A Brief History of the Richards-Biggs Family
Here are my remarks on the brief history of the Richards-Biggs family that I delivered on July 27 at our 2024 Family Reunion.
History is made up of defining moments.
Our Richards-Biggs family history was shaped by two pivotal moments, one that brought our Richards and Biggs families together, and another that kept us together.
Moment One: Coming together — The Union of James Lee Richards and Sarah Annie Biggs
One hundred and six years ago, on June 24, 1918, James Lee Richards and Sarah Annie Biggs united in marriage right here in Suffolk. She was sixteen, he was twenty, and he worked as a delivery man for Ballard and Smith, a leading department store at the time. Their first meeting may have been as simple as a delivery he made to her home, yet their union was destined. Both came from families who had been formerly enslaved or lived as free people of color in Virginia and North Carolina, sharing deep values of faith, education, and service.
James Lee Richards, known to us as Daddy Son, was born on May 16, 1898, to parents James Richards and Martha White. He was the second child in a family of nine siblings: Arlethia, Arthur, Axum, Eddie, Lillian, Robert, Margaret, and Teresa.
He descended from a line of men named James Richards, starting with his grandfather, who was born enslaved in 1849 in Oconeechee, Northampton County, NC. Through his mother, his Suffolk roots extend to his great-great-grandmother, Patsey White, a free Black woman born in the late 1700s.
Sarah Annie Biggs was born on August 15, 1902, to Edward Biggs and Florence Cumbo. She was the youngest of five siblings: Lucy, Louise, Clara, and Edward Jr. Her father, Edward, descended from a line of women who were enslaved in Bertie County, NC, tracing back to his great-great-grandmother Winnie.
Annie’s maternal ancestry traced back to Emanuel and Joan Cumbo, of Ndongo, which is in modern day Angola. Emanuel and Joan were among the first Africans to arrive in Virginia as early as 1619, and their Cumbo descendants lived on as free people of color starting in 1665.
Tragically, Annie’s mother Florence Cumbo died shortly after her birth in 1902. Seven years later, Annie’s father Edward Biggs married Adelaide Joyner, who descended from ancestors enslaved in Southampton, Virginia, the site of Nat Turner’s bloody and courageous fight against slavery. Edward would have another nine children with Adelaide, two Mary and Teresa, who died young, and seven who lived to adulthood: Catherine, Fenton, Walter, James, Maruice, Mamie, and Adelaide.
Moment Two: Staying together — Resilience in Adversity
The beautiful story of Daddy Son and Annie Biggs took a tragic turn when Annie passed away in 1930 at the age of 28, sadly just like her own mother had, leaving Daddy Son with six children — Ernestine, James, George, Alvin, Vincent, and Otis.
Daddy Son’s resilience was further tested when he lost his job at Ballard Smith, following the suicide of the store’s owner Otis Smith, who suffered from a World War I-induced depression.
After the death of his wife and the loss of his job, friends and family offered to help by taking one child each. Daddy Son could have given up and agreed to split up his family. If he had, perhaps we wouldn’t be sitting here together. But he refused to let his children be separated. He chose unity. He prayed for strength to raise his children on his own. He eventually found work. He remarried…a few times, actually. He bought a home on 111 Halifax Street. His oldest child Ernestine grew into a mother figure for her younger siblings.
By the mid-1940s with the ramp up of World War II, Daddy Son secured a stable job at the Navy Yard in Norfolk, where he worked for over 20 years, and retired with a full pension.
He was an active member and deacon at First Baptist Church Mahan Street and made sure that all his children grew up in that church. He kept his family together, which kept us together.
Our Family Legacy and Future
Today, we stand on the shoulders of our Richards and Biggs ancestors. We are all here because of their strength and enduring dedication to create a future where our family thrives together, connected by our love for one another, and our shared family values:
1/ Faith in God — nurtured at First Baptist, and East End Baptist, and other beloved family churches.
2/ Belief in education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities like North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, Virginia State, Norfolk State, Morgan State, Wilberforce, Fisk, Hampton, Howard, Spelman, and…wait for it…Morehouse College, as well as Predominantly White Institutions including the Ivy League.
3/ A commitment to service to our country through the military, and community through institutions like Suffolk Professional Pharmacy, started by my grandfather James Doc Richards, and operated by him and his daughter, my aunt and godmother Patricia Lynn Richards-Spruill.
Faith, education and service as shared values make up the foundation of our family’s loving and enduring bond. Look at us now.
We are military officers,
We are ministers,
We are educators,
We are government servants,
We are tradespeople,
We are scientists,
We are pharmacists,
We are health professionals,
We are lawyers,
We are technologists,
We are businesspeople,
We are administrators,
We are entrepreneurs,
We are artists,
We are athletes,
We are students.
We all strive to do well in our chosen fields…and to do good for the communities and the broader society in which we live.
His Eye is on the Sparrow
When I visited Suffolk as a child, we would attend First Baptist on Sundays with Daddy Son. During service when the spirit moved him, he was known to break out into song. His favorite hymn to sing was His Eye Is on The Sparrow, a song that speaks to maintaining faith and hope amid life’s struggles.
We sing because we’re happy.
We sing because we’re free.
“For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”
Let us continue to honor James Lee Richards.
Let us continue to honor Sarah Annie Biggs.
Let us continue to honor all our Richards and Biggs ancestors.
And may God continue to bless the Richards-Biggs family.
Thank you.
