WILLIAM BRYANT RICHARDSON, III

     William Bryant Richardson, III (called "Will"), b November 21, 1866 in Alabama, d June 19, 1937 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Stranger Cemetery - was a son of William Bryant Richardson, II, b ca 1825 in North Carolina, died after December 9, 1868, and his wife, Mary Sarah Grice, who married in Sumter County, Alabama on March 17, 1847.

     The Richardson family were prominent in the politics of both North Carolina and Alabama, where they maintained large plantations before the Civil War. After the Civil War, in October 1868, the father was attacked by a freedman, resulting in a stab wound which pierced the lung - causing the death of Mr. Richardson. Because of this incident, "Will" left in the 1880's - first settling in the Odds Community of Falls County.

     In 1894, William Bryant Richardson, III was married to Elizabeth Arnett (called "Lizzie"), b September 6, 1871 at Stranger, d March 26, 1947 - a daughter of Civil War veteran, James Hansford and Phoebe (Somerville) Arnett. He purchased the former of Dr. George P. Reeves and his wife, Lula (Garrett) Reeves; and the - joining the Stranger Baptist Church, became known as "the Richardson Place." Mr. Will owned seventy-five acres of land, and for a time was a merchant at the Stranger Store. In 1903, he was baptized by the Liberty Baptist Church at Stranger (later Stranger Baptist Church), where he and Lizzie worshipped the rest of their lives.

     Will was a member of the Falls County School Board for a number of years, serving as Chairman of the Board for a time. He was on the Church Committee which wrote a resolution in memory of Robert Dudley Forbes, which was published in the Baptist Standard.

     The couple had one son, Grice Arnett Richardson (called "Jack"), b October 18, 1895, d October 19, 1974 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery - who married June 30, 1920 to Agnes Margueritte Harlan, b February 17, 1899 at Blue Ridge - a daughter of John Luther and Elizabeth ("Bettie" McGlasson) Harlan.

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 388 column 2 and page 389 column 1.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.