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Andrew and Pearl were married August 6, 1906, at Wilson, Commanche County by a Holiness preacher. They made their first home four miles north from Gustine and lived there eight years. Three of our children were born there.I had lived in Dickens county six years with my father, so naturally I wanted to come back here to live. So in February, 1914, we chartered a freight car, loaded our household goods, our five head of horses and mules and grain that we had raised to feed them on while we made a crop, and headed for Dickens. We stayed in Dickens for a month, then bought a farm on Croton Flat. It so happened that the land we bought was the land my father had homesteaded in 1898 when he came to Dickens County. Our children, Edith 5, Iva 7, and Rhemm 3 when we moved to Croton in 1914.
There was no electricity, we ginned our cotton in Dickens, and there was a two room schoolhouse two miles from our place. Church was held in the school house which was called Noview, later it was changed to Croton. Baseball was the main sport at the school, every one played, even the teacher. Andrew was trustee of the school for many years and we never kept our children out of school. Iva graduated from high school in 1925 and went to Wayland College. She graduated and became a teacher, later she married C.W. Bean and taught school in Amarillo.
Andrew's mother died leaving four of her grandchildren she was raising, we took them in. We had three of our own, so we had a large family. We had two miles and three horses, so our conveyance was riding horseback, walking or going in a wagon or hack.
The depression was in full when Edith graduated from high school, she was awarded a scholarship to National Business College at Abilene and started there, she finished her course and taught at Draughons Business College at Lubbock. After the war, she went to Oakland, California and went to work with Southern Pacific Railway Co., and still works for them.
Rhemm finished high school at Spur, and enrolled at Tech. She married W.N. Graves and went to Fresno, California, and has been teaching and going to school ever since.
Erie graduated from high school and went to Hardin-Simmons for one year. She went to Oakland, California and finished business school and works for Southern Pacific Railway Co. in San Francisco.
Howard finished high school at Patton Springs. He started to Tech, but the Army got him. He came home in December 1945. He married Willie Pritchard in Oct. 1946, bought a farm in the Croton Community, and they had two children, Wayne and Brenda. He passed away in July of 1948 [sic 1953].
Murl finished school at Patton Springs, she went to college one year and then to Beauty school. Then she went to California and took a telephone course, she is now working for Bell Telephone Company and has a 19 year old son.
Several years we made a bale of cotton to the acre, and could plant all we wanted to. Life on the farms was hard. We had no electricity or ice boxes. We kept food from one meal to the other by a water cooler sometimes we would hang our milk in the cistern to keep it cool. I cooked three hot meals a day. Washed on rub boards, ironed with irons heated on the wooden stove.
As we were farmers, we were interested in the soil and took care of it. We had a walking turning plow, one row planter and section harrow. Once when I was riding one of the horses to harrow, a hail storm came up, the horses ran up against the fence and I had to crawl out under them, it was a bad hail storm, it killed some of my chickens and turkeys.
In January of 1918 there was the worst blizzard that we had ever had, it killed cows, hogs and chickens. Some of the children and teachers had to stay at the school as it was too bad for them to leave. The wind was about 60 miles an hour and it was snowing, we had to wrap up in quilts and stay by the fire to keep warm. This is one blizzard that we never forgot.
We butchered our own meat, made our own soap, churned our own butter, raised chickens and turkeys and milked cows and sold cream to help buy the groceries. After doing all of this, I still had time to work in the field. When the Croton gin was built, I coked for twelve hands, we were so glad to get the gin that work sure didn't bother us. When summer came we went plum hunting on Tongue River and would take our dinner and stay all day. That was an annual affair with several of our neighbors taking part. We started farming with 320 acres, we bought land on every side, and we now have 960 acres. We lost two farm houses to fire, but built them back.
On our travels, New Mexico was our first trip, We went to Fort Sumner to a family reunion in 1924. There were 65. We slept on pallets and rode burros and went in swimming. That place was one hundred miles from anywhere. We have traveled all over the U.S.A. but we still like Dickens County.
When we got married we had our honeymoon traveling, from Comanche County to Dickens to visit my parents, in a covered wagon. It took eight days to make the trip. We cooked out and had a nice honeymoon.
Written by Pearl RicheySource: History of Dickens County; Ranches and Rolling Plains, Fred Arrington, ©1971
Mrs. A. J. Richey, County Pioneer DiesFuneral services were held Friday at 2 p.m. in the First Baptist Church, Dickens for Mrs. Pearl Kennedy Richey, 84.
Rev. T. H. Harris Childress officiated.
Mrs. Richey died Nov. 23 in the Crosbyton Hospital. She came to Dickens County in 1898. She was married in Comanche to A. J. Richey in 1906. She was a member of the Baptist Church.
For a number of years Mrs. Richey served as Dickens correspondent for The Texas Spur. She retired a couple of years ago due to ill health.
She is survived by her husband, A. J. Richey, Dickens; five daughters, Iva Parkas, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Edith Steele, Oakland, Calif.; Rhemm Graves, Fresno, Calif.; Erie Richey, Richmond, Calif.; Murl Landreth, Sacremento, Calif.; one sister, Addie Bouchane, Seminole; one half brother, Vernon Kennedy, Globe, Ariz.; two half sisters, Goldie Nichols, Baird and Ruth Partridge, Dickens; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Pallbearers included Henry Edwards, Wright Martin, Bob Porter, Sam Porter, Otho Thompson and Frank Murphy.
Interment was in Dickens Cemetery.
©The Texas Spur, December, 1970
Memorial services for Andrew J. Richey, a 94 year old Crosbyton resident, were at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Dickens First Baptist Church. The Rev. C.L. Atkinson, pastor, officiated.
Interment was made in Dickens Cemetery. Adams Funeral Home directed arrangements.
Mr. Richey, a former longtime Dickens resident, died at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, in Colonial Nursing Home, Lubbock, where he had resided since September.
Born July 30, 1886 in Comanche County. Andrew J. Richey was married Aug. 6, 1906 to Pearl Kennedy in Comanche County. She preceded her husband in death in 1970.
A farmer-rancher, Mr. Richey moved to Dickens County in 1914 from Comanche County. He moved 5 1/2 years ago to Crosbyton.
Mr. Richey operated the first store and the first cotton gin at Croton. He had served as a school board member of both the Croton and Patton Springs schools, and was a deacon of First Baptist Church in Dickens.
He is survived by four daughters, Iva R. Parkas of Pittsburgh, Pa., Rhenm R. Graves of Fresno, Calif., Erie Richey of Crocket, Calif., and Mrs. Murl R. Miller of Gibsonton, Fla.; several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
©Crosbyton Review, December 4, 1980
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