Alfred Russell Rich
By Spessard Stone
Alfred R. Rich, a farmer, was a pioneer settler of the Bethany community of Manatee County, Florida.
Alfred Russell Rich was born February 27, 1856 in Decatur County, Georgia. Commonly known as "Doc," he was the son of Alfred and Martha Rich. In Decatur County on March 1, 1874, he married Mary Evaline Stewart, born July 29, 1856, Worth County, Georgia, daughter of William Bright Stewart and Nancy Hartford (Webb) Stewart.
In the fall of 1874, a wagon train formed in Decatur County, Georgia. The party, which consisted of the Stewart, Rich, Swain, and Bryant families, reached Manatee County, Florida in December after a six-week journey.
Eliza Stewart Allen (Mrs. William Henry Allen) in "When We Came to Florida" related in part Alfred and Evaline's part in the migration:
“The night we stopped in Jefferson County, Florida, at the Aucilla River, Sister Evaline's baby was born. They took an oxcart off the axles and set it on the ground for her. She didn't have any doctor but her mother-in-law was a midwife.
"A family lived near, and when the woman heard that a baby had been born that night in the camp, she came the next day to see it. To everybody's surprise she and Evaline were old friends. They had known each other in Georgia when Evaline was working out, and that is why the rest of us did not know her. She had married and come to Florida, and they had lost track of each other. She wanted to name the baby, and she called him Jefferson Oscilla for the county and the river.
"We waited five days and then started off again. Mother was worried because they say that if a baby crosses a stream of running water before it is nine days old it will die. Little Jeff did not live to be grown but he was twelve years old when he died."
The Rich family first lived in Fort Green where Alfred farmed. The census of 1880 Manatee County listed the Alfred Rich family in the Fort Green area. Neighbors included the families of: Harriet Carlton, James and Martha Holloway, Henry E. and Cordelia Carlton, J. H. and Elizabeth Albritton, Noah and Lucinda Albritton. In the 1880s, they resettled in the area known as Bethany or Rye in Manatee County.
The Manatee Baptist Church of Christ, Rye post office, was organized in March 1888. (The name was later changed to Bethany Baptist Church.) On March 12, 1888 Alfred R. Rich was baptized into Bethany Church. On January 27, 1889, Alfred and J. R. Swain were ordained as the church's first deacons. Mary E. Rich had been baptized into the fellowship of Glover Baptist Church in Georgia in 1873 by Rev. Jud Combee and came by letter to Manatee Baptist Church (Bethany) by letter in 1888. Both remained faithful members until death.
Alfred Russell "Doc" Rich died October 4, 1912. He was survived by his wife, Mary E., eight sons and two sisters. Mary Stewart Rich died December 3, 1912. Eight sons, three brothers, and three sisters survived her. They are buried in the Stewart Family Cemetery, located near the head of the Manatee River, on the north side of the river's bank about 100 yards. It is about three miles east of Bethany Baptist Church, approximately one-half mile south of Highway 64. (The oldest marker is that of Martha Rich, born July 6, 1807; died July 7, 1884.)
Issue of Alfred R. and Mary (Stewart) Rich:
1. Jefferson Oscilla Rich, born November 22, 1874; died September 1888.
2. Washington Wesley Rich, born May 8, 1877; died June 18, 1932; married Dora Gill.
3. Elvira Rich, born 1878; died young.
4. William Jackson Rich, born April 2, 1879; died April 21, 1952; a bachelor.
5. Dempsey Alfred Rich, born February 5, 1881; died September 1888.
6. Abner Rufus Rich, born March 15, 1883; died June 10, 1935; married on December 28, 1911 Martha �Mattie� Winifred Alderman.
7. Grover Cleveland Rich, born December 16, 1884; died April 17, 1966; married on February 18, 1922 Alice Ange Rich, daughter of Hendrick and Lily (Locklear) Ange and widow of Samuel Augustus Rich.
8. Oscar Jordan Rich, born September 30, 1886; died February 26, 1962; married on January 4, 1914 Lena Ada Dupree, daughter of Lewis and Frances (McLeod) Dupree.
9. Blevins Lisco Rich, born May 13, 1888; died August 6, 1952; married on February 2, 1909 Lora Gertrude Kersey, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Duffield) Kersey.
10. Samuel Augustus Rich, born June 26, 1890; died February 22, 1921; married on February 15, 1913 Alice Ange, daughter of Hendrick and Lily (Locklear) Ange.
11. Orrin Randolph Rich, born May 25, 1892; died April 8, 1973; married (1) Cleo Patra; (2) Ouida Marie Carmichael; (3) Willie Q. ______.
References: Eliza Stewart Allen, "When We Came to Florida;" Mrs. Vera Dupree of Myakka City; Sam H. "Bill" Rich of Wauchula; Clyde Stephens, Stephens Ancestors and Pioneer Relatives, 1982, pp. 110, 116; Bethany Church obituaries of Alfred Rich & Mary E. Rich; Carolyn Locklear Barclay, The History of Bethany Baptist Church, June 2005, pages 397, 486-491.
This profile is adapted from my article in The Herald-Advocate of October 8, 1987.
February 11, 2001, October 17, 2001, July 16, 2005
