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Adams /
                      Tucker Ancestry
 
David H. Richardson, 1862-1945

David H.
              Richardson about 1918

David H. Richardson was born on 25 May 1862 in Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland. He was the sixth of nine children born to William and Mary (Fernie) Richardson. According to David's birth record he was born on Russell Street (which intersects with Skene Street, one of the main streets of Strathmiglo and where many of its woolen mills were located). The following photos of Strathmiglo and Skene Street were on a post cards sent to David by his cousins in the 1920's:

Strathmiglo Scotland in
                  1920's

Skene
                  Street in Strathmiglo Scotland

Strathmiglo is also where David married Margaret "Maggie" Miller Davidson on 11 January 1884. Maggie was born in nearby Dundee and was the daughter of William and Isabella (Chapman) Davidson. They were married by Rev. Nathan Cosh, minister of the (North) Free Church, formerly the Reformed Presbyterian Church. The following photo was apparently taken around the time of their marriage:

David and Margaret (Davidson)
                  Richardson wedding photo

A few months after they were married David and Maggie (along with Maggie's parents) immigrated to the United States. A family story is that the ship which brought them to America sank while making the return voyage. Indeed, they are listed as passengers on the steamship "State of Florida" which landed in the port of New York on 5 April 1884. The New York Times reported that this same steamship sank on the 18th of April 1884 after a collision with another ship resulting in the deaths of 135 people (eyewitness accounts of that disaster are found in the New York Times dated May 8th and 9th). Initially they moved to Thetford Twp., Genesee County, Michigan, which is where Maggie's parents bought a farm and where David worked as a blacksmith. About 1898 David and Maggie and their three children moved to nearby Mayville in Tuscola County where they are listed in the 1900 census. Shortly after that they then moved to Flint in Genesee Co. where David continued to work as a blacksmith. According to Flint city directories he was a blacksmith for Skinner Mfg Co. from 1907-1909, for W.H. Loss in 1910, and for W.W. Wilding in 1913. Below are photos of David while blacksmithing (far left in first photo perhaps in Thetford; third from left in the second photo probably in Flint; and center in the last photo again in Flint):

David and his
                      blacksmith shop

David
                      Richardson blacksmith

David
                      Richardson blacksmith about 1910

A family story is that David made the hinges and door handles for the First Presbyterian Church of Flint located at 746 S. Sagainaw Street (below is a photo from their website):

First
                      Presbyterian Church of Flint

By 1910 David and Maggie bought a house at 408 W. 7th Street in Flint where they lived until Maggie died in 1932. Below is a photo of them probably in the late 1920's:

David and Margaret Richardson in the late
                          1920's 

In 1925 David went to work as a night watchman for Fisher Body in Flint (his former son-in-law, Roland Adair, was head of plant protection at Fisher Body at the time). Below is David in uniform, and below that he is with his grandson, Robert Adair:

David Richardson at Fisher Body

David Richardson and his grandson Robert
                          Adair

After his wife died in 1932 David moved in with his daughter, Mary (and her husband, John Burgess), at 2017 Davison Road in Flint. Below is a 1923 photo of that house (David's grandson, Robert Richardson, is sitting on the steps -- he died at 14 months of age in September 1923):

2017 Davison Rd, Flint, Michigan in
                              1923

David died of pneumonia on 15 July 1945. David and Maggie and many members of their family were buried in Thetford Cemetery.

David Richardson obituary



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