A couple of months ago, I
became aware of a book being written by two young ladies.. I presume the
had something to do with the Jamestown Historical Society. The name of the book was Legendary
Locals of Jamestown.
I couldn't wait to get it.. I sat down with a cup of coffee
to start to read... after reading some of the story of the island
itself... I skipped thru to find my family. Nothing.. so looked in the index..
there was 3 Richardson's. Who
did deserve to be in the book, at least Edith Richardson did. After all she was the first woman
Postmaster ever in the United States.
And two of her sons were in there. Who still live there. Aunt Edie as we knew her, had passed on a long time
ago. But
not a mention of her husband.. our Uncle Alfred.. who ran a
gas station across from the ferry landing.
Sorry
folks, but I was pissed. Not one word about my grandfather, nor my great
grandfather.. Or even my Uncle Harold who carried on running the
family gas station/ garage. Nothing. There are 6 generations of my direct
family of JAMESTOWNERS... so you can click out and go on
your way
if you would like..readers.. but I am going to make sure that the
internet has somewhere.. that our family did and still does exist.
We start
out with the first one..
Aaron
Richardson..(first generation) and his wife Augusta
Johnson
Richardson. Dropping the extra s... came here from Sweden.. the same
town.. and got married 1878 in Newport,
R.I.
Aaron was a farmer and they
moved to a little island,
called Jamestown. There they raised several children. 7 of
them. 4 girls and 3 sons. One of which was my grandfather. Lived most
of his life and is buried in Jamestown, R.I.
Aaron R. Richardson,
(second generation) was 4th in place
among their children. Aaron R. was
born, raised in Jamestown.
As a very young man he met a young woman, Harriet E. Chase, school
teacher, from the small island of Prudence Island.
He courted her by rowing his
skiff from the north end of Jamestown, where her father's farm was
to the southern tip of Prudence Island.
In 1907 they went to
Manhattan, N.Y. to get married. Moving in to Aaron's sister's boarding
house on Jamestown.
Thru several moves, and
running a livery stable with a
business partner, he finally
settled with a horse and buggy taxi to each side of the island
where the ferries landed. Taking travelers from side to side to meet
the other ferry. Added to the family
was 3 son's and one daughter. In
the 1920's he changed over to cars.
Then taking over the John E.
Watson Store at 29 Narragansett Ave. they did deliveries to the summer residents as well as taxi
service to the ferries. And in the late 1920's and early 30's he with his oldest son A. Richard (the
II) built and ran a gas station/garage.
At the end of WWII, youngest
son Harold took over the garage which by this time, became a
Ford dealership. And Aaron started a Dodge dealership
in Newport, R.I. and a Ford dealership in Middletown ... Having a heart attack in 1947. Born in
Jamestown, lived all but 5 years in
Jamestown, did business in Jamestown and is buried in Jamestown, R.I.
F. Gilbert Richardson,
(third generation) second son of
Aaron Richard Richardson.
Born in Jamestown, raised in Jamestown, and buried in Jamestown,
R.I.
G. Leroy Richardson.
(fourth generation) . the weak link
of the Richardson's of Jamestown.
As he was neither born, nor is he buried in Jamestown.
He is the son/second child
of F. Gilbert Richardson...
BUT he lived with his wife Dorothy, their two children, and worked in
Jamestown, R.I. for over 30 years. He was on the Jamestown Fire
Dept. staff for most of those years. He was a fireman, worked on
the search and rescue crew and the ambulance service of
Jamestown, R.I. for most of those 30 years. He with that crew took good
care of the people in Jamestown, R.I.
Now we come to the 5th
generation... Leroy M. Richardson.. born and raised, lives and works
(as he is still there) in Jamestown, R.I.
Second child, and son of G.
Leroy Richardson. He followed
his father's footstep by
joining the Jamestown Fire
Dept. and he and his wife Naomi, are raising the 6th generation , as his 3
children were born and raised in Jamestown.
Families do matter.. family
history is as important as town history. as that is what makes the
town. Jamestown is a small island to some but a mighty island to
those who live there. And I just want it to be part of the record,
that the Aaron Richardson family was and is part of that island..
all of this information is due to my Aunt Harriet, who is the daughter of Aaron r. and Harriet e. Without her, all of us cousins would have to start from scratch.
and this is my 2500 post...a lot of words.
4 comments:
I know this is from a few years ago...not sure if you still even check the comments. I am helping my son on an ancestry project for school and came across this blog post. Harold Richardson is my grandfather. My mother, Beverley, is his youngest daughter. My youngest son is named Chase (as in Harriet's maiden name). Thanks for sharing this history!
Hi, Kate... we are second cousins... how wonderful your son's name is Chase following the family....
You should get ahold of your Aunt Nancy, I shared a great deal of information with here.. pictures.... also a copy of our Grandfather Aaron Richardson citizenship papers when he became a citizen of the US.. from Sweden..
Your grandfather and my father (brothers) were a hoot together.. even in their 80's.. one time on a visit back home.. I was talking to your grandfather across from their gas station.. and my father snuck behind him.. and took a piece of grass and tickled your grandfather behind the knees.. goes to show even at the age of 82 (my father) they still torment their kid brother.. Tell Chase good luck with his project... I have a daughter who is doing all of the families on Ancestry.com.. so if he is missing some holes.. let me know.... Cis_40@hotmail.com and we will see if we can help.
i would love to talk with you because my grandmother is edith richardson and she was the first postal delivery lady for the post office. my name is donnie and i am the doughter of dorothy blythe (richardson) niece of donald and victor richardson. gilbert was my couson. my email is haynesdonnie348@gmail.com would love to get to know you and talk with you.
The Richardson clan is legendary, I was priveledged to have been friends with Guns.
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