Jacob Richardson

Jacob Richardson was born on December 13, 1742, the son of Hezekiah Richardson of Townsend and a grandson of Nathaniel Richardson of Billerica; his parents, Hezekiah "of Tounshend" and Elisabeth Walker, had been married in Billerica in 1740. On May 19, 1767 he married Sarah Brown, daughter of Josiah Brown; her sister Rebecca was the mother of Jeremiah Patten. Their children were Sarah (1768), Jacob (1769), Elizabeth (1771, died 1776), the twins Josiah Brown Richardson and Timothy (1773), John (1776), Billy (1778), Elizabeth (1780), Elijah (1783, died 1784), Julia (1785) and Anna (1788).

In the Revolution he was a lieutenant in Captain Edward Farmer's company and served in the campaign of 1777. On March 10 of that year, as the calls for men grew harder to fill, the town chose Capt. Solomon Pollard, Capt. Edward Farmer, Capt. Jonathan Stickney, "Lieut. Jacob Richardson" and Oliver Crosby "a committee of five persons to Indent with persons to Inlist into the Continental service," giving them fourteen days to find the men.

On March 20, 1781 his father-in-law sold "Jacob Richardson of Billerica, gentleman," and his wife Sarah, for 100 pounds, "Part of my Homestead lying on the East side of the road that leads to Bedford containing three acres & a quarter" with the buildings, near the meeting house. This was the old Shed house lot, the Shedd Family Homestead at 38 Concord Road, and the Richardsons kept it for fifty-six years. That same winter he was one of the three men who appraised the estate of Capt. Enoch Kidder, and with the Rev. Henry Cumings he witnessed the wills of several neighbors, among them William Kidder in 1789 and Jonathan Hill in 1795. When the pews of the new meeting house were sold on December 8, 1797, "Lieut. Jacob Richardson" bought No. 59 for $123.50.

He was a selectman from 1786 to 1790 and again from 1796 to 1802, twelve years in all, and for the last five of them, 1798 to 1802, he was also town clerk. His wife Sarah died on March 1, 1805. After her death he went to live in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, where several of his children had settled, and he died there on September 5, 1817. In 1837 his heirs, his sons Josiah B. Richardson of Billerica, Jacob of Greenfield, Timothy of Lyndeborough and William of Mont Vernon and the children of his daughter Anna Jones, sold the Concord Road place to Joseph Eames.

References

1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 119, RICHARDSON 14: Jacob, son of Hezekiah, b. 1742, lieutenant in 1777, removed to Lyndeborough, N.H., d. 1817; children
2. Hazen, p. 304: list of town clerks, Jacob Richardson 1798-1802
3. Hazen, p. 306: list of selectmen, Jacob Richardson 1786-90, 1796-1802
4. Hazen, p. 239: March 10, 1777, Lieut. Jacob Richardson on the committee to enlist men for the Continental service
5. Hazen, p. 264: sale of pews in the new meeting house, Dec. 8, 1797, No. 59 to Lieut. Jacob Richardson
6. Vital Records of Billerica (1908), marriages p. 305: Jacob and Sarah Brown, May 19, 1767; Hezekiah of Townsend and Elisabeth Walker, 1740
7. Vital Records of Billerica, births p. 157: children of Jacob and Sarah Richardson, including the twins Josiah Brown and Timothy, 1773
8. Middlesex probate case 13221 (1781): estate of Capt. Enoch Kidder, appraised by William Tompson, Joshua Abbot and Lt. Jacob Richardson