Formerly part of Itawamba County, Mississippi
Now part of Lee County, Mississippi

		Updates
The town of Richmond in the mid 1800's was a very busy and quite prosperous place.  For a brief period it was the largest town in what is today Lee County, but when the railroads bypassed the hills that Richmond sat on for the flat bottoms to the west, the town was doomed.  Today there is nothing left of the old town, but there are a number of accounts and stories to help keep it from totally fading from memory.  Many of the families of old Richmond still live in the immediate area.  The Shumperts, Morgans, Husseys, Pettigrews, Poseys, and Evans found in the Lee County phone book are evidence that many descendants still inhabit the low hills and creek bottoms of the southeasten part of the county.  But many of the most populous and well known families survive only in their female descendants.  The Stovall, Thredkeld, Boston, McGaughy, and Blythe families have almost been removed from the surnames of the local inhabitants.  But a trip to any of the nearby cemeteries will evidence that some of these vanished surnames were common, and their memory, much like that of the site itself, still exists in the town's descendants. The late Mr. Lamont Posey and Bob Shumpert, among others, have done their parts in trying to keep the memory of the town alive.  Mr. Posey himself was a vast repository for stories and information about the old town, and Bob Shumpert has worked on the town's history and done more than his share in putting the history of the site down onto paper.  In the early 1900's, a series of articles were written for the Tupelo Journal by Col. W.L. Clayton, a former resident of old Richmond.  They are among the most important materials for piecing together information about life in the now-deserted town.  This site is an attempt at keeping some of this information alive and making it accesible to those descendants across the country who are trying to find information on their families from Richmond.  Many of the inhabitants left the area before they died, or in their youth, to find a better life out west.  A number of locals moved to the area around Poteau, LeFlore County, Oklahoma, and some also went to Grayson County, Texas.  But a fair number moved north a few miles to the area around Saltillo, in what would become northern Lee County.		NEW!!!  Just put the 1900 Lee County Census - Richmond Precinct online (to a certain degree!).  The heads of families are now listed.  1900census.html NEW!!!  Article on Richmond and the Pettigrew family. Nostalgia of Richmond and  of "Rich Mums" NEW!!!  Article on the dedication of the remodeling of the Richmond Baptist Church in 1971. Dedication for Remodeled Richmond Church Also, I've been informed that the Boy's Academy (known as Martin's Academy, after one of the instructors there) was probably owned by George W. Stovall.  A few receipts have been found for pupils' tuition payments that had his signature at the bottom.  It seems that he was the one receiving payment, and it was unlikely that he was just the manager of the school.  So he probably owned the academy at least for some of the time of its existence.   - Thanks Bob Franks!! Pen-Pictures of Olden Times, July 15, 1905 - Part of an article written in the Tupelo Journal by a former old Richmond resident, Col. W.L. Clayton (it deals with Henry Martin, George W. Stovall, Annastasia Stovall, James M. Williams, Lou Williams, Owen Williams, James W. Lindsey, Martha Lindsey, W.H. Parks, Nim McGaughy, Roman Swiss Thomas, and James C. Gilstrap) Pen-Pictures of Olden Times, July 28, 1905 -A second article I've transcribed, deals with the students at the old Martin Academy.  It includes Capt. John D. Williams, Perry Nix, J.T. Richey, Whig Richey, J.S. Clayton, G.C. Bessonett, Billie Bessonett, W.C. Bessonett, Edwin R. Wren, William P. Wren, Platt Bull Fisher, James K. Polk Stovall, Dallas Stovall, Col. W.M. Pound, J.B. White, Robert L. Trice, Alfred H. Raymond.

• " Once-Thriving Lee County Town of Richmond Vanished Completely " - Good Daily Journal Article 
• " Facts of Old Richmond Town " - short article by George Bowlin Morris on Richmond
• " A Thriving City From The Past " - A 1996 article in the Daily Journal (with photos!) on the town of Richmond.  It consists of a long interview with Lamont Posey.
  
• A series of letters written to the Tupelo Journal from an old Richmond resident about the cotton crop of 1905 and efforts to rally the farmers to stick together in asking for a decent price.
• See an aerial photograph of the land where old Richmond sat!!!