William Dewey Richey was born January
25th, 1898 in Colbert County Alabama in a small town in Leighton. His
father was William Andrew Richey, born July 13th, 1875. His mother was Etna Rebecca Waldrep,
born December 11th, 1878.
They were married in Colbert county on July 7th, 1895 by Jesse
Lee Richey; M.G.
Dewey was the oldest
of 5 boys. His brothers were John
Flur9b. 12-11-1896), Marvin V. (b.5-18-1904), Alton Odom (b. 12-18-1907), and
Lyndon Chestor (b. 4-4-1909).
They eventually moved
to Lauderdale County to the Gravelee Springs area, around 1900, to what became
known as the Richey house. Then
relocating to the East Florence area of Lauderdale County in North Alabama.
.
On August
12th of 1912, Etna Rebecca became ill and passed away leaving the 5
boys and their father to care for themselves.
Times were trying
then and it became hard on William to raise the 5 boys alone. He soon met and fell in love with a
lovely lady named Clarance Roberto Hughes, who had just recently moved to
Florence from Lawrence County Tennessee, with her step-mother Sarah and 2
brothers and 4 sisters. They had
just recently lost their father John James Hughes (b. January 1, 1854 and died
in 1902). The family moved here to find work to care for their large
family. Sarah passed away also,
soon after moving to Florence on November 16 1906. She was buried in Florence
cemetery.
Her daughter Laura
Lavinia (b. November of 1887), died 4 years later of consumption, June 24
1910. Her obituary read… “A
hard worker that kept her orphaned brothers and sisters together after the death
of their mother and father.”
On July 11th, 1913, the
two families were joined when Willam Andrew Richey and Clarance Roberto Hughes
took their vows of Holy matrimony from J.F. Koonce the Probate judge in
Lauderdale County.
As if the family had
not had enough tragedy, son Alton Odom fell ill at the tender age of 7 years old
on October 25th. 1915
The older children in
this joined family worked constantly at the local Ashcraft Cotton Mill and other
places to make ends meet in these difficult times of the
depression…
Roberto (better known
as Boonie by the family) became the backbone of the family. Boonie took on the household
responsibilities for 7 boys and 4 girls.
11 children came to know her as their mother and she indeed filled that
roll, loving them each as they were all her very own.
Little would little
Dewey know, but his future bride was right under his nose. Willie Mae Hughes (b. August 11, 1901),
Roberto’s’ half sister.
I’m sure Dewey pulled
on her long braids and aggravated her numerous
times!
When Dewey was only
17, he told his father that he wanted to join the service to help his
country. William Andrew signed for
him to enter the service at an early age and Dewey began his life dedicated to
his country. His first service was
the 1st Calvary N.G. in Wilson Texas on January 1917. He defended our country against the war
time criminal Poncho Villa.
Soon his call
to war came again, as World War I began.
He now was apart of Roster “G”, the 30th infantry of the
3rd division in Germany.
He kept in close contact with family at home through letters and post
cards. A post card he sent his
father reads:
“Dear
Father,
Will drop you a card to let you know, I am ‘WELL’. This is X Eve night. I have had a very good time such as it
is. So hoping you a Merry X-Mas and
a Happy New Years.
Your son,
I am thinking of you all!
D.R.
(Dewey Richey)
He also kept in close contact with
Willie Mae (who he had nicknamed her MUTT, after characters “Mutt and Jeff”). They wrote hundreds of
letters during his stay overseas. I
think he finally realized that the little girl he had been writing was now
becoming someone quite different… she was a woman now and he was falling for
her!
The family gave Dewey
their full support hanging flags with stars outside their homes! He returned on furlough only to
find his little “Mutt”, was all grown up and he loved
her!
When he finally
discharged form service, he returned to many open arms! But the arms he yearned for most was his
little Willie Mae! On May
29th, 1920, Dewey at the age of 21 and Willie Mae the age of 18,
joined in marriage
Dewey worked
for the Corp of Engineers and helped build Wilson Dam in Florence Alabama. The dam was a huge economical boost for
the North Alabama area!
On July 7, 1921 Dewey
and Willie Mae were blessed with their first child, Lucian Arnold! Four Years later, October
3rd, 1925, their first girl was born, Margaret Ruth! 12 years later, a sweet surprise came to
the family, another baby girl, Barbara Gail, on December 12th,
1937.
Dewey was a noble and
strong man. He was a God fearing
man and instilled it in his children as his parents had him. He and Willie Mae, were blessed with 9
grandchildren. After living a very
hard but honorable a meaningful life, Dewey went to see his Savior on August
6th, 1982.
Willie Mae a loving and proud mother and wife, joined him on
January 17th, 1988. She
loved her Dewey!
Grandad (Dewey) and
Granny (Willie Mae) were proud, dignified people Loved and respected by
all…especially by me, (Laura Gaile Butler Brown), his
granddaughter.
