Col. Richard Chichester was born 1736 and died 22 AUG 1796. He was the 2nd son of Richard Chichester and Ellen Ball. He married 1st Ann Gordon, daughter of Col. James Gordon and Millicent Conway. He married 2nd Sarah McCarty, daughter of Capt. Daniel McCarty and Sinah Ball of 'Mount Air'. He was , through his mother, a cousin of George Washington and was referred to as 'Col.' for his assistance during the Revolution providing 272 bushels of corn to Lafayette's troops when they passed through the town of Colchester on their way to Yorktown.
He was a Justice of the County Court, a tax collector and a census taker.
Here, in an excerpt from Edith Moore Sprouse's Mount Air (1970), we learn more of Col. Richard Chichester:
"As a census taker, he listed his own household as containing nine whites and 32 Negroes. That he may not have been the kindest of masters to these is indicated by an advertisement which he placed in the Alexandria paper for a runaway weaver named Immanuel. "His back and arms much scarred with the whip, proceeding from his uncommon villainy," commented his owner. Tales have been passed down of his cruelty to his slaves, of their nicknaming him "Hard" Chichester, and what happened when he died.
When Richard Chichester died at Mount Air in the room now known as the gun room, the slaves said that the Devil ran out from under his bed in the form of a red rabbit."
"An ironic footnote has been added to the legend by the present owner. During a severe storm in the 1920's, lightening struck Chichester's tombstone and broke off a fragment of his name. When [the current owner] went over to the graveyard at Newington to investigate the damage, she could find neither the missing pieces nor any footprints on the soggy ground to explain the absence. His epitaph now reads "__hard Chichester."
Children of Richard CHICHESTER and Sarah MCCARTY are:
i. Sarah McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1767, d. , m. 1784 Thompson Mason (1759-1820)
ii. Richard McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1768, d. AFT 16 SEP 1818, m. ABT 1788 Ann Thompson Mason (1769-1817)
iii. Daniel McCarty Chichester, b. 27 FEB 1769, d. 7 AUG 1820, m. Elizabeth Gray
iv. Sinah Ellen Chichester, b. ABT 1770, d. 24 JUL 1851, m. 1st 18 OCT 1785 to John Eustace, 2nd 17 DEC 1787 to Hancock Lee (1766-1811)
v. Mary Symes Chichester, b. ABT 1772, d. 26 JAN 1836, m. 1788 to Bernard Hooe (1770-1809)
vi. Dodridge Pitt Chichester, b. ABT 1773, d. 11 JUL 1833, m. 1st Catherine Sydnor, m. 2nd Frances Sydnor
He was a Justice of the County Court, a tax collector and a census taker.
Here, in an excerpt from Edith Moore Sprouse's Mount Air (1970), we learn more of Col. Richard Chichester:
"As a census taker, he listed his own household as containing nine whites and 32 Negroes. That he may not have been the kindest of masters to these is indicated by an advertisement which he placed in the Alexandria paper for a runaway weaver named Immanuel. "His back and arms much scarred with the whip, proceeding from his uncommon villainy," commented his owner. Tales have been passed down of his cruelty to his slaves, of their nicknaming him "Hard" Chichester, and what happened when he died.
When Richard Chichester died at Mount Air in the room now known as the gun room, the slaves said that the Devil ran out from under his bed in the form of a red rabbit."
"An ironic footnote has been added to the legend by the present owner. During a severe storm in the 1920's, lightening struck Chichester's tombstone and broke off a fragment of his name. When [the current owner] went over to the graveyard at Newington to investigate the damage, she could find neither the missing pieces nor any footprints on the soggy ground to explain the absence. His epitaph now reads "__hard Chichester."
Children of Richard CHICHESTER and Sarah MCCARTY are:
i. Sarah McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1767, d. , m. 1784 Thompson Mason (1759-1820)
ii. Richard McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1768, d. AFT 16 SEP 1818, m. ABT 1788 Ann Thompson Mason (1769-1817)
iii. Daniel McCarty Chichester, b. 27 FEB 1769, d. 7 AUG 1820, m. Elizabeth Gray
iv. Sinah Ellen Chichester, b. ABT 1770, d. 24 JUL 1851, m. 1st 18 OCT 1785 to John Eustace, 2nd 17 DEC 1787 to Hancock Lee (1766-1811)
v. Mary Symes Chichester, b. ABT 1772, d. 26 JAN 1836, m. 1788 to Bernard Hooe (1770-1809)
vi. Dodridge Pitt Chichester, b. ABT 1773, d. 11 JUL 1833, m. 1st Catherine Sydnor, m. 2nd Frances Sydnor
Col. Richard Chichester was born 1736 and died 22 AUG 1796. He was the 2nd son of Richard Chichester and Ellen Ball. He married 1st Ann Gordon, daughter of Col. James Gordon and Millicent Conway. He married 2nd Sarah McCarty, daughter of Capt. Daniel McCarty and Sinah Ball of 'Mount Air'. He was , through his mother, a cousin of George Washington and was referred to as 'Col.' for his assistance during the Revolution providing 272 bushels of corn to Lafayette's troops when they passed through the town of Colchester on their way to Yorktown.
He was a Justice of the County Court, a tax collector and a census taker.
Here, in an excerpt from Edith Moore Sprouse's Mount Air (1970), we learn more of Col. Richard Chichester:
"As a census taker, he listed his own household as containing nine whites and 32 Negroes. That he may not have been the kindest of masters to these is indicated by an advertisement which he placed in the Alexandria paper for a runaway weaver named Immanuel. "His back and arms much scarred with the whip, proceeding from his uncommon villainy," commented his owner. Tales have been passed down of his cruelty to his slaves, of their nicknaming him "Hard" Chichester, and what happened when he died.
When Richard Chichester died at Mount Air in the room now known as the gun room, the slaves said that the Devil ran out from under his bed in the form of a red rabbit."
"An ironic footnote has been added to the legend by the present owner. During a severe storm in the 1920's, lightening struck Chichester's tombstone and broke off a fragment of his name. When [the current owner] went over to the graveyard at Newington to investigate the damage, she could find neither the missing pieces nor any footprints on the soggy ground to explain the absence. His epitaph now reads "__hard Chichester."
Children of Richard CHICHESTER and Sarah MCCARTY are:
i. Sarah McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1767, d. , m. 1784 Thompson Mason (1759-1820)
ii. Richard McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1768, d. AFT 16 SEP 1818, m. ABT 1788 Ann Thompson Mason (1769-1817)
iii. Daniel McCarty Chichester, b. 27 FEB 1769, d. 7 AUG 1820, m. Elizabeth Gray
iv. Sinah Ellen Chichester, b. ABT 1770, d. 24 JUL 1851, m. 1st 18 OCT 1785 to John Eustace, 2nd 17 DEC 1787 to Hancock Lee (1766-1811)
v. Mary Symes Chichester, b. ABT 1772, d. 26 JAN 1836, m. 1788 to Bernard Hooe (1770-1809)
vi. Dodridge Pitt Chichester, b. ABT 1773, d. 11 JUL 1833, m. 1st Catherine Sydnor, m. 2nd Frances Sydnor
He was a Justice of the County Court, a tax collector and a census taker.
Here, in an excerpt from Edith Moore Sprouse's Mount Air (1970), we learn more of Col. Richard Chichester:
"As a census taker, he listed his own household as containing nine whites and 32 Negroes. That he may not have been the kindest of masters to these is indicated by an advertisement which he placed in the Alexandria paper for a runaway weaver named Immanuel. "His back and arms much scarred with the whip, proceeding from his uncommon villainy," commented his owner. Tales have been passed down of his cruelty to his slaves, of their nicknaming him "Hard" Chichester, and what happened when he died.
When Richard Chichester died at Mount Air in the room now known as the gun room, the slaves said that the Devil ran out from under his bed in the form of a red rabbit."
"An ironic footnote has been added to the legend by the present owner. During a severe storm in the 1920's, lightening struck Chichester's tombstone and broke off a fragment of his name. When [the current owner] went over to the graveyard at Newington to investigate the damage, she could find neither the missing pieces nor any footprints on the soggy ground to explain the absence. His epitaph now reads "__hard Chichester."
Children of Richard CHICHESTER and Sarah MCCARTY are:
i. Sarah McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1767, d. , m. 1784 Thompson Mason (1759-1820)
ii. Richard McCarty Chichester, b. ABT 1768, d. AFT 16 SEP 1818, m. ABT 1788 Ann Thompson Mason (1769-1817)
iii. Daniel McCarty Chichester, b. 27 FEB 1769, d. 7 AUG 1820, m. Elizabeth Gray
iv. Sinah Ellen Chichester, b. ABT 1770, d. 24 JUL 1851, m. 1st 18 OCT 1785 to John Eustace, 2nd 17 DEC 1787 to Hancock Lee (1766-1811)
v. Mary Symes Chichester, b. ABT 1772, d. 26 JAN 1836, m. 1788 to Bernard Hooe (1770-1809)
vi. Dodridge Pitt Chichester, b. ABT 1773, d. 11 JUL 1833, m. 1st Catherine Sydnor, m. 2nd Frances Sydnor
Inscription
SACRED
To the memory of
...HARD CHICHESTER
...arted this life Aug. 22, 1796,
..his wife who died June the 25, 1826.
(S.A.R. medallion beside stone, left side of stone missing)
Family Members
Children
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