From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
Temperance Smith Richards came to Dallas in the early 1870’s from her home in Barbour County, Alabama by way of Upshur County, Texas. Temperance was born circa 1824 in Georgia, the daughter of Isaih Smith (born 1796, South Carolina) and Elizabeth Grice (born 1803, North Carolina). Tempy, as she was called, was married on September 14, 1845 to Thomas Williamson Richards (born April 23, 1824, Coosa County, Alabama), son of William Henry Richards and Nancy Warren.
By the time of the Civil War, Tempy and Thomas had nine children. Thomas joined the Confederate Army and served in Company B, 4th Battalion (Loves), Alabama Cavalry. On June 10, 1864 he failed to answer roll call and· on June 11, 1864 the Union Army records show him listed as a prisoner. He was captured at the Battle of Spotsylvania in Virginia and died September 10, 1864 while a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Maryland. Tempy also had two sons in the war and lost her eighteen-year-old to the southern cause.
As a widow with seven young children (her oldest son was married by this time), Tempy found it difficult to make a living in the war-torn South. With only worthless Confederate money, she attempted to move her family to Texas in search of a better life. Family tradition has it that Tempy used her war hero husband’s Masonic certificate to aid her family in their journey. She showed the certificate to other Masons along the way, and they in turn would fill her wagon with needed food and supplies to see her family safely to Texas. This certificate is in the possession of her great grand daughter, Mrs. Emil Patrick Reed of Dallas.
Tempy and her family lived for a while in Upshur County, Texas, where records of the Enon Baptist Church show her as a member in 1867. Three sons and one daughter continued to live in Upshur County; but Tempy, three other daughters and one son moved to Dallas. The date she moved to Dallas is not known; she died in Dallas on August 6, 1874 and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery near the convention center in downtown Dallas.
Descendants of Temperance Smith Richards are mainly in the Dallas and East Texas areas. Her daughter Mary Jane married William C. Htsung and raised their family of twelve in Dallas. Their daughter, Harriet Marie Htsung, married W. F. English and lived on Bob O’Links Dr. in the Lakewood area. Their daughter, Mrs. Emil Reed, still lives in her mother’s home. Both Mrs. Reed and her daughter, Mrs. Fletcher (Libby) Redwine, have been active in the Jane Douglas Chapter of the DAR and other historical organizations.
Of Temperance’s family that stayed in East Texas, James Marion Richards, her oldest son, and his wife, Anna Arabella Lee, raised their family in Upshur County. Many of their descendants are found throughout East Texas. Descended from Temperance, through James Marion, is Mrs. Hal (Sarah) Hunter, originally of Sulphur Springs, Texas, now living in Dallas with her husband and two sons, Lee and Lane. She is a former history teacher for the Richardson Independent School District and is currently a curator for the Dallas Historical Society.
By Sarah Hunter, Dallas
