NOTE:  I NEED THIS QUESTION ANSWERED WITHIN 48 HRS. OR NOT AT ALL.

I am trying to determine if there is common ancestry between two
colonial Massachusetts family lines of people named "Richardson":

The first family line is descended from Thomas Richardson b 1609 in
Suffolk England, d 1651 in Woburn, MA.  Information about this family
has been published in "The Richardson Memorial" by John Adams Vinton.

The second family line includes (1) John Richardson b 1771 d 1835 and
his wife, (2) Hanah Bemis Richardson, as well as a (3) Judge Chandler
that was related to them through a family named Blake.  All three
people lived in Massachusetts and Judge Chandler's portrait hangs in
the Wooster, MA art museum.  I believe that their genealogy might also
be traced in "The Richardson Memorial" and may be included in the
"Richardson-Blake Genealogy" that can be found in the Archives of the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin (http://arcat.library.wisc.edu).

I can not gain access to the references noted herein within my 48 hr.
deadline.

So, my question is:  "Were the three people of the second family line
related to Thomas Richardson (of the first family line), either by
descent or common ancestry?"  Please specify the relationships and
your source(s) of information.

Hello laker-ga,

John Richardson, husband of Hannah Bemis Richardson, was a direct
descendant not from the Thomas Richardson you mention, but from the
father of Thomas Richardson, also named Thomas.

As it happens, there is a great deal of information on the Internet
about the family members in the earlier generations, both due to their
association with Woburn and due to their many descendants.  The elder
Thomas Richardson was born in 1565 in Westmill, Hertfordshire,
England, and died in 1633, also in Westmill.  One of his sons was
Thomas Richardson, who was born July 3, 1608 in Westmill (all the
sources I've seen say 1608, rather than 1609), and who died August 28,
1651 in Woburn.  (He appears to be the only Thomas Richardson to have
died in 1651 in Woburn, as confirmed by a search on FamilySearch for
persons with that name who died around 1651.)  Another son was Ezekiel
Richardson, whose birth date (again in Westmill) is uncertain --
perhaps 1602 -- and who died on October 21, 1647 in Woburn.  The
brothers, along with a third brother Samuel, are considered to be the
founders of Woburn.

The generations from Ezekiel Richardson down to John Richardson
proceed as follows:

Ezekiel, father of Theophilus (1633-1674)
Theophilus, father of Ezekiel (listed as Ezekial in FamilySearch)
(1655-1734)
Ezekiel (listed as Ezekial in FamilySearch), father of Theophilus
(1691-1723)
Theophilus, father of Edward (1715-1797)
and finally
Edward, father of John, born July 16, 1758, Watertown, Massachusetts,
died 1837, Newton, Massachusetts

Now you might note that the dates for John are different than the ones
you provided in the question.  However, this John was married to
Hannah Bemis (on December 29, 1801), who in turn does have the dates
of birth and death that you indicated in the question: born August 23,
1771, Watertown, Massachusetts, died 1835.  So presumably, somewhere
along the way, John's dates of birth and death got confused with
Hannah's.  (Also perhaps worth noting: John was previously married (on
March 7, 1790) to Hannah's sister Anna, born September 3, 1764, died
1794.)

If you search on Familysearch.org for a John Richardson who married
someone named Bemis – and, from what I can tell, if you search on the
Internet for marriages between a John Richardson and someone named
Bemis around that time -- this is the only candidate.

Thus, I feel confident that this is the correct John Richardson, and
that he is thus related to the Thomas Richardson you mentioned.  This
Thomas Richardson was the brother of John Richardson's
great-great-great grandfather.

Since you already know that Hannah Bemis Richardson was married to
John Richardson, and are quite definite in your question that Judge
Chandler was related to them through a family named Blake, you now
know that Hannah Bemis (by marriage) and Judge Chandler (through the
Blake family) are related to Thomas Richardson as well.

Please let me know if anything needs clarification.

- justaskscott-ga


Here are all of the pages I consulted in writing this answer:

[The first several pages are from FamilySearch:]

"John Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid=700106394761

"John Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201760

"Hannah Bemis"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid=700106394677

"Edward Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201615

"Theophilus Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201751

"Ezekial Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201843

"Theophilus Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201836

"Ezekial Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201827

"Thomas Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=100201822

"Thomas Richardson"
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/AF/individual_record.asp?recid=11105839

"Family of Jonathan Bemis (2210) & Anna Livermore (6568)" [scroll to
entry 4271]
Massachusetts Bay Colony, Genealogy, by David Pane-Joyce (updated Apr
2002)
http://babbage.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/bay/rr02/rr02_283.html

"Ezekiel Richardson" (derived from The Richardson Memorial by John
Vinton, 1876 Brown Thurston & Co., Portland, Maine)
New England Genealogy [by Frank Shaw]
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1094/richez.htm

"The Richardson Brothers of Woburn, Mass: Ezekiel, Thomas, and Samuel"
Our Heritage - Our Genealogy - Other Stuff [by Norris Taylor et al.]
http://members.tripod.com/~ntgen/bw/erbio.html

"Thomas Richardson"
Smoky Mountain Ancestral Quest [by David L. Beckwith]
http://www.smokykin.com/ged/f000/f93/a0009354.htm

"Ezekiel Richardson"
Smoky Mountain Ancestral Quest [by David L. Beckwith]
http://www.smokykin.com/ged/f000/f93/a0009391.htm


Search strategy:

Searched on FamilySearch for a John Richardson who was married to
someone named Bemis at the right time period, and traced back from
there.  I also searched for records for the younger Thomas Richardson
and for Hannah Bemis.

Searched on Google for:

"john richardson" bemis
"richardson john" bemis
"thomas richardson" woburn 1651
"richardson memorial" ezekiel
ezekiel richardson woburn
thomas richardson woburn

[I tried other search terms as well, but these were sufficient to find
what I needed.]

---

Request for Answer Clarification by laker-ga on 11 Dec 2002 10:03 PST

Thank you very much for your speedy and thorough answer.  You are much
more proficient with FamilySearch.org than I.  If possible could you
let me know if the following individual was also descended from one of
these Richardson lines?

George Reid Richardson
B 12/13/1879 Midland, Michigan
D 02/17/1937 North Tonawanda, New York

---

Request for Answer Clarification by laker-ga on 11 Dec 2002 10:08 PST

Hi Scott:

Thank you very much for your speedy and thorough answer.  You are much
more proficient with FamilySearch.org than I.  If possible could you
let me know if the following individual was also descended from one of
these Richardson lines?

George Reid Richardson
B 12/13/1879 Midland, Michigan
D 02/17/1937 Probably North Tonawanda, New York

He was the son of Israel Harris Reid and Edith (Turner) Richardson
(Presumably Israel's last name was Richardson too).  His wife's name
was Ethel, but I don't have any more information about her.

Thanks, John

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 11 Dec 2002 12:00 PST

I have found four pieces of relevant information, but none indicates
who the ancestors of Israel Richardson were:

"Midland County Obituary Index, 1928-1950, Midland, Michigan"
(copyright (c) 2000 by Midland Genealogy Society)
RootsWeb.com
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/mi/midland/multiple/obituary/index/obit-p-r.txt

"Reid Richardson"
FamilySearch
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Census/individual_record.asp?indi_code=1880US%5F7533236%5F3

"Israel Richardson"
FamilySearch
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Census/individual_record.asp?indi_code=1880US%5F7533236%5F0

"Israel H. Richardson"
FamilySearch
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid=500123795902

I suspect that Israel Richardson was not closely related to the other
Richardson lines, because he came from Canada, as opposed to
Massachusetts.  But this is just speculation.

You might want to repost this follow-up question separately, so that
all of the Researchers have access to it.

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 11 Dec 2002 12:03 PST

I forgot to mention: for the Midland County Obituary Index, there are
entries for Edith Turner Richardson and G. Reid Richardson.  They are
about 2/3 down the page.

I received a speedy and thorough answer that provided additional
information that will help me with my research.