Harry Franklin Richards

Jacob married Elizabeth Virginia Langdon 26 Dec 1872, Harrisville, Cecil County, Maryland. Elizabeth (daughter of Benjamin Franklin Langdon and Rebecca Ellen Maxwell) was born 20 Sep 1846, Cecil County, Maryland; died 13 Apr 1891, Near Porters Bridge, Cecil County, Maryland; was buried , West Nottingham Cemetery, Colora, Cecil County, Maryland. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

CONOWINGO ? The historic area of Richardsmere, later known as Porter?s Bridge, took its name from the Richards family, Quakers who settled there in the 1700s. Prominent, well-educated and highly thought of, they contributed to the communities of the sixth district as doctors, engineers, lawyers and businessmen.

Jacob Granville Richards, a son of Isaac Richards, having married Elizabeth Virginia ?Jennie? Langdon in 1872 took possession of the family seat and over a period of years fathered four sons. He supported his family with the family farm and by operating a store nearby. In 1886, he won a seat in the Maryland legislature ? but that would turn out to be a brief chapter in Richards? life. By July of 1886, the legislature in recess, Granville was appointed to a position at the Customs House in Baltimore. He boarded in Baltimore during the week, coming home Saturday mornings, to return early on Mondays.

Very early on the morning of April 13, 1891, Mrs. Richards was roused by a sound in their bedroom. Waking her husband, she whispered that she thought someone was in the room. He grabbed a pistol kept on the windowsill next to the bed and called out, ?Who?s there? Speak or I?ll shoot!? A shot rang out from the foot of the bed, and Jennie, who evidently had begun to rise, fell back on to her pillow, her legs slung over the side of the bed.

The shooter fled and Richards followed, encountering someone in the hallway whom he thought was coming from his sons? room. ?Willie, is that you?? he asked, only to be answered by a shot and a struggle which ended when the invader threw Granville down the stairs and fired at him once again before fleeing. The shots wakened the sons and brought them and the Richards? houseguest, Jennie?s sister-in-law Mrs. Langdon, from their rooms. Sons Willie, 17, and Harry, 15, were sent to rouse the neighbors for help and medical assistance after helping Granville back up the stairs. Jennie was found unconscious with blood on her pillow.

What a scene of terrible chaos the old house must have witnessed as neighbors arrived to help and two area doctors, Dr. Charles Turner and Dr. R.R. Crothers came to tend the wounded. Someone took charge of the two younger boys, Joseph, 11, and Hampton, 6, who was sleeping between his parents during the awful commotion. Richards was found to have sustained two bullet wounds. Jennie Richards had been shot in the head, the bullet entering behind her right ear. She died around 6 a.m. never having regained consciousness.

When the authorities arrived, they found the house in disarray, most of the rooms having been rifled, the floors littered with matches that the burglars had used to light the way as they searched for valuables. Outside, a ladder rested against the house, though it was not used to access the house as the windowsill of the room where it rested was covered with flowerpots inside. Instead the cellar door was forced open to permit the miscreants entry. Also found on the grounds were footprints in the soft earth, the larger set a size 10, the smaller a size 6.

Within a few hours, a witness had come forward to report that he had encountered two men on the road in the area around midnight, a large man and one quite small, who had made him uneasy, feeling that they were considering robbing him. The smaller fellow wore a derby hat and the larger man a hat with the crown indented. Though there must have been men everywhere answering the descriptions with hats of these types, this information became very important in the course of the investigation.

In the days to follow, a feeling just short of panic seems to have enveloped the sixth district. Men with unsavory reputations are rounded up for questioning. Two men, ?Dr.? George Bram, who appears to have been a local con artist practiced at selling fake medicines, and Frank Ferguson, were arrested, but released a few days later when their alibis check out. It is speculated that a gang of robbers is involved.

Meanwhile, Granville Richards? brother, Joseph T., assistant chief engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad, brings in a Pennsylvania Railroad detective, C.G. Ottey, to investigate. Rewards amounting to $1,000 are offered by the Rising Sun Detectives Association and the county commissioners for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers. The railroad detective has suspects matching the descriptions, even down to the hats, in mind already, and efforts are made to track the men down.

The Richards family was forced to adapt to a new and unfamiliar state of normality. Granville returned to work in May, but sold off personal possessions intending to relocate elsewhere, then abandoned that idea to take the two younger boys with him to board in Baltimore, and renting out the Richardsmere house. By the end of the year, he had reconsidered, and returned to the area, renting a house owned by Dr. George Dare. The case was in a state of flux too, as by April 1892, with no headway made, a Detective Lyons of the Baltimore firm of Smith, Pierson and West was engaged to pursue leads and the county commissioners raised the reward to $3,000 on the recommendation of the grand jury. On April 23, 1892, a committee of persons residing in the sixth district published a notice of support for Granville Richards in the Cecil Whig. Apparently the rumor mill was grinding away, and within some quarters there was speculation that Richards himself was the guilty party.

Shortly thereafter, a break in the case occurred, when two men that Pinkerton detectives had been following since the murder were arrested: one in Rochester, N.Y., and one in Philadelphia. These were the two men that railroad detective Ottey suspected and had been trying to locate, mainly, apparently, because he knew them and knew they fit the descriptions. George Fenner and James Wood were extradited to Elkton.

Fenner first had to stand trial for burglary and attempted murder of a policeman in Philadelphia, but at last he arrived in the county and a hearing was set. But after two or three days of testimony, it was evident that Fenner had an alibi ? he was in Altoona, Pa., when the murder occurred. The sheriff at the time, J. Albert Boyd, was sent to Altoona to verify that the alibi was genuine and that the people providing it were respectable. That having been ascertained, Fenner was freed. The fate of Wood is unknown and he is not mentioned again. After the enormous buildup since the arrests in May it must have been incredibly frustrating to concede defeat and release the men in July.

Died:
MURDERED

Notes:

son of Thomas and Orphah Richards, both buried at West Nottingham Friends, Harrisville, Cecil County, Maryland

Isaac married Mercy Ann Reynolds 10 Nov 1813, West Nottingham Friends, Harrisville, Cecil County, Maryland. Mercy (daughter of Jacob Reynolds and Anna Amelia Moore) was born 29 May 1816, Cecil County, Maryland; died 5 Feb 1885, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; was buried 8 Feb 1885, West Nottingham Friends Quaker Cemetery, Harrisville, Cecil County, Maryland. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The following train which brought the remains of Mrs. Mercy A. Richards and friends to Rising Sun on last Sunday consisted of an engine and a handsome car. Many of the relatives being in the railroad employ. Some of whom have about gained the top round of the ladder.



Death of an Estimable Woman.
Mrs. Mercy A. Richards, relict of Isaac Richards, formerly of Porter's Bridge, died at the
residence of her brother-in-law, Charles A. Lincoln, Philadelphia, on Thursday last. She
was a woman of superior character and posessesed the confidence of a large circle of
friends. The funeral took place on Sunday and her remains were interred in the West
Nottingham Friends burying ground. An address was made by Wm. Way, of Cecil county.
The deceased was a sister of Benjamin C. Reynolds, of Oxford, and Joseph T. Reynolds,
of East nottingham, Chester county. Among the many relatives and friends who attended
the funeral were George Sturges, chief clerk of the Board of Surveyers, Philadelphia; Wm.
H. Brown, Chief Engineer of the Penna. R. R. ; Charles A Lincoln, Prothonotary U. S.
Circuit Court, Philadelphia; Lewis Richards, Esq., Media and others. Her son, Jos. T.
Richards, First Assistant Chief Engineer of the Penna. R. R., was unable to attend the
funeral, as he is ill with typhoid pneumonia at his residence in Philadelphia. The
Pennsylvania Railroad Company out of courtesy to her son furnished a special car to
convey the remains and accompanying friends to the place of interment.



Cecil Whig Saturday February 14, 1885

Died:
Died at the home of her brother-in-law Charles Lincoln

Notes:

Isaac Richards died near Rising Sun. Maryland

Benjamin married Rebecca Ellen Maxwell. Rebecca was born Est 1825, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died Aft 1888. [Group Sheet]

Thomas married Orpah Stubbs 14 Apr 1814, Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Orpah (daughter of Joseph Stubbs and Ruth Pyle) was born 8 Aug 1791, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; died 16 Sep 1853, Richardsmere, Cecil County, Maryland. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Name Orpha Stubbs Richards
Birth Date 8 1791
Residence Place Pennsylvania
Death Date 16 Sep 1853
Heading Little Brittain MM of Friends Lancaster Co, PA Established 6-10mo-1804 History
Sub Heading Warrington - Book 300 Fr of Warrington and Newberry req Sadsbury their MM to request QM to allow MM for discipline QM of Concord, Chester Co, 2nd of 9th mo, 1747, allowed MM to be established 10-19-1747 - first mtg, William Underwood, 1st Clerk 2-16-1748 - Warrington Mtg req Preparative Mtg 2-16-1748 - Menallen req to have Mtg settled, p 3 Note: Some one has cut out a leaf (pages 116-117) of the B&D Records of Warrington MM, PA
Comments Orpha Stubbs Richards; born 8- 8-1791 died 16- 9-1853 , age 62y died t Joseph & Ruth (Pyle) of Little Brittain Twp, Lancaster Co, PA rptd married 7-5-1814 , at Little Brittain MH Orpha (Stubbs) Richards , gct Nottingham MM, MD , 11-3-1815 , to join husband
Close

Name:
d/o Joseph & Ruth (Pyle) Stubbs

Notes:

Quaker Record Jacob, s/o Jacob and Esther born 8th day of the 5th month 1791.

Jacob married Anna Amelia Moore 10 Nov 1811, Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Anna was born 31 Aug 1793, Cecil County, Maryland; died 19 Sep 1874, New Jersey; was buried , West Nottingham Friends, Harrisville, Cecil County, Maryland. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Died:
Died at home of son-in-law Alexander Kirk