macoupin County". The Richards, Stewart, Chapman, & Adcock's fields were adjacent to each other in a 12 square mile mass.

BLACKHAWK WAR
Edmund served [along with John Chapman who had married his sister, and Zachariah Stewart, a cousin] as a private in the 4th Regiment, 3rd Brigade, Sharp's Company during the Blackhawk War in 1831-32. A young lawyer, and future president; fought alongside Edmund and these men: Abraham Lincoln.

FAMILY
Edmund and wife Nancy had the following children:
1. Elizabeth W. (1828) TN
2. Lankston W. (1833) IL +Elizabeth Hays
3. Alfred P. (1836) IL +Sarah Ann Vance
4. Enoch Stewart (1840) IL +Eliza Ann Moore
5. Newton Asher (1843) IL +Luthie A. Sullivan
6. Edmund Hendley III (1849) IL +Nancy Adcock

Wife Nancy Jane passed away in 1852 at the age of 47. Edmund married Maria Bush Goode in January of 1853, the daughter of Thomas Bush and Sarah Swift. Maria was born in 1820 in Nashville Tennessee. She had been married to John Wesley Goode, with whom she had at least one daughter, Martha Maria Goode [1845], who married John Brooks Corwine.

Edmund and Maria had these three daughters together:
7. Nancy Jane (1854) IL +Edward Headley
8. Sarah M. (1858) IL +Louis Caswell
9. Frances "Fannie" (1858) IL +Thomas McMahon

1860 census Macoupin Co IL
Edmond H Richards M 53 Va
Maria Richards F 41 Tenn
Enoc Richards M 20 Ill
Newton Richards M 17 Ill
Henry Richards M 11 Ill
Nancy J Richards F 6 Ill
Sarah M Richards F 4 Ill
Fannie Richards F 1 Ill
Galen M Good M 18 Ill
Martha Good F 16 Ill
Eliza Richards F 18 Ind

Edmund went on to live until 1874, passing on at age 68. He lived to see many grandchildren.

HGR---a grateful descendant.

LINEAGE:
Edmund Hendley Richards Sr. [1783] Franklin Co VA/TN/IL
Edward Richards [1731] MD/old Lunenburg/Franklin Co VA
Benjamin Richards [1710] MD/old Lunenburg/Franklin Co VA
Edward Richards [1678] Manchester, Lancashire England/MD