The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Non-Commissioned / Patriotic Service
Author: David Moore
Private Edward Richards of Major Jonathan Clark’s 4th Virginia Regiment under the command of Col. James Wood served as Drum Major for his unit. Having enlisted on February 28, 1778 he carried out his duties with honor to bring the freedom and independence we so proudly hold today.
Edward was born June 25, 1731 in Baltimore County, Maryland. His parents had come from Dorchester County, Maryland in 1729 to join the Gunpowder Friends/ Quaker Meeting. His grandfather (also Edward) came to the New World and to the Maryland frontier, from Manchester, Lancashire England. Grandpa settled in what was to become Hampstead, Maryland. There they established a Friends/Quaker Meeting. Edward, in 1758 settled in Franklin County, VA and in1759 married Elizabeth Stewart.
Pvt, Drum Major Richards served in the 4th VA Regiment alongside Elizabeth’s brother Lt. Charles Steward until the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. Edward and Elizabeth bore eight children. They built up a good sized plantation of approximately one thousand acres. As was the tradition of the times they owned slaves. They grew crops, bred livestock and operated a mill a few miles away near Rocky Mountain, VA.
Upon his death in 1812 his estate provided land, slaves and cash gifts for his heirs.
That gentleman is my Patriot through whose lineage I claim the opportunity and the privilege of fellowship amongst the Sons of the American Revolution.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.