Notes |
- CAPT. WILLIAM PUTNAM RICHARD SON (Nathaniel, Joshua, Joshua, Nathaniel, Thomas), brother of the preceding, and youngest son of Nathaniel and Eunice (Putnam) Richardson, of Salem; born there, May 5, 1785; married, Aug. 6, 1807, DEBORAH LANG, born Sept. 23, 1785, daughter of Edward and Rachel (Ward) Lang.
He was a shipmaster in the East India trade, and afterwards a merchant in Salem. He was, at the date of his death, president of the American Insurance Company in that town.
While following the seas, he visited some of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, and performed an important service to the cause of philology, which is acknowledged in the following passage copied from the journal of the American Oriental Society, vol.i. No. 1, p. 52, Boston, 1843:
"Among the other islands, our countrymen first furnished a valuable vocabulary of the Fiji language, which supplied an important deficiency in the known vocabularies of the Polynesian family of languages."
The ensuing note then follows:
"This vocabulary was collected in the year 1811, by the late William P. Richardson, Esq., of Salem, and is made the subject of a particular notice, and acknowledgment of the late eminent philologist, Baron William Von Humboldt, to whom it was communicated about twenty years ago, in his great work entitled, Ueber die Kaui, Sprache auf der Imael Java; - that is, On the Kaui, or Oriental language of the Island of Java, 3 vols., 4to., Berlin, 1836-1839. See vol. ii. p. 29."
William Putnam Richardson died Sept. 5, 1826, aged 41 years, and 4 months. His widow Deborah died March 4, 1845, aged 59 years and 5 months. Their remains were deposited in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem.
[The Richardson Memorial, pages 631-632]
Note difference in spelling of childrens' names: Caroline Sovina and Augustus Ilsley.
[History and Genealogy of the Perley Family, page 55.]
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William Putnam Richardson (poor photo of headstone or memorial)
May 5, 1785, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
Sep. 6, 1826, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
Merchant mariner. President of the American Insurance Company. He compiled a vocabulary of Fijian languages while following his career as a ship's master. Husband of Deborah Lang. Son of Nathaniel and Eunice Putnam Richardson.
Family links:
Parents:
Nathaniel Richardson (1742 - 1796)
Eunice Putnam Richardson (1751 - 1846)
Spouse: Deborah Lang Richardson (1785 - 1845)
Children:
Augusta Ilsley Richardson (1810 - 1811)*
Siblings:
Jesse Richardson (1776 - 1814)*
Israel Richardson (1782 - 1867)*
William Putnam Richardson (1785 - 1826)
*Calculated relationship
Burial: Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA, Plot: Anemone Path
Created by: Bob on Gallows Hill
Record added: May 30, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 37713186
http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37713186
22 Jan 2017
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