34 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 



rupture in the Whig Party contributed to its defeat in Massa- 

 chusetts at the election in 1842, but the party was so compact 

 in 1 841 that its triumph was assured. Mr. Webster defended 

 his course, and with few exceptions his conduct was either 

 approved or tolerated in Massachusetts. 



THE RICHARDS FAMILY. 



A LITTLE less than three quarters of a century ago there 

 lived in Groton a family that has left a fragrant memory 

 among the older people of the town, but now is nearly for- 

 gotten by the present generation. I refer to Henry Augustus 

 Richards 's large family, of which the girls were noted for 

 their physical beauty. Some years ago I asked my friend, 

 the late Almon Danforth Hodges (H. C. 1864), who was 

 intimate with many of the members after they left Groton, to 

 give me a sketch of the family, which he did in the following 

 letter : 



Dr. Samuel A. Green. 



Dear Sir: In answer to your questions concerning the Richards 

 Family once resident in Groton, Mass., I send you the following infor- 

 mation which I have gleaned chiefly from members of the family now 

 living in Boston. 



The eldest member of the family to come to Groton was Peter 

 Richards, a native of New London, Conn., and a descendant of John 

 Richards senior, who came before 1660 to New London according to 

 its historian, Miss Caulkins. John Richards senior begat John junior, 

 who begat George, who begat Guy senior, who begat Guy junior, who 

 begat Peter, all of New London, where the family was numerous and 

 prominent. Peter's grandfather, Capt. Guy Richards, was a Revolu- 

 tionary soldier; his uncle, Capt. Peter Richards, was killed in 1781 

 at Fort Griswold after the garrison had surrendered to the British 

 under Benedict Arnold, as commemorated on the monument at 

 Groton, Conn. Peter's father was Guy Richards junior, the first City 

 Treasurer of New London, and his mother was Hannah Dolbeare, 

 and he had twelve brothers and sisters. 



