Richard Lang: #3 Husband and Father
The Life and Times of Richard Lang (1744-1817), His Family and Other Related Matters
Much of what I know about Richard Lang and his family comes from secondary sources which is not ideal. Both information and evidence are incomplete in places.
This post is the third in a series of posts about Richard Lang, his family and other related matters. If you would like to read from the beginning, you can find Part #1 here:
The previous post in this series, ended with Richard escaping from custody while being conveyed from Georgia to South Carolina to stand trial. That was in 1784. Somehow Richard managed to escape on route and make his way back to his family in East Florida.
While there is a lot more to say about Richard’s eventful life after 1784, it is worth noting that he was also a husband and a father. This post, therefore, digresses a little to share what I know, or think I know, about Richard’s family and where they lived.
Wife and Children
In reality, I know very little about Richard’s wife and children. Some of what follows is not well sourced and requires a lot more work, as can be seen.
Richard married Sara Benson1. Sara was born in about 1750 in South Carolina and died on 12 October 1817 in Camden County, Georgia, age 672. They married in South Carolina in about 17663.
By cobbling together information from various places I have concluded that Richard and Sara’s children, most likely, were:
Isaac Lang born 17674 in South Carolina. He married Catharine Wildes.
Elizabeth 'Betsey' Lang born about 1773 in South Carolina. She married David Bailey.
Mary Lang born about 1775 in South Carolina. She married Francis Sterling.
Rebecca Lang born about 1777 in South Carolina. She married John Gorman.
William Lang born about 1780 in South Carolina. This William Lang may, or may not, be the William Lang who married Martha 'Patsy' Adams (my 3rd great grandparents). Many trees would have you believe that this is the case but I am not so sure. More about that in a later post in this series.
Lydia Lang born about 1782 in East Florida, British America, now Nassau County, Florida, USA. She married Jacob Summerlin.
Anna Lang born about 1784 in Spanish East Florida, now Nassau County, Florida, USA and baptised on 11 May 1790 at the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Augustine, Saint Johns, Florida5
David Lang born 1786 in Spanish East Florida, now Nassau County, Florida, USA and baptised on 7 May 1790 at the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Augustine, Saint Johns, Florida6 He married Zylpha Fouracres7.
Maria Lang born about 1788 in Spanish East Florida, now Nassau County, Florida, USA and baptised on 10 May 1793 at the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Augustine, Saint Johns, Florida8
Sara Lang born about 1789 in Spanish East Florida, now Nassau County, Florida, USA and baptised on 7 May 1790 at the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Augustine, Saint Johns, Florida9. She married Robert Hairston.
Eady Lang born about 1790 in Spanish East Florida, now Nassau County, Florida, USA. She married Robert Brown.
The gap between Isaac's birth in 1767 and Elizabeth's in abt. 1773 raises the question of whether there were other children born to Richard and Sara during those years?
Baptisms
We know that Richard was a Protestant. David, Sara, Anna and Maria were all baptised in the Catholic Diocese of San Augustine in East Florida. This is not necessarily surprising given the lack of Protestant clergy in Spanish East Florida at the time.
The record in the image below is a transcription so I am not sure to what extent it can be relied on. As shown below, some of the baptism dates differ to transcriptions on Family Search. However, the record does give an idea of how old Richard and Sara’s children may have been when they were baptised.
The transcriber of the record in the image below has commented that:
Some of the baptisms are marked “no solemne” which I am guessing means that the family was protestant, but there being no Protestant clergy here, he baptised them without the Holy Oils, etc.10
It is likely, therefore, that Richard’s children, as Protestants baptised in a Catholic church, received a more limited version of the baptism ceremony than would normally be afforded to Catholics.
This record suggests that:
Sara was 16 months old when baptised on 7 May 1790 (so born about January 1789).
[Note: This date is consistent with the Family Search transcription]11
David was 4 years old when baptised on 7 May 1790 (so born about 1786).
[Note: This date is consistent with the Family Search transcription]12
Anna was 6 when baptised in November 1790 (so born about 1784).
[Note: A transcription from the Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935 on FamilySearch indicates that Anna’s baptism was on 11 May 1790]13
Maria was 2 1/2 when baptised in October 1790 (so born about April 1788).
[Note: A transcription from the Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935 on FamilySearch indicates that Maria’s baptism was on 10 May 1793]14
The baptism transcript above also shows that Richard’s daughter, Elizabeth, had two children baptised in 1790 and his daughter, Mary, had one child baptised in 1790; the record refers to Mary and Elizabeth by their Spanish equivalents Maria and Isabela:
Maria Lang, husband Francis Sterling - the children mentioned are Isabel (Elizabeth), Juana (Jane) and Sara. These are Richard's grandchildren; and
Isabel Lang, husband David Bealy [Bailey] - the children mentioned are Juan (John) and David. These are Richard's grandchildren.
Also mentioned are 'Isaac Lang and wife Catarina Wells' and the baptism of their children. This appears to be Richard's son Isaac and his wife Catharine [Wildes] Lang; their children William and Sara also being Richard's grandchildren.
Where they Lived
The younger children were born in South Carolina. By the time Lydia was born in 1782, the family had moved to East Florida. At that time East Florida was a British Colony and had been since 1763. In 1783, it became a province of Spain15. Richard and his family chose to stay there and become Spanish subjects.
It wasn’t long before they were joined by other settlers from America. In 1790, Spain issued an invitation to Americans to come to East Florida. This invitation was subject to specific requirements, including swearing allegiance to the Spanish Crown and becoming a Spanish subject. Spain's intention was to boost the local economy16.
Census Records
1787
In the 1787 Spanish Census of Householders of Amelia Island, Spanish East Florida, Richard’s household was shown as:
Ricardo Lang – Native of South Carolina; Protestant; is married with 2 sons and 4 daughters; occupation farmer; has 1 negro, 2 horses, and 11 head of cattle; is owner of a sloop with twenty-two feet of keel; requests land17.
The children mentioned are likely to be William and David and Elizabeth, Rebecca, Lydia, and Anna. Isaac, being older, would likely have been living independently at this time. It is uncertain where Mary was. She married sometime before 1789.
1789
In the December 1789 Spanish Census of Householders of St Marys River, Spanish East Florida, Isaac's household was recorded as:
Isaac Lang, 22 years old; his wife 16. He has no children. His property: 1 Negro, 6 head of bovine cattle, 3 horses, 8 pigs. His religion is Protestant18
while Richard’s household was recorded as:
Richard Lang, 45 years old; his wife 38. He has four children named: Rebecca, 1_[?]; ___, 8; David, 6; Sara, 2. No slaves. 0 pigs; 2 horses; 0 cows. His religion is Protestant. William ___, 40 lives with him (Richard Lang), whose religion is the same as the aforementioned19.
Part of Rebecca’s age is missing from the transcription but, if she was born in abt. 1777 (a date I am not sure of at this stage), she would have been 12 years old. Based on the baptism record, the unnamed child aged 8 years old could have been Lydia who would have been about 7 at the time, or it could have been William who would have been about 9. Either way, one of them was missing from the household.
The ages of the other children named are inconsistent with the baptism record shown above. David is listed as 6 years old but his May 1790 baptism at the age of 4 suggests he would have been only about 3 years old. Sara is listed as 2 years old. Her May 1790 baptism at the age of 16 months suggest she would have been 11 months old in December 1789 when the census was taken.
Also missing from the December 1789 Census are Anna, probably aged 5 at the time, and Maria who, if baptised at 2 1/2 in October 1790 (transcript above) would have been about 1 year, 2 months old at the time. On the other hand, if baptised on 10 May 1793 (Family Search transcript referred to above), and 2 1/2 at the time, she would have been 3 years 7 months at the time of the December 1789 Census. Either way, their baptisms tell us that both Anna and Maria were living in the December of 1789 but, it seems not in their father’s household.
Could the missing children have been living with one of their older sisters, Elizabeth and Mary? Both Elizabeth and Mary would have been married by December 1789; Elizabeth to David Bailey and Mary to Francis Sterling.
The 40 year old William Lang living in the household is most likely Richard’s brother. Perhaps their earlier differences in relation to the American Revolutionary War had been cast aside (see Part #2).
1793
In the 1793 Householders Census of St. Augustine, Richard was recorded on the list of British as:
Ricardo Lang, native of South Carolina, married, farmer, Protestant, 2 sons, 4 daughters, 1 male slave, 2 horses, 11 cattle, master (owner) of a sloop-rigged boat 25 feet in length20
The sons and daughters are not named. The two sons would have been William and David. However, Richard had more than 4 dependent daughters at the time.
Casa Blanca
Richard’s main place of residence in Florida was called Casa Blanca (‘White House’.). It was a 400-acre plantation on the south bank of the St. Marys River at Mills Ferry (now Kings Ferry). His grant to this land was dated 4 April 1792. The Caso Blanca plantation was an important frontier location. The ferry was the northern Florida terminus of a trail or crude road from St. Augustine to Georgia. It had been important during the American Revolution. Richard also owned Florida land on Pigeon Creek five miles west of Coleraine in Georgia21.
Richard hadn’t been in Spanish East Florida for long when he began to be regarded with suspicion by the Spanish authorities. More about that and what ensued afterwards in Part #4 …
This post draws information from my family history archive on the WeAre.xyz platform.
Sara is named on the baptismal record for their daughter Maria - Florida Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch. Accessed 24 Feb 2020.
Barber G.A., comp. Deaths taken from the New York Evening Post. Volumes 1-54. n.p.:n.p., 1933-47 via Ancestry.com. New York, U.S. Death Newspaper Extracts, 1901-1890 (Barber Collection) [Database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Accessed 20 Jan 2020.
An estimated date. Their first child was born in 1767.
Julian Lang Family Bible p.1 via Ancestry.com (originally shared to Ancestry by Charles Stanford on 1 Nov 2014). Accessed 27 August 2022.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, FamilySearch : 10 January 2020), Ricardo Lang in entry for Anna Lang, 1790.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch : 10 January 2020), David Lang, 1790.
Marriage Records – Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950 - via FamilySearch.org. Accessed 24 February 2022.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch : 5 January 2021), Maria Lang, 1793.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch : 10 January 2020), Sara Lang, 1790.
Wiles, Doris C. Baptisms Catholic Diocese of San Augustine, East Florida. Transcript of baptisms made by Doris C. Wiles, Adm. Historian, St Augustine Historical Society, December 23 1965. Image accessed via Ancestry.com. Baptisms 1790-1793 shared by ralan64 on 27 May 2013. Accessed 24 May 2022.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch : 10 January 2020), Sara Lang, 1790.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch : 10 January 2020), David Lang, 1790.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, FamilySearch : 10 January 2020), Ricardo Lang in entry for Anna Lang, 1790.
Florida, Births and Christenings, 1880-1935, database, FamilySearch : 5 January 2021), Maria Lang, 1793.
Today, the area where they lived is Nassau County, Florida, USA.
Morris, Michael Dreams of Glory, Schemes of Empire: The Plan to Liberate Spanish Florida The Georgia Historical Quarterly', vol. 87, no. 1, 2003, pp. 1–21 via JSTOR [Website] Accessed 24 May 2022.
Extract from: Donna Rachal Mills (1992) Florida’s First Families - Translated Abstracts of Pre-1821 Spanish Censuses, Mills historical press Tuscaloosa, Alabama & Naples, Florida (p.64) Transcript via Ancestry.com. Originally shared to Ancestry.com by Ralan64 on 10 June 2013. Accessed 4 May 2022.
Extract from: Donna Rachal Mills (1992) (p.64) - See Note 12.
Extract from: Donna Rachal Mills (1992) (p.64) - See Note 12.
Message from Karen Packard Rhodes via Substack citing East Florida Papers (microfilm), Reel 148, Censuses 1783-1814, Bundle 323A.
Extracts from: Bennett, Charles E. (1981) Florida's "French" Revolution 1793-1795. Gainesville: University of Florida Press) in document Florida's French Revolution via Ancestry.com (shared by Ralan64 on 19 May 2013). Accessed 24 May 2022.
The six year gap between Isaac and Betsy implies one or two infant deaths.
I know very little of American history so found this a really interesting read Jane. Also that is a large family of children, and just looking at the gaps there could have been more in between who perhaps didn't survive. Great research.