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William ( Ritchey) Richey and his wife Delila Tinsley came to Ky.
from the Carolinas in about 1800 and settled on the Barren River
in Barren Co. There they raised their family Thomas, Salley Caldwell,
William C., James H. and K.A. Kitty Ritchey. My line is through Thomas.
My cousin Joyce Christopher came through the line of James H.
Joyce and her husband Jack and their son Joel came to ky.
from their home in IN. to help restore the old Richey cemetery in
southern Barren co. in the fall of 2001.
After cleaning the area of dead trees and other items , we fenced the area.
Jack bought a new gate for the cemetery lot and they came down this spring to install the gate.
There were markers for James H. and his family and only old field stones for the rest of the graves.
We tried to make out the crude carving on the old field stones, but had a hard time in doing so. As we were working around the old field stones,
the sun's rays hit this one stone just right, and we could read 1784.
We knew William was born in that year, so I dug up the stone and brought it home and cleaned it. Lo and behold, I uncovered the initials W R
Borned May 1784. I knew we had discovered the grave of our old ancester. There was an unusual line scribed under the info.
I am thinking Old William made his own marker and scribed the line under the info. as to say I've done my part. After I am gone you do the rest.
Well, finally after 128 years William has a new marker.
Joyce bought the new marker and I installed it in front of the old marker.
William was living with James H. in 1870 according to the 1870 census.
The cemetery is on the James H. Richey farm ,about 200 yards from the old homestead which is still being occupied by Eugene Green family who
now owns the farm. Eugene's wife Becky is also a decendant of William.
I would like to clarify the different spelling of the family name.
Originally it was spelled Ritchey. In 1859, according to the Hopewell church records the "T" was dropped from the name.
The above information simply shows , never give up.
If you have the will and work hard you will find what you are looking for.
James Richey

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