Amon Grimsley Richardson was named after Daniel Amon Grimsley, who was born in April 3, 1840 near old Mt. Salem church in Culpepper. It’s curious why Amanda would name her son after a confederate soldier.
Daniel was the son of Reverend Barnett Grimsley who performed many of the marriages in the county. Daniel Grimsley was a confederate soldier in the Rappahannock Calvary, Company B. He went from orderly to Sergeant to Major and Lieutenant-colonel of the Sixth Virginia Calvary. He wrote a book entitled "Battles in Culpeper County, Virginia 1861-1865 ". On May 23, 1862, he led a cavalry charge which historically may be one of the top charges of all time. Amon Grimsley’s company practically destroyed a Federal regiment and captured its colonel, and nearly 75% of the men were killed or wounded. General Stonewall Jackson remarked that in all his military history he had never seen a cavalry charge so magnificent. Daniel Amon Grimsley became a leader in the community as well as a respected judge who married his cousin Bettie Browning in 1866.
Reverend Barnett Grimsley, was very well known throughout the county and was known to be a great orator and speaker. He pastored at the Mt. Salem church for several years. The white Fletchers and the white Harris families belonged to this church located in a vastly populated area of Rappahannock County. Areas included Fauquier, Culpeper, Washington and Gaines Crossroads. As people moved away and time went on it was abandoned around 1942. The structure of the building still stood as of 1982 and there were several attempts to restore it.
Reverend Grimsley also kept the County’s Tax books in 1863, where gold was taxed at an 8% Tax rate. Gross income at the time was taxed at 5%. Retailers paid a “Soldier’s Tax” of $20. Physicians and lawyers were assessed a fee of $50. Distillers and merchants paid a “Specific Tax” Produce was also taxed. Out of a total of 554 people there were only 15 citizens who paid taxes over $1000. Richard Harris (The Harris-Fletcher Connection) was one of them.
Amon Richardson was a survivor. He was a jack of all trades who clerked in stores, was a butcher and builder. He worked in the steel mills in Canton, Ohio until he contracted typhoid. Returning to Virginia, he met and married Hattie Fletcher. He was silent about much of his past and his son Chauncey had always been curious as to the family history, his father and their roots in Rappahannock County.
Amon built the four room house which still stands in Little Washington, Virginia on 9 acres of land. One section of the house burned down in 1926 or 27. On May 2, 1929 the year of the great stock market crash a tornado hit heavily in Woodville, it whipped through Amissville and had its effects on Little Washington.
His marriage to Hattie lasted well over 50 years. Neither Hattie nor Amon went farther than a second grade education according to the 1940 census. They worked the land which was their farm and land legacy of the Richardson family and raised 9 of 10 children