Pvt George Richards
| Richards, George Born: c. 1832, East Windsor, Connecticut Died: October 5, 1906, Darien, Connecticut Burial: Marlboro Cemetery, Marlborough, Connecticut Occupation: Waiter > Farmer > Day Laborer Enlisted: December 8, 1863, Hartford, Connecticut Unit: 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment Company: C Rank: Private --------------------------- George Richards was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, around 1832. Who his parents were and whether he had siblings remains unclear, but the surviving records of his life suggest a man shaped by labor and service. We first encounter Richards in the 1850 census, where he is listed as an eighteen-year-old living in East Windsor in the household of Gilbert McKnight, a white merchant. His occupation is recorded as a waiter. By 1860, no individual named George Richards appears in East Windsor, but a twenty-eight-year-old man of the same name is listed as a fisherman living in Lyme, Connecticut, in the household of Clark Niles. While not definitively confirmed, this may represent Richards during this period. On December 8, 1863, Richards enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut, with the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment. His enlistment record indicates that he was unmarried and residing in East Windsor at the time. Although officially attached to Company C, muster rolls from late 1864 through mid-1865 repeatedly list Richards as “absent—detached,” indicating that he had been reassigned away from his company for extended duty. Beginning in September 1864, he was detailed as a teamster, performing essential logistical work transporting supplies for Union forces. By January 1865, his assignment had been formalized through orders placing him within the Quartermaster Department at the divisional level of the 25th Army Corps, a corps composed entirely of United States Colored Troops. Detachment muster rolls show George Richards present for duty in Virginia during March and April 1865, placing him in the field during the final weeks of the Civil War and the concluding operations of the Petersburg Campaign. Following the war’s end, he continued in this detached capacity and was subsequently deployed to Texas as part of Union occupation forces. Though removed from his company’s line of battle, his service reflects sustained participation in the Union Army’s logistical and operational infrastructure during both active campaigning and the transition to post-war occupation. After the war, Richards reappears in the 1880 census living in Glastonbury, Connecticut, with his wife, Mary, a white woman. The census indicates they had been married for eight years. The household included their son George Henry Charles (H. C.) Richards, age three, and their daughter Mary, two months old. Also present was Henry K. Baker, age seven, identified as a white child and listed as his stepson. This census also provides insight into Richards’s parentage, listing his father’s birthplace as Virginia and his mother’s as Spain. By 1900, Richards was living in Hebron, Connecticut, with his daughter Mary and a younger son, Frank, age sixteen. He is listed as a widower, indicating that his wife had died sometime between 1880 and 1900. He again reported his father’s birthplace as Virginia and his mother’s as Spain. On June 21, 1904, George Richards was approved to be admitted to Fitch’s Home for Soldiers in Darien, Connecticut. He was officially admitted on June 28, 1904, listing his prior residence as Windsor, Connecticut, likely living with his son, George H. C. in the family home on Pond Road in the Hayden Station neighborhood. In October 1898, George H. C. married Emma Thompson, the daughter of Samuel Thompson who served in the consolidated 31st United States Colored Troops. In the early 1900’s George H. C. was an active member of the nearby African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church, including serving as a trustee. Richards and Thompson descendants still attend this historic Black church today. Established in 1863, Fitch’s Home for Soldiers provided care for veterans who were unable to support themselves. George Richards admission suggests a decline in his ability to live independently. George Richards died on October 5, 1906, while residing at Fitch’s Home for Soldiers. On March 15, 1907, his children traveled to the home to collect his belongings. They are recorded as George H. C. Richards of Windsor, Frank W. J. Richards of Hartford, and Mary M. Alexander of Hartford, with Frank and Mary noted as residing in the same household. On October 10, 1906, the Hartford Courant published George Richards obituary. He was buried in Marlboro Cemetery in Marlborough, Connecticut. |