She was born on January 11, 1903 – most likely in Montague, Texas. I say that because this is where she lived during the 1910 federal census.

Sometime between 1910 and 1920, she moved to what today is known as Waurika, Oklahoma. Back then it was known as Grayson (Jefferson County), Oklahoma.

Two years later she would marry Benjamin Franklin Price on October 18, 1922. US Census records show us back then he was a farmer. That was just before the great depression.

They didn’t have children right away. They wouldn’t have their first child until 1925, 3 years after their marriage. Back then this was rather unusual. Most people back then married young and started popping out babies left and right.

In all, they had 5 children, only 4 of which would grow into adulthood. Their youngest child, Gloria Sue would die by the time she was 2.

• Ben Donald Price (1925-2004)
• Glen Edward Price (1927-1982)
• Kenneth Price (1929-2012)
• Alice Joann Price (1935-)
• Gloria Sue Price (1943-1945)

Ethel Ann Hopson and her husband lived in Waurika almost their entire lives – at the end, however, she would be moved to an assisted living facility in Oklahoma City, OK which is where she would die on June 15, 1990.

Here is a picture of me, with my sisters Melody and April on their porch as young children in Waurika.

He was born on August 08, 1901 in Mineral Wells, Texas. It’s a place most people have never heard of. Mineral Wells, Texas is located west of Fort Worth. It’s best known for its mineral springs and well that’s about it. It’s not really a big town.

On October 18, 1922 he married my granny, Ethel Ann Hopson. Unlike most people of this time, they didn’t have children right away. In fact they wouldn’t have their first child for years.

In all they had 5 children, only 4 of which would grow into adulthood.

• Ben Donald Price (1925)
• Glen Edward Price (1927)
• Kenneth Price (1929)
• Alice Joann Price (1935)
• Gloria Sue Price (1943)

Their youngest child, Gloria Sue was born on December 3, 1943 and died on February 26, 1945.

It was sometime right after they got married that they moved to Waurika, Oklahoma. I can still remember visiting them in that house when I was a little girl. I don’t know how old I was in this picture, but here is me with my two sisters (Melody and April) sitting on their back porch.

Benjamin Franklin Price died at the age of 81 (May 16, 1983) and is buried in the Waurika Cemetery.

 The 1940 US census shows us that the highest grade he completed was 8th grade and that his address was 119 West E, Waurika, Oklahoma. I don’t think that’s right. I’m checking with my grandmother to see if she remembers what it actually was.

 After speaking with her she said the actual address was 103 West F, Waurika, OK 73573. While that address shows up in Google Maps, no actual house is there anymore. I guess they tore it down. When they first built the house, it didn’t even have indoor plumbing.

]]> https://www.tracyandfamily.com/alex-jessy-richardson/ https://www.tracyandfamily.com/alex-jessy-richardson/#respond Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:29:19 +0000 http://www.tracyandfamily.com/?p=824 Alex Jessy Richardson was also known as Jake to his friends and family. He also has gone by the name of AJ.

Alex Jessy Richardson was born on July 5, 1935 in Paradise, Texas. His father was Rubin Nemon Richardson and Mary Vivian Phillips. He was my great uncle.

On October 26, 1970 he married Anita Gayle Neeld in Galveston, Texas. They lived in Pasadena, Texas before moving to Duncan, Oklahoma in the mid 1980’s. He lived there the rest of his life.

Together they would have 6 children, 2 sons and 4 daughters.

• Alex
• Bobby
• Jana
• Lisa
• Lori
• Renita

He died on November 7, 2007 in Duncan, Oklahoma and was buried in Comanche, Oklahoma. (find a grave)

Duncan Banner Newspaper published is obituary on Sunday November 11,2007.

ALEX “JAKE” JESSY RICHARDSON, 72, of Duncan, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007, at his home in Duncan.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the City Heights Baptist Church in Duncan, with Rev. Jimmy Green officiating. Burial will be in the Fairlawn Cemetery under direction of Comanche Funeral Home.

Jake was born July 5, 1935 in Paradise, Texas, to Rubin and Mary Phillips Richardson.

He married Anita Neeld on Oct. 26, 1970, in Galveston, Texas, and they made their home in Pasadena, Texas.

They moved to Duncan in the mid 1980’s, where they have lived ever since.

Jake owned and operated A.J.R. Construction, doing cement work and constructing metal buildings. He enjoyed playing pool and loved playing the guitar.

He is survived by his wife, Anita Richardson of the home; two sons, Bobby Richardson and his wife Jolyn of Roosevelt, Utah, and Alex Richardson of Duncan; four daughters, all of Duncan, Lisa Thomas and her husband Mike, Lori Bates and her husband Tim, Renita Hackler and Floyd, and Jana England; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren; six sisters, Kittie McReynolds, Pat Scifres and Betty Heard, all of Weatherford, Texas, Ada Sellers of Azle, Texas, Bille Reed of Stigler, and Bobbie Heberling of Spokane, Wash.

Jake is preceded in death by his parents, one brother and seven sisters.

He was born on  June 10, 1898, in Texas. We know when he was born thanks to his draft registration card, which he filled out when he was 20 years old.

This document also revealed that he had blue eyes and brown hair, and his closing living relative was Vivian Richardson – his wife (Mary Vivian Phillips), who he had recently married.

Rubin Nemon Richardson should not be confused with R A “rube” Richardson (aka R A “rube” Richardson) who was born on April 11, 1903 on Montague County, Texas. They are not the same. Rube died on December 19, 1966 in Texas. Rubin Nemon died 6 years prior on May 6, 1960 in Colville, Washington.

At the age of 18 (maybe 19?), Rubin Nemon Richardson married his beloved Mary Vivian Phillips. The marriage took place on July 10, 1917, in Decatur which is in  Wise County, Texas.

Within a year (August 31, 1918), they had their first child. She was born in Paradise, which is in Wise County, Texas. Paradise, Texas, is located about 1 hour and 15 minutes NW of Dallas.

By 1930, he moved from Paradise to what is today Waurika, Oklahoma (according to the 1930 census).

Here is a copy of the 1930 US Census where he was living with his wife, 7 of his children, his brother George, and his sister-in-law Admy. It would be easy to assume this is George’s wife, but if that was the case the “Admy” has to be her nickname. George’s wife was Francis Mozelle or possibly Mozelle Francis.

At the age of 41, Rubin Namon Richardson was married and living in Hood, Texas, which is just southwest of Fort Worth – less than a 1-hour drive.

The 1940 US Census tells us that in 1934, he lived in a rural area on a farm, where he rented his home for the insane amount of $2 a month.

At that time, he was employed as a salesman. He completed one year of college. Now, the odd thing about that was that the previous line said he did not attend school or college. Considering the low amount of money he made per year, I would say he probably did not actually attend college.

In the 1930 census, he said he could read and write but that he had not attended school.

At the time of the 1940 census, he was working 60 hours a week and earned $600, which he used to support his nine children, one of which was my grandfather, RN Richardson (Reuben Richardson).

I researched this, and it said that the average male in 1940 earned $956 a year, meaning that RN earned well below average. But he also paid significantly less for rent than the average family did back then.

In 1940, the average monthly rent in a rural area was $18, and Rubin reported only paying $2 a month. That gives him an extra $192 a year, but that still puts him well below others in earnings, especially if you consider that he worked all year long (52 weeks) and put in an average of 60 hours a week. Now throw in the fact that he supported 12 kids and a wife on this income. How crazy is that?

Before getting a salesman job, he was employed as a Tennant farmer. Farming is something he has done his whole life. Heck, he was even working the fields as farm labor even when he was just 12 years old.

The hard part about researching Rubin is that his name is spelled in so many ways. Here are just some of the variations I have found …

• Rubin Nemon Richardson
• Rubin Neamon Richardson
• Reuben Namon Richardson
• Rubin Richardson
• Namon Richardson
• Nemon Richardson
• RN Richardson
• R.N. Richardson
• Reuben Neiman
• Rubin
• Ruby Richardson

It’s oftentimes hard to find proof of people’s birth and who is related to who when you start going back further in time, but as luck would have it, Rubin was living with his mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather during the 12th census of the United States of America in 1900.

If you click the image to expand it, you can see that at the time, he was listed simply as Namon, and he was 1.

His father and grandfather both listed their employment as farmers.  If you look closely at the entries relating to Mary (his grandmother) and Ada (his mother), it says that Mary is the mother of 6 children, 6 of which are living at this time, while Ada is the mother of 3 children, only 2 of which are living at this time.

They had Namon in 1899, and we know he was living, and we know their other son at that time was Roy Lee (Namon’s brother) who was born in 1900, and he didn’t die until 1977.  So that means they had a child prior to Namon, sometime between their marriage in 1897 and Namon in 1889, who died.

• Rubin Namon Richardson was born in 1898 in Texas
• Death 6 May 1960 in Colville, Stevens, Washington, United States of America
• Father – William Alexander Richardson (1874 – 1971)
• Mother – Ada Mae Sheppard Richardson (1879 – 1965)

Married: Mary Vivian Phillips

• Date of Marriage:  July 10, 1917 (in Decatur, Texas).
• Mary Vivian died at the age of 92 on October 6, 1991.
• This marriage produced at least 14 children.

1. Ruby Lucille Richardson (1918 – 2001)
2. Birdie Lorene Richardson (1919 – 1975)
3. Dorthy Louise Richardson (1921-1928)
4. Kitty Levita Richardson (1923 – 2016)
5. Joy Charlene Richardson (1925  – 2005)
6. Dollie Inez Richardson (1926 – 2004)
7. Billie Jo Richardson (1928 – 1995)
8. Reuben Namon Richardson (1929 – 2002)
9. Margie Nell Richardson (1932 – 1934)
10. Bobbye Sue Richardson (December 15, 1934 – February 01, 2008)
11. Alex Jessy “Jake” Richardson (July 05, 1935 – November 07, 2007)
12. Betty Jean Richardson (1936 – )
13. Pasty Ann Richardson (1939 – 2014)
14. Hazel Irene Richardson (1941 – 1943)

Please note that Joy Charlene Richardson was born Leota Joy Richardson, at least according to the Texas Birth Index and her actual birth certificate, which was filed with the state of Texas shortly after her birth (11/3/1925).

So I’m not sure why her name was changed, but somehow, between the time of her birth in 1925 and then the 1930 US census, she became Joy Charlene instead of Leota Joy, and I have yet to find out why. But don’t worry, I’m working on it!

Variations in how to spell a name aren’t restricted to just males. Here is the legal death certificate of Rubin’s daughter, Birdie Lorene, who died in 1975. You’ll notice they spell her name “Berdie Lorene.” In the 1920 census, she was listed as “Lorene Richardson,” and in the 1930 census, she was “Lorine,” and on the Texas county marriage records, she was listed as “Bertie Lorene.”

Rubin Nemon Richardson is my great-grandfather

I always wondered why Rubin was in Washington, of all places, when he died. Recently, however, I found that his daughter Bobbye Sue (aka Bobbie Heberling, aka Bobbye Sue Heberling) was living there. Maybe he was there visiting her.

Bobbye Sue married a man named Lawrence J. Heberling Jr., who was born (and lived his whole life) in Colville, Washington. That was the very place where Rubin Nemon died.

He was buried at the Highland Cemetery in Colville, Washington (find a grave). Why not in Oklahoma or Texas, where he lived almost all his life?  This I don’t know.

His beloved wife would go on to live until October 6, 1991. She would be buried in Parker County, Texas (find a grave). This means she was alive when Rubin Namon died in 1960. That’s always the part that confused me. There is no record of a divorce. So, if his wife was alive and living in Texas when he died, why was he not buried where she was living? Maybe it was too expensive to send his body back home when he was there visiting and died. Perhaps he was living with his daughter due to his advanced age? Sadly, all of his children are now dead, so perhaps we’ll never know the answer to this mystery.

Now, let’s go back to the spelling of his name: “Rubin Nemon Richardson” vs. “Rubin Namon Richardson.” After extensive research, I think I finally have an answer. Even though it is spelled one way on his headstone, his daughter’s birth certificate and World War II draft registration card say that the spelling of his name is Rubin Namon Richardson, and he even signed his name Rubin Namon Richardson on that WWII draft registration card. So I feel confident in saying, without a doubt, his name was Rubin Namon Richardson.

He was known to most of his friends as RN but was also known as Reuben Namon Richardson Jr, RN Richardson, R.N. Richardson, Reuben Neiman, or Rubin. Like his father before him, there are so many variations of his name, it really does make it hard to find documents regarding his life.

• Born on 23 Mar 1929 in Waurika, Oklahoma
• Died on 28 Sep 2002 in Bowie, Texas

* Please note that some sources say RN’s birthday is March 23, 1929 but as you can see by his gravestone, it clearly says March 21, 1929.  However later evidence has come up to show his actual birthday was March 23, despite what the Navy may say.

His father is Rubin Nemon Richardson and and his mother is Mary Vivian Phillips.

On March 12, 1946 he enlisted in the United States Navy. This was just after the end of World War II – well sort of. The actual peace treaty between Japan and most of the Allies (the Treaty of San Francisco) was not signed until 1951 and did not take effect until 1952. However if you want to get technical, for the purposes of computing veterans’ benefits, the US Government views World War II as having ended on December 31, 1946.

In 1947 he served on the USS Southerland. The ship number or designation was DD-743 or 0441-0743. His last listing on a WW II Navy Muster Roll for the USS Southerland was on Feb 17, 1947.

By April 25, 1948 he was serving on the USS Piedmont. The ship number or designation was AD-17.

Recently I happened upon his record of Naval Discharge. It shows he was a World War II Victory Medal and a China Service Medal. It was filed on March 29, 1950.

This document shows us again that his birthday is March 23, 1929 in Waurika, OK and he entered the service on March 12, 1946. His service # which is 986 8226.

While in the Navy he served on the …

• USS Penner
• USS Southerland
• USS Piedmont
• USS Rupertus

After faithfully serving our country and fighting for our freedom he was honorably discharged in San Deigo, California on December 27, 1949.  His service number was 986 82 26.

Some other sources list his release date as December 27, 1953 however as you can see by the official document below the real date is December 27, 1949 and not December 27, 1953.

You will notice on the certificate below he was a Fireman, which according to the Navy’s official website is a part of the Engineering and Hull specialties.

Married: Alice Joann Price

• Date of Marriage: August 26, 1950 in Henrietta, Texas
• Date of Divorce:  December, 1957 in Oklahoma City, OK

This marriage produced 3 children.

• Benjamin Wayne Richardson (July 19, 1951)
• Joanna Richardson (February 19, 1954)
• Frankie Richardson (November 22, 1955)

After leaving my grandmother he married a lady named Nancy Lee Stewart and together they had three children. They later divorced but I’m not sure when that was.

• Reuben N Richardson III (August 11, 1960-2005)
• Alex Stuart Richardson (June 26, 1961 -)
• Vivian Gail Richardson (June 26, 1961 -)

Despite what his gravestone may say, RN was born on March 23, 1929.

RN was buried at the Granbury Cemetery in Hood County, Texas which is about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Forth Worth, Texas. Turns out he lived his final years only a few hours away from the grandchildren that wanted to find him for most all of their lives.

Reuben Namon Richardson is my paternal grandfather