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BETSEY MORRIS RICHARDSON BRASSFIELD 1796 - 1865
Elizabeth (Betsey) Morris, eldest daughter of William Morris and Charlotte Warner, was born in 1796 (1850 Census) and died on her place on Lee's Creek in 1865.
In 1819 she married Stephen Richardson, son of Hardy Richardson and his wife Fanny Mizell, late migrants from Georgia. This marriage was among the first recorded for Washington Parish.
The first place that Stephen Richardson took his wife was on the claim of land near his mother, widow Fanny Richardson. He soon bought a place at Sheriff's sale on July 9, 1825, which had been the property of James Foster on Pearl River. (His brother Benjamin Richardson was sheriff at the time.) This brought the Richardson family to the eastern section of the parish.
Betsey Richardson reared only 4 children:	Stephen	Decator	b. Aug. 6, 1826,
d? Feb. 22, 1866; William Porter b. Aug. 4, 1824, d. Sept. 11, 1875; Hardy Richardson b. Apr. 20, 1822, d. July 5, 1883; and a dau. Charlotte Richardson b. 1820, d. 1861, who married John Pool.
Betsey Richardson was a strong Christian, presumably Methodist in her earlier years, but a member of old Union Church (Baptist) at the time of her death. She was buried by the old Elder Isom Johnson Pounds.
It is known that Betsey operated a water mill (saw and grist mill) on the banks of old Lea's (Lee's) Creek during her lifetime, but it has often been thought that it had been built by her second husband, Thomas Jefferson Brass-field. A recently found bill entitled "Money Disbursed by Stephen D. Richardson? makes it appear otherwise. This bill must have been part of the Succession of the elder Stephen Richardson that died prior to 1840.
Items of interest on the mentioned bill were:	goods bought in New Orleans
$58.00; bill of goods bought in Baton Rouge $73.00; paid H. Kemp for lumber $62.00; paid Dennis's Jim for fixing mill saw $4.60; paid McCoy for fixing mill irons $3.00.
The lumber and mill saw make it appear that the elder Steve had put in the water mill on Lea's Creek before his death.
The following is the legend that has been handed down on the cause of the death of Stephen Richardson:	Stephen died before his mother Fanny Richardson,
who passed away in 1837. It is doubtful that he had reached his 40th birthday before his untimely death. It seems that Steve was following in the footsteps of his Richardson forebears in keeping with political ambitions. His brother Benjamin Richardson was state representative in the 1830's, so Steve was away from home a great deal assisting his brother with his legislative duties. He was a man of overpowering strength and ambition, so he was called upon by his brother to assist him and serve his fellow neighbors. He was very much overweight, but this did not hinder his working capacity.
He returned home from an early spring session and found that the negroes had let his crop go to ruin with grass and weeds. He set to work himself hoeing and plowing as well as prodding his slaves to put forth more effort. In the
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