Ulysses S. Grant(1822 – 1885), the 18th President of the United States, was the commanding general who led the Union Armies to victory.
Logan County is in central Illinois and was established in 1839.
Rebecca M. Long Richards was born in October 31, 1841 in Fairfield County, Ohio. Her parents were John Long and Sarah Ann LaFever
In 1860, Rebecca and her brother, Thomas Long, were living in the William and Nancy Richards household in Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois. Thomas was a farm laborer and Margaret was a domestic. William was Margaret's future husband's older brother.
Rebecca and Lewis Clark Richards married November 1, 1861 in Logan County, Illinois. Lewis was born on December 20, 1827 in Champaign County, Ohio. His parents were Josiah J. Richards and Nancy J. Powell.
Their children were:
Lenore Richards Mason (1862, married Thomas E. Mason),
General Grant Richards (1864, married Mary Alice Otto),
Fannie J. Richards Coffey (1866, married Charles Coffey),
Lillie B. Richards Allender (1868, married Ernest Allender),
and John H. Richards (1881, married Emma Zoe Fishburn).
In 1870 they were in Sheridan, Logan County, Illinois. Their post office was Lincoln. The household conisted of Lewis age 32, Rebecca age 24, Lenora age 8, Grant age 6, Fannie age 4, and Lillie age 1.
In 1875 they moved to Kansas, where they settled on a farm near Marion.
In 1880 they had 130 acres. The property was worth $3,500. They had 5 horses.
Lewis died on August 20, 1915 in Marion County and Rebecca died on March 16, 1922. They are buried together in Highland Cemetery in Marion.
The first Europeans settled in the Northwest Territory in 1788. Migrants came from New York and New England. Ohio was admitted to the Union as the 17th state on March 1, 1803.
Illinoisbecame a state in 1818. A large influx of American settlers came in the 1810s by the Ohio River.
