Lemuel Rich (1780 - 1864)

Lemuel Rich was born in Machias, Me on June 16, 1780. He was a Baptist Minister, first in Isleboro, Me and then in Union, Me. He married Grace Gilkey and his marriage intentions were published in Isleboro on Feb. 16, 1810. Grace Gilkey was the daughter of John and Sylvina Thomas Gilkey. Later on Lemuel became a missionary and preached from Kittery, Me. to Eastport and in the British provinces. He was imprisoned in St. Andrew, New Brunswick for preaching without having received permission from the Church of England. He died in 1864 in Hope, ME. Rev. Lemuel and his wife Grace are buried in the cemetery in Hope, Maine and they have nice stones there according to Marsha Douty. Lemuel and Grace had seven children:

1. Mary Ann, married a Sherman

2. Lemuel F.

3. Leonora, born Feb. 17, 1813 in Union, ME. She married Rinaldo Elder. According to Burials of Freedom, Maine, Lenora (Rich) Elder, was buried on May 4, 1906, at age 83, 2 m, 15 days. She died in Morrrill, ME.

4. Statira, born April 15, 1816 in Union , ME, died March 7, 1837. She married Ephraim Wood Pendelton (born on Sept. 28, 1811 in Hope, ME).

5. John, married Sarah G. There was a John C. Rich, who enlisted in the Union Army on Jan. 16, 1862 from Bangor at age 44, which would indicate he was born in 1817/18 but John Rich is a common name. There were 275 men with the name Rich from Maine who enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War.

6. Joseph, died at 24

7. Elizabeth, born on Jan. 31, 1821 in Union, ME. She married Albert Dunbar on June 21, 1842 in Alfed, ME. They had Albert (1843-), Judson (1848-), Lizzie (1850-), and Alice (1857-)

Comments

[Marsha Douty]

Hi, just to correct the entry under the children of Samuel Rich [1740-} about his daughter Sally b.1794 who married Benjamin Coffin. I know that article written by Evelyn Rich many years ago stated "no Issue", but that is wrong. Sally and Benjamin Coffin had 8 children: Henry A.[b.1819 Machias],Moses H.,Sarah B.,Elizabeth, Ruth Foster [b. 9 July 1830 East machias, Maine-my Great-Great Grandmother who was named Ruth Foster after Sally's sister Ruth who married Phineas Foster], Mary, Lowell, and James. I'd be gald to share info in this family if anyone else is interested. I'm not sure the best way to correst Evelyn Rich's article? I'm enjoying this blog site. My first time here. Marsha Douty

[Bill Ives]

Marsha - Thanks for the input and correction. Please feel free to share any other information That is what this blog is for. Bill

[Linda Bowen Brissette]

Hello Bill, I have spent the last few months transcribing old family letters. Many of these transcribed letters were written by Leonora Rich Elder and her sister Elizabeth Rich Dunbar who were regular correspondents for many years. Elizabeth's daughters' also wrote several of the letters. Included in the transcribed letters are ones from Joseph Rich, brother to Leonora and Elizabeth. From the contents of Joseph's letters, one can see that he was quite an adventurous young man. He traveled to California on multiple occasions to mine for gold. Although your site indicates he died in his early twenties, I do not believe this is accurate as there are letters written by Joseph in the late 1850s from Strawberry Valley CA.
Some of the letters are very poignant. There is one written by Waly, Elizabeth's son who wrote to his aunt Leonora a few months before he died. Then there is a letter from Elizabeth informing of Waly's death and describing the family's grief over his passing. She included a lock of Waly's hair in her letter to her sister. It was a very moving experience reading this letter, as you can well imagine. Thank you for all your work on this blog. I have found it very helpful to my own work in transcribing the letters.