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Elias Richards or Elijah Rickard

17 visible archived posts · 17 preserved total · topic ID 2237

lauher 15 Sep 2007

Back in July I was fortunate enough to buy an early American handcuff marked ER. The cuffs have been commonly said to have been made by Elias Richards.

In his excellent book, Tom Gross shows a ER leg iron which he attributes to Elias Richards and he mentions that Elias Richards made the handcuff that held the abolitionist John Brown in 1859. These same details are mentioned on a number of web sites and other sources. The name is sometimes given as Richard without the s.

In the book The Padlock Collector A Price Guide by Franklin M. Arnall a list of lock companies is given. It includes a succession of three lock companies or makers.

1. Michael Rickard of Shephardstown, West Virginia,
2. Elijah Rickard c. 1830-1840. The first company to mark a railroad name on a lock. Successor to Michael Rickard
3. James Rickard, successor to Elijah Rickard

In the book three padlocks are attributed to Elijah Rickard. On is a 2 ¼ x 2 inch tube lock marked ER. The body of the lock is very similar to the ER handcuff and was almost certainly made by the same company. The other two padlocks are similar and are marked ER and B&O for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. One is made of brass and the other iron. They have a chain attached as is common for railroad switch locks.

Having read Arnalls book I went to the web. A search of Elijah Rickard brings up the following genealogy page.
http://www.geocities.com/dalemorrow/ric90.htm

It gives the following report of the Michael Rickard family.

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Michael RICKARD, d. bef. 28 Oct 1821, m. 2 Jun 1797, (91) Elizabeth SHINDLER, d/o Conrad SHINDLER, Sr. Michael RICKARD was a whitesmith. He made locks, hardware, guns, and small implements of unforged metal. He supposedly invented the screw lock, a peculiar caliper shaped lock which can only be opened by screwing a key in place. for many years these locks were used by the B&O Railroad for switch locks. The handcuffs used on John Brown were made by Michael RICKARD. He wrought the escutcheon of the great door not St. Peter's Church in 1795. His will was written on 31 Jul 1809, and probated 28 Oct 1821. Elizabeth SHINDLER previously was married to a JACKMAN, and had a son Elijah JACKMAN. This child changed his name to Elijah Jackman RICKARD. (WVJEB5,6)

Children:
91.1 Elijah Jackman RICKARD b. 27 Mar 1795
90.1 Mary Elizabeth (Polly) RICKARD b. 1798.....See #44/45
90.2 Nancy (Ann) RICKARD b. 1803
90.3 Eliza RICKARD b. 1808
and there may have been others

91.1-Elijah Jackman RICKARD, b. 27 Mar 1795 (adopted by Michael RICKARD), s/o Elizabeth SHINDLER, d. 11 Jun 1879, m. Elisabeth LEVICK, b. 1798, d. 10 Sep 1862. (SC***WVJE13)

Children:
91.1 Elisabeth Ann RICKRAD b. 17 Sep 1819 d. 24 Jun 1900
91.2 William RICKARD b. 1 Apr 1823 d. 13 Feb 1825
91.3 John Leland RICKARD b. 26 Sep 1825 d. 20 Oct 1905
91.4 James Richard RICKARD b. 21 Feb 1828 d. 26 Aug 1909
91.5 Mary Ellen RICKARD b. 16 Mar 1830 d. 17 FEb 1888
91.6 Virginia RICKARD b. 5 Mar 1832 d. 2 Feb 1934
91.7 Maria Adeline b. 22 Dec 1834 d. 22 Oct 1920

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The Research Record of Michael RICKARD
and Elizabeth SHINDLER
BIRTH:
PARENTS:
CHILDREN:
DEATH:
OBITUARY:
CEMETERY:
MARRIAGE:
Michael RICKARD m. 2 Jun 1979 Elizabeth SHINDLER. (WVJEB5)
FAMILY BIBLE:

Michael RICKARD. Not a true bible record, but a partial list of children, marriages, etc., found in the LICKLIDER scrapbooks. These numbers are for this document only. 1) Eliza RICKARD m. Samuel HUMRICHOUSE. 1a) George HUMRICHOUSE m. Sarah MILLER, had 1a1) Ada m. Thomas MILLER, 1a2) William m. Lu Spohn, 1a3) Samuel m. Nellie Bennett, 1a4)Yevie? m. Boyd KELLER, 1b) Maria HUMRICHOUSE, 1c) Ellen HUMRICHOUSE m. a HOFFMAN. 2) Polly (Mary) RICKARD m. Joseph ENTLER. 2a) Phillip m. ?, 2b) Ellen m. John LITTLE, 2b1) Lewis C. LITTLE, 2c) Annie Eliza n.m., 2d) Joseph n.m., 2e) Mary Louise m. Walter HERRINGTON, 2f) Cato Moore m. Catherine BOWEN, 2f1) Sallie n.m., 2f2) Mary Elizabeth m. William A. FULK. (O12)

Elijah RICKARD. Births: Elisabeth Levick RICKARD b. 1798; Elijah RICKARD was born Mar 27th. 1795; Deaths: Elisabeth RICKARD died Sep 10th '62; Elijah RICKARD died June 11th 1879; Children of Elijah and Elisabeth RICKARD; Elisabeth Ann RICKARD b. 17 Sep 1819 d 24 Jun 1909, m. VAN HARP 23 Sep 1840; William RICKARD b. 1 Apr 1823 d. 12 Feb 1825; John Leland RICKARD b. 26 Sep 1825, d. 20 Oct 1905; James Richard RICKARD b. 21 Feb 1828, d. 26 Aug 1909; Mary Ellen RICKARD b. 16 Mar 1830, d. 17 Feb 1888; Virginia RICKARD, b. 5 Mar 1832, d. 12 Feb 1834; Maria Adeline RICKARD, b. 22 Dec 1834, 22 Oct 1920. (BR16)
RELIGION:
OCCUPATION:
WILL:
Michael RICKARD: written 31 Jul 1809, probated 28 Oct 1821, names widow Elizabeth Jackman RICKARD, daughters Polly, Nancy, and Eliza, son Elijah Jackman RICKARD. (WVJEB5)
ESTATE RECORDS:
DEEDS:
Elizabeth RICKARD to Jacob Sensabaugh, 1812, B&S, Book 7, p473 (WVJE6)

CENSUS:
1810 Michael RICKARD, Shepherdstown, 2 males 10-16 (Elijah, ?); 1 male 45-up (Michael); 1 female 0-10; 1 female 10-16 (Mary); 2 females 16-26; 1 female 26-45 (Elizabeth). (WVJE8)

1860 Elijah RICKARD, 65, white-smith, $2000, $300, b. VA; Elizabeth 62; James R. 23, Mary E., 27, Maria A., 25, all b. VA. (WVJE8)
INTERVIEWS:
HISTORY:
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This record is remarkably consistent with the information in Franklin Aranalls padlock book. Michael Rickard has an adopted son named Elijah who goes on to have a son named James. Michael was from Shephardstown West Virginia. (Of course it would have been Virgina in his day.)

The only discrepancy is the attribution of the B&O locks and the John Brown handcuffs to Michael and not Elijah. Michael is said to have died by 1821. This would be too early for the B&O and much too early for John Brown. The dates are just right for Elijah who born in 1795 and who the census of 1860 lists as a whitesmith.

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Thus we have two names and two stories for "ER". What we need is some additional facts that will help us sort out the true story.

Joe

Franklin 15 Sep 2007

Hi Joe:

The term "whitesmith" referred to what is today called a locksmith. The forging process for wrought iron, heating the iron and cooling it with water, left a very dark, almost black, surface oxidation on the metal; hence the term "blacksmith." The lockmaker, however, worked the iron cold, sawing and filing his creations into final form, thereby removing the black surface oxidation and leaving the metal "white."

As for the various names, folks in earlier times were not always so anal retentive about names and their spelling, and with people often having limited literacy, phonetic spelling often resulted. Even today, due to the affection or esteem we may have for a person, any individual may be called different names by different people. Hence, "Elijah" might be "Eli" to some, perhaps even "Elias" to others. Add in the fact that people often mispronounce names, and I can easily see how "Rickard" would be pronounced as "Richard." After a while, if enough people keep doing this, you just say to heck with it and go along with the flow. Pluralizing a last name was not uncommon; folks would begin to refer to the Richard family as the "Richards" and after a while that would also become ingrained.

With geneology, those details usually get recorded well after the fact, relying upon people's memories and all sorts of errors pop up. For example, when my mother died years ago, my older brother was the one who gave the coroner the information to fill in her death certificate, and my brother wasn't all that keen on details. The result was that her middle name was mispelled and her place of birth was wrong. Perhaps in future years, these errors will drive some of our descendants to distraction.

So, regardless of what ER's true birth name was, it seems you've got the right guy. The only difficulty will be that for any further research, you have to take into account all the name variations to try to form a comprehensive picture.

As for the John Brown connection, my understanding was that at his hanging, Brown was in handcuffs, but not leg irons. An eyewitness account of the event, a journalist, David Strother, wrote:

"He [John Brown] stepped from the wagon with surprising agility and walked hastily toward the scaffold, pausing a moment as he passed our group to wave his pinioned arm and bid us good morning."

So, why you'll never know for sure who all was secured using that wonderful pair of ER cuffs you have, perhaps this will add a bit to their aura.

Franklin

Edgeplay_Cgo 16 Sep 2007

I thought a whitesmith was a silversmith, but I agree with everything else you've said.

Christopher 16 Sep 2007

Amazing what you can learn on these forums.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitesmith

My question is, how did you guys learn all this stuff in the first place before there was an Internet?

lauher 16 Sep 2007

During my internet search for information on the "John Brown" connection I came upon the following web site from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. The page describes a past exhibit at the West Virginia State Museum.

http://www.wvculture.org/museum/civilwar2.html

It includes a nice picture of John Brown.

And a picture of an interesting collection of artifacts.

Here is the caption: "After Brown's raid in Harper's Ferry, the state of Virginia imprisoned him in Charlestown. This is the lock and key from the door to his cell. After his capture, he was restrained with shackles and this collar and handcuffs. This noose was used to execute Brown on December 2, 1859."

All knowledgeable handcuff collectors will recognize the Tower handcuffs. They are the swivel variation introduced by Union Hardware during the first decade of the 20th century. Obviously the authorities that hanged John Brown in 1859 had resources beyond the norm.

Joe

Unresolved image reference ↗

Edgeplay_Cgo 16 Sep 2007

I guess I stand corrected about Whitesmiths.

It's kinda scary and seriously neat when you know more about a particular subject than the museum curator, eh?

Franklin 16 Sep 2007

Joe:

Regarding your ER cuffs, presuming you have a key (and hence have fooled around with them as any of us would) when they are unlocked and the key withdrawn, are they designed so they can they can be snapped shut, or must the key be used to lock them?

Thanks,

Franklin

Joe Lauher 17 Sep 2007

Franklin

They snap shut. Except for their appearance, they are very much like a standard English Darby.

Joe

Steve Santini 17 Sep 2007

Not only are the cuffs wrong, so is the alleged "cell door lock".

It is not a cell lock but is a common mortice box lock or "carpenter's lock" used on wooden doors in the mid 1800's.

The kind of doors fitted on a house, not a cell.

Steve Santini

Brad Darling 18 Sep 2007

#10

I don't know....I'm looking at the picture and I think it might be Robin Williams

Clean sweep?

Dorson 18 Sep 2007

#11

Another thing that troubled me was the number of turns on the noose, too few turns to be an official hanging noose. I think they are counting on the fact that no one else but people like us could know what is correct and true.

-Dorson

Brad Darling 18 Sep 2007

#12

Good observation Dorson. I didn't buy that at all, but didn't think much about it.

A hangman's noose is made of about 1"-1 1/4" rope, not that hay bale stuff there, and it is wound with 13 loops.

So what do you think? Robin Williams?

Edgeplay_Cgo 18 Sep 2007

#13

Traditionally wound with thirteen turns, perhaps, but seven turns was not uncommon. Look at the photos (sorry, I don't have a reference) of the US Army hangman at Nurenburg, with the noose. Thirteen turns on 1-1/4 inch rope makes a helluva knot; one that could possibly be flexible enough to not break the neck. A seven turn noose is too short to flex, and long enough to lever off the neck.

The rope in the display looks too new, though.

I thought the noose was more suspicious than the door lock. Who knows what kind of cheap lock they'd use in a small jail, particularly if the door was backed up with a bar or a padlock.

The nooses we tied as kids, in the schoolhouse window shade strings always had thirteen turns.

Mark Lyons 18 Sep 2007

#14

Here is one guy that rolled a number 7.

mark
O--O

LK 18 Sep 2007

#15

wait in minute that's robin williams in a beard!

Edgeplay_Cgo 18 Sep 2007

#16

Actually, that looks like ME! 8-0

Since they hanged that SOB, I've been out of work as a body double.

Or was it my body double that was hanged?

Dorson 19 Sep 2007

#17

Last nite I was goiing through Yossie's site and he had taken pictures of several museums that he visited. In those pictures were alot of errors as to origin and correct ID of the various restraints. Seems this WVA site isn't the only one with errors.

-Dorson