James Rich Jr. (c.1754 – 1812?) was my 5th-great-grandfather, being the father of Margery Rich, first wife of Thomas Cole, by his wife Margery Butler. The surname was sometimes spelled Ritch. He was the son and youngest child of Cornelius Rich and Rhoda Fish. He was called Jr. to distinguish him from his older cousin, the son James of Cornelius’s brother John, often called Sr.; both seem to have dropped suffixes when they moved apart.
James was called for Revolutionary War service, but released at his father’s plea after his brothers had perished in the war. Still, he supposedly went to sea in some capacity and was captured by the British, where he is often said to have died in captivity. However, I have found evidence this is wrong, and I now believe he instead died much later in Huntington, Connecticut (since renamed to Shelton).
Three of his brothers died in Revolutionary War service, and his father successfully pleaded for James, who had not yet seen combat, to be excused from his planned detachment.
Cornelius's request was made 1779-08-10 and granted:
On representation of Cornelius Rich of Chatham that he has had five sons in the Continental Army, three of which are dead, killed in the service, one lately at Norwalk, that he has two more in the service, one son only remaining with him who is lately detached in the Militia service for one month or five weeks on the sea coast, that his circumstances are such that he cannot part with and has been detained till this time praying this board that he may be excused from said service. This board in consideration of the particular and almost singular circumstances of Mr. Rich’s case release his son from this detachment and will direct that his case be favorably considered for the future.
James was thus probably present for the birth of my 4th-great-grandmother Margery 60 days later.
However, it seems he was eventually dispatched to sea, based on accounts in the following sources.
There are two major secondary sources on this family:
These two authors give contradictory information on several points, which makes it difficult to discern what is correct. Particularly, there is a difference in assigned children, and variation in James’s fate.
James married Margery Butler on 1775-03-26 in Middletown, CT. She was baptized 1757-09-04 in Middletown, the daughter of William and Margery Butler. They had these children born in Chatham, CT (since renamed to East Hampton):⟮3⟯
In addition, two more children, baptized in Chatham as sons of “James”, are added by Hill, but ER instead assigns them to James’s cousin James Rich Sr.:
For the above reasons, I consider these to not be our James’s children. Hill also inaccurately says that James Jr. was admitted to the congregation on 1779-02-10, which would fit the above two baptisms; James Sr. had had children baptized some years before in that same church. However, I consulted the church records, and “James Rich” is only on a list of church members as of that day, not admitted that day. This is probably still James Sr.
See below for my doubts about his claimed death around 1781. Rather, I believe he moved to Huntington, CT and remarried. James Rich married Abigail Mitchell there on 1796-05-10 and had five more children:⟮4⟯⟮5⟯
I have made only token efforts to track down these children, who may have descendants.
ER says that James was captured aboard the privateer Essex and died in the Old Mill prison in England about 1780. Hill only says he was lost at sea but does not say when.
The modern article on the Rich family below says that he was “lost at sea soon afterward; the circumstances and exact year of his loss are unknown”. There is no indication of whether this is more recent information or was simply copied from, or from the same source as, Hill’s claims.
A James Rich is indeed listed among the prisoners taken on the Essex when it was captured on 1781-06-10 by the Queen Charlotte⟮6⟯, which says that he was committed to Old Mill on 1781-08-25.⟮7⟯ I cannot find record that he perished there, and reportedly Old Mill had a low death rate. So, in light of contrary evidence, I can only guess why ER says he died.
A James Rich and a Margery Rich, who appears to be his daughter, appear in Huntington as early as 1796. James remarried there that year and had children (see above). The 1800 census shows him at least 45, which implies a birth before 1755, living with two women aged 16–26, which would fit Margery and perhaps his wife (see Records below). Margery marries in 1807 to Thomas Cole. An 1812 inventory of the estate of James Rich late of Huntington mentions claims against the estate by Thomas Cole and Margery Cole.
This seems an exact match for the “missing” James Rich Jr. The name Margery is not common and not a recurrent name in the Rich family, but it was the name of James’s wife.
So it seems that rumors of James’s death in the 1780s were exaggerated, and he lived until or almost until 1812. My tentative theory is that the story of him being “lost at sea” pertain to his capture, but he was repatriated some years later; however, this last part was not found in records, so that researchers, learning that he was taken to Old Mill, concluded wrongly that he died there.
In order to clearly distinguish the two James Riches, I collected records for both of them. These census records appear to pertain, including a proposed son Charles of the James Jr. I have annotated Jr. or Sr. (not in the originals!) to indicate my inferences as to which they are:
| Year | Place | Head | Counts | Inferred births |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1800⟮8⟯ | Huntington, CT | James Rich (Jr.) | 3 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 45+, 2 ♀ 16–25 | –1755 ♂ 1774–1784 ♀♀ 1790–1800 ♂♂♂ |
| 1820⟮9⟯ | Huntington, CT | Charles Rich | 2 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 19–25, 1 ♀ 16–25 | 1794–1801 ♂ 1794–1804 ♀ 1810–1820 ♂♂ |
| 1790⟮10⟯ | Westfield, Washington Co., NY | James Rich (Sr.) | 4 ♂ <16, 2 ♂ 16+, 2 ♀ | –1774 ♂♂ –1790 ♀♀ 1774–1790 ♂♂♂♂ |
| 1800⟮11⟯ | Fort Ann, Washington Co., NY | James Rich (Sr.) | 1 ♂ 16–25, 1 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ 10–15, 1 ♀ 45+ | –1755 ♂♀ 1774–1784 ♂ 1784–1790 ♀ |
| 1810⟮12⟯ | Junius, NY | James Rich (Sr.) | 1 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ 45+ | –1765 ♂♀ |
James Sr. had a son Belden who appears in Fort Ann in the 1800 census, and later moved to Junius with his father, tying these three last James entries together. On 1806-03-04, he sold land in Westfield, with the deed of sale⟮13⟯ co-signed by Phylis Rich, known wife of James Sr.
See Rhoda’s article for conjectures as to her ancestry.