V. F. Richeson
V. F. Richeson
born in Taylor
County, KY
died in Corpus
Christi, Tex
Oct 18, 1896
Asleep in Jesus
Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales
Biography
This young man was far from home when he died on 18 October 1896. However, he may have been familiar with other local families who had made the long trip from Kentucky to south Texas in the nineteenth century. According to his grave marker, V. F. Richeson was born 13 February 1867 in Taylor County, Kentucky. Records indicate his first name is “Virgil†and he is the ninth child born to George Giles Richeson and Nancy Lillard Collins. Taylor County is located in south central Kentucky and was formed from Green County in 1848. Virgil’s father was born in Green County, and for that reason was part of the founding families of Taylor County. The county is named for Kentucky soldier General Zachary Taylor. Taylor had fought at Ft. Harrison in the War of 1812. He had fought also in the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the encounters with the Florida Seminole Indians in 1837. He is associated closely with Corpus Christi and Old Bayview Cemetery because of his presence in this area in 1845 prior to the conflict between America and Mexico. His soldiers from the army of observation were the first buried in Old Bayview Cemetery. Some records indicate that Virgil’s father, George Giles Richeson, was born in Green County 1 July 1832 and died there 23 June 1891. He married Virgil’s mother, Nancy Lillard Collins, on 3 June 1850 in what was by this time Taylor County. Nancy was born in nearby Franklin County on 2 May 1830 and bore at least 11 known children prior to her death on 12 May 1893. As noted, Virgil was the ninth child born of this union. It is unknown whether he married or not prior to his arrival in south Texas. He is found with his parents and siblings as late as 1880 (federal census page 55B) in Taylor County, Kentucky. At that time the family is recorded as living in the county seat of Campbellsville. It may be that Virgil traveled south after the death of his father (1891) and mother (1893) to be with relatives or acquaintances from Kentucky. Numerous transplants from Kentucky are found in Old Bayview Cemetery. Or it may be that he came here simply to participate in the development that had been initiated in south Texas with the Ropes boom. At any rate he died rather young, at only 29 years old. His tombstone testifies to the fact that he was remembered with affection by family or friends as the stone is a simple, but impressive marker.
Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell