Page prepared by Mike Judd.

Jacob F Richardson left Hardin Co, KY and by 1876 was in St. Joseph, Buchanon Co, MO. It was at the home of the parents of Sarah Isabelle Pore that "Jake" and "Belle" were married on 28 Sept. 1876 by the Rev. John H Newcomb.   Their first two children (Mary Ella and Grace Alice) were born in St. Joseph in 1877 and 1880. Moving further west, this Richardson family next appears in La Veta, CO. La Veta was a small mining town at just over 7000' elevation in Huerfano County; Walsenburg is county seat. Here William Daniel is born in 1882. [At least three persons named Pore (William, Mary R. and Albert) show on the 1880 census for Huerfano Co and we hope to establish a relationship.] Next the family appears in Park City, Utah another mining town in Summit County. This remained the family home for many years. Three children George Robert, Jacob Franklin and Frances Isabelle Richardson are born here in 1884, 1886 and 1894. A mortuary business is established and in time thrives after Jake's initial work as head blacksmith at the Ontario Mine.

Richard Levy Richardson, a younger brother of Jake is also found on the 1900 census together with his wife Jennie Russel and their daughter Grace Ann who is born in 1896. While one group continues in the mortuary business the other part of the family engages in early recycling efforts, buying and selling used materials i. e. scrap, some of which go to the war effort in Europe. Tragedy strikes Jacob and Sarah twice in quick succession. First in 1902 their middle son George Robert Richardson is killed in a heroic effort to save his fellow workers in an enormous mine explosion. A total of thirty four men died as a result of that explosion, four in rescue attempts. The following year, Jacob F Jr. is accidentally shot by another young man while out hunting with their .22 rifles. He dies the following day. Family life goes on, no doubt sustained by Jacob's long time involvement with the Methodist church. Daughter Mary Ella marries William Doidge in June of 1899, Grace Alice marries Charles B. Bryant in March of 1902 and William Daniel marries Juanita Noblet on June 14, 1905.  The young families soon begin to grow.

Jake, Sarah and Frances move on to Payette Idaho where they buy a sixty acre ranch on the Fruitland Bench above the Snake River, an area of expanding fruit orchards and other agricultural pursuits. The family does well here and appears to avoid further tragedy.  Frances is married in 1913 to James Ray Farrell Jr. and  their only child Hazel Rae Farrell is born the following year. In the March 23, 1916 edition of the Payette Enterprise it is announced that young Ms Farrell has been named winner of the "Better Babies Contest" by Mrs. Madsen, President of the Mother's Circle in Fruitland.

By 1919 or 1920 the family moves to Ontario, CA in San Bernadino county. Also here are oldest son William Daniel his wife Juanita and their children. It was said that folks passing by this group moving from Utah to California in their hearse did not soon forget the occasion. [trip from Park City, Utah to Ontario, California] Soon a thriving mortuary business is established in an elegant Victorian mansion, "Belldon Hall" built in 1893, though much to the chagrin of the neighbors. "Richardson's Ambulance -- The Home of Service -- Phone 248" likewise prospers.