Camden County NJ Archives Biographies.....Uriah French RICHARDS, 1847 - 1915
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/nj/njfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 8, 2008, 8:34 am

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

RICHARDS, Uriah French, Ph. G.,
Exemplary Citizen and Business Man.

  Tracing his ancestry to England and Wales, and to the early colonial
settlement of West Jersey and in Pennsylvania to the coming of William Penn, Mr.
Richards inherited the best blood of that early period, and to the sturdy
virtues of his Quaker ancestors added those traits of character that ennobled
his life and made him a man beyond reproach. He had mingled in his veins the
blood of the strong French, Richards, Jones and Heulings families of Burlington
and Gloucester counties, families that in church, state and business have been
eminent for two and one-half centuries of American residence.

  His father, Jeremiah J. Richards, son of John and Priscilla (Jones) Richards,
was born near Swedesboro, New Jersey, 11 mo. 7, 1809, died at his home,
"Eagle-point Farm," near Red Bank, Gloucester county, New Jersey, and was buried
in the Friends' burying ground, Woodbury, New Jersey. He married, November 10,
1836, Sarah Heulings French, born 4 mo. 19, 1807, died at her residence on North
Third street, Camden, 12 mo. 31, 1882, daughter of Uriah and Mary (Ivins)
French, and a descendant of Thomas French, of England, a persecuted member of
the Society of Friends. Children: Isaac French; Mary F., married John S. W.
Johnson, of Camden, New Jersey; George Washington; Albert; John; Uriah French,
of further mention. Of these children, Mrs. Mary French Johnson is the only
survivor. The French ancestry of Uriah French Richards follows.

  Thomas French, the founder, was born in October, 1639, and was baptized
November 3, following, at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Nether Heyford,
Northamptonshire, England. He early became a member of the then new religious
sect, the Society of Friends, being actively identified therewith, and at
different times paid in suffering the penalty of his faith, serving several
terms in prison for refusal to pay tithes. He came to America in the ship
"Kent," sailing from London about August 1, 1680, and settled upon a tract of
six hundred acres of good land lying along the banks of Rancocas creek, about
four miles from, Burlington, New Jersey. He prospered, increased his holdings to
two thousand acres, and for twenty years was a leading citizen of the county,
was twice married and reared a large family of children, including four sons,
all of whom were trained in ways of sobriety, industry, and religion, they in
turn founding families in whom the same strong traits of character were
manifest. His first wife, Jane Atkins, he married in England; his second wife,
Elizabeth Stanton, was a member of Philadelphia Meeting (Monthly), Society of
Friends.

  Charles French, third son of the founder and his first wife, was born in
England, March 20, 1671. He administered his father's estate, and in this
connection visited England in 1699 and several times thereafter. He was a
prosperous farmer, a man of prominence, and had interests in both Burlington and
Gloucester counties. He was twice married, and left male issue.

  Charles (2) French, son of Charles and his first wife, Elinor, was born August
12, 1714, died January 15, 1785. He settled in Moorestown, New Jersey, about
1740, where he became a landowner and overseer of Chester Meeting, Moorestown,
and active in the affairs of the Society of Friends. In 1771 he purchased one
thousand acres of "land and swamp," with saw-mill, farm houses, etc., located
about three miles from Mullica Hill, New Jersey. His will shows that at the time
of his death he was a man of large possessions, and the records cite his
intelligent attention to public affairs. He married Ann, daughter of Jacob and
Ann (Harrison) Clement, a descendant of Gregory Clement, of London, England,
member of the Cromwell Parliament, and one of the judges who tried and convicted
Charles I. in 1648. Maternally she was a granddaughter of Samuel Harrison,
mariner, of Gloucester county, New Jersey, who tradition says was a son or
grandson of General Thomas Harrison, one of the signers of the death warrant of
Charles I. and who was executed after the Restoration.

  Samuel French, second son of Charles (2) and Ann (Clement) French, was born in
Waterford township, Gloucester county, New Jersey, September 17, 1748, died July
8, 1814. He became a large landowner, prosperous farmer, and public man, serving
in the New Jersey Legislature from Gloucester county in 1795-96-97, 1800-01-02.
He was devoted in his allegiance to the Society of Friends, and throughout a
manhood of half a century manifested the qualities of his conscientious,
vigorous, industrious, and honorable ancestry. He married Sarah, daughter of
Jacob (2) and Agnes (Buckman) Heulings, of Evesham township, Burlington county,
New Jersey. She was a great-granddaughter of William Buckman, who came to
Pennsylvania in 1682 with William Penn in the "Welcome," also a
great-granddaughter of William Heulings, a justice of the peace for Burlington
county in 1703.

  Uriah French, eldest son of Samuel and Sarah (Heulings) French, was born July
13, 1770, died September 27, 1825, "fifty minutes past three o'clock in the
afternoon." He was his father's assistant for several years on the farm and
saw-mill property located near Mullica Hill, New Jersey, and although inheriting
this property in 1814, he sold it within the same year. About 1817 he moved to
Swedesboro, New Jersey, where he engaged in mercantile business and resided
until shortly before his death in 1825. His home and store was a large brick
building with commodious basement built about 1784, a wharf a few feet from the
basement door extending into Raccoon creek affording facilities for receiving
and shipping goods. He married Mary, daughter of Isaac (3) and Hannah (Tilton)
Ivins, of Salem county, New Jersey. Her great-grandfather, Isaac Ivins, for half
a century kept a general store and trading post at Georgetown, which was the
resort of Indian and white trappers. Mary Ivins French survived her husband, and
spent her widowed years at Mullica Hill. Sarah Heulings, daughter of Uriah and
Mary (Ivins) French, married Jeremiah J. Richards, of previous mention.

  Uriah French Richards, youngest child of Jeremiah J. and Sarah Heulings
(French) Richards, was born at Mickleton, New Jersey, March 27, 1847, died in
Montreal, Canada, March 4, 1915. He was educated in the public schools of
Philadelphia, and naturally had a predilection for the drug business, with which
the name French is so intimately and prominently connected. He entered the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and was graduated from that institution with
honors, Ph. G., class of 1871. Immediately after graduation he was given a
position in the wholesale drug business of which his maternal uncle, Clayton
French, was the head, and to his college training added the knowledge of the
practical side of the drug business. He was very industrious and observant, and
after gaining the necessary experience formed a partnership with Dr. Armstrong
and opened a drug store in Camden, New Jersey, there conducting a very
successful business for several years under the firm name of Richards &
Armstrong. This firm finally dissolved, Mr. Richards then opening a store at No.
309 Market street, where for many years he conducted a prosperous business. He
was one of the best known men in the drug trade in Camden, his store one of the
finest in the city. He built up an enviable reputation for the purity and
reliability of his preparations, and gained the public confidence as an
honorable, upright business man and citizen. Not long prior to his death he
retired from the retail drug trade, closed out his interests in Camden, and
accepted a position as traveling salesman for a wholesale drug firm of
Baltimore. While in Montreal in the interests of his firm he was suddenly
stricken by death. During his Camden residence he took a deep interest in all
that affected the city, and bore his full share of responsibility. He served in
the National Guard as a member of the Sixth Regiment, and was keenly alive to
his duties as a citizen, but neither sought nor accepted public office. He was
an active member of the Presbyterian church, and deeply interested in the Sunday
school, where he was the instrument of much good.

  His body was brought to Camden by his only living sister, Mary French Johnson,
and lovingly laid at rest in Evergreen Cemetery.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN

VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK,  NEW JERSEY
1917

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/njfiles/

File size: 9.1 Kb

This file is located at:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/camden/bios/richards-uf.txt