#23 RICHARDS Edward and Nathaniel Richards--Brothers or Not

Edward Richards is my 8th great grandfather, and the immigrant ancestor for my Richards Line.  He was probably born in Southampton, England in the early 1600’s to Edward and Barbara (Warden or Worsley) Richards.  He is believed to have come to the Massachusetts  Bay Colony in 1632 on the ship Lyon with this brother, Nathaniel.

Abner Morese (1861) in A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of Several Ancient Puritans, V. 3: The Richards Family, writes” Edward Richards is presumed to have been the nephew of Thomas, Sr., and the brother of Nathaniel and Thomas, Jr., and the cousin or brother of William and John of Plymouth. He probably came with Nathaniel in the LYON, in 1632, and resided with him at Cambridge until 1636.”  In 1636, Edward moved to Dedham, and Nathaniel moved to Hartford.

The relationship between Edward and Nathaniel has been one of my biggest brick walls.  I have spent a lot of time trying to establish a relationship between Edward and Nathaniel without much luck.  Parish records from England do not yield baptismal records of both an Edward and Nathaniel with the same parents or even in the same location.  While there are Richards in the Visitation of Hampshire and in the Visitation of Somerset, neither contains pertinent information.  The only evidence is from Morse. I checked his statement about where he got his information and it basically is recollections of people who were alive in the mid-1800’s.  I know that Morse was wrong on several occasions about Edward.  First, he states that Edward moved to Dedham to marry Susan Hunting.   I do not believe Edward moved to Dedham to marry Susan Hunting. The Hunting genealogy in the Dedham Historical Register states Huntings came in 1638 and moved directly to Dedham. Edward was in Dedham by 1636. Second, Morse states that Edward did not have a house lot in Dedham. That is also incorrect.  When the town would not let him buy the house lot from Robert Feakes; the town gave it to Edward (Dedham Vital Records). Also he did not buy  his farm from Mr. Cook. Volume 4 of the Town Records indicates that Mr. Cook's Farm was sold by the attorney for the estate to Fisher and Lusher. Edward then bought it from them. Anyway, my point is that perhaps Morse is wrong about Edward and Nathaniel being brothers.  However, Edward did name one of his sons Nathaniel, which would point to a relationship.

This brick wall is hard and high.  If anyone has an idea of how I could proceed, please leave a comment.