General Notes

Samuel was born on March 9, 1823, in Dumfries Township, Brant County, Ontario. He spent his early years at Ayr and Jerseyville, Ontario.  In 1839, he and his brother James went to New York where they secured work on the Erie Canal.  In 1841 he accompanied the Hamilton Fonger family to the Canadian settlement  in Keene Township, Ionia County, Michigan.  On February 13, 1845, he married Emma Gaston,  daughter of Joakhem and Eleanor (Cadwell) Gaston of Pomfey, New York, at Eaton County,  Michigan,  where Emma was boarding with her sister, Clarissa Bolton (and husband). Shortly afterward,  the Richmond's and Bolton's went to Liberty,  Ohio, where they established a new Bolton homestead.  In 1846 Samuel and Emma returned to Keene Township where he secured work as a lumber jack and farm hand, sometimes taking work four or five miles from their cabin.  In 1848 Samuel moved his family to Kalamazoo where he purchased an 80 acre farm.

Through circumstances now unknown, Samuel lost the Kalamazoo property in 1849. Letters by his daughter Stella Ann accuse James Charles as being to blame, but did not otherwise elucidate.  Samuel brought his family back to Keene where he purchased a 40 acre farm.  In 1852 he sold that property and moved to Cannonsburg where he boarded with the Hines family.   While there, he bought an unimproved tract of land in Grand Rapids Township,  and by 1854 had the farmhouse completed (one of the first frame houses in the area). During the two years it took to complete, he and his family wintered at the Hines household and  summered in a shanty on the new farm.

Children
     (A8-15) Frances (born 1845 at Liberty; died 1847 in Keene).
     (A8-16) Cynthia J. (born 1850 in Keene).
     (A8-17) Ezra A. (born 1852 in Keene).
     (A8-18) Emma R. (born 1855 in Grand Rapids Township).
     (A8-19) William (born 1857 in Grand Rapids Township).
     (A8-20) Wealthy (born 1857 in Grand Rapids Township).
     (A8-21) Stella Ann (born 1863 in Grand Rapids Township).

Samuel spent the next several years clearing his land and improving the farm. Family records describe him as of medium height, light complexion, blue eyes, sunny disposition,  and possessed of great strength.  His principle avocation was reading.   In 1862 he attempted to enlist in the Union Army but was turned down because of flat feet.   In 1868 he constructed a basement-type stock barn on his farm.   In March, 1869, he contracted typhoid fever, accompanied by pneumonia, and died on April 7th.   He is believed to have been buried in a rural cemetery in either Grand Rapids or Cannonsburg Townships, then later, moved to Fairplains Cemetery in Grand Rapids, but no record exists.  Emma died at her daughter Stella's house in Grand Rapids on May 30th, 1903.