Obadiah Rich
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1783 - Truro, Massachusetts
Baptism: 13 Jul 1783 - Truro, Massachusetts 1
Death: 20 Jan 1850 - London, England
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Captain Obadiah Rich (1758-1805) 2
Mother: Salome Lombard (1761-1807)
Spouses and Children
1. *Ann Montgomery (Est 1785 - )
Marriage:
Status:
Notes
General:
Rich, Obadiah (1783-20 Jan. 1850), diplomat and book dealer, was born in Truro, Massachusetts, the son of Obadiah Rich, a ship captain, and Salome Lombard. About 1789 his family moved to the Boston area, where Rich resided until 1816. Although the details of Rich's schooling are not known, an acquaintance described him as "a gentleman by birth and education" and "really learned" (Henry Harrisse, Bibliotheca Americana Vertustissima [1880; repr. 1958], p. xxxi). This observation, along with his language and writing skills, suggest that Rich had at least a secondary education. He appears to have developed an interest in antiquarian materials early in life, having joined the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1805 and the Boston Athenaeum in 1807. He later became a member of the American Antiquarian Society.
Rich began his diplomatic career in 1816, when he accepted a position as U.S. consul in Valencia, Spain. Shortly after relocating to Spain he married Ann Montgomery, with whom he had six children. His brother, William, who was under his care after the death of their parents, also resided with him there. While in Valencia, Rich began collecting rare books and manuscripts. Although he remained the consul in Valencia until 1829, by 1823 he had moved to Madrid, where he took charge of the U.S. legation's archives during the second French invasion. During his stay in that city, books and manuscripts from a number of private and ecclesiastical libraries began to be offered for sale as a consequence of the social and economic disruption of the Peninsula Wars and Liberal Uprising of 1820. Rich began purchasing some of these materials, and he soon amassed an impressive collection of rare books and manuscripts, most of which related to Spain and Latin America.
Washington Irving, who resided in Rich's home in 1826, described his library as a "literary wilderness abounding with curious works and rare editions" (Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. 1 [1889], p. iii). Irving acknowledged the importance of Rich's library in conducting the research for his work A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Other historians, including George Ticknor and William Prescott, also have acknowledged their debt to Obadiah Rich.
By 1819 Rich had begun reselling some of his manuscript and printed materials to American collectors. At this time the export of books from Spain was heavily regulated and closely monitored by government authorities; Rich's diplomatic position aided him in resolving difficulties that arose with customs.
In 1828 Rich moved to London, where he wrote and published A General View of the United States (1833), a gazetteer, and opened a shop to distribute American books and periodicals that were not then readily available in England. He continued to travel to Spain periodically and held the position of U.S. consul to Port Mahon, Spain, from 1834 to 1845. However, this does not appear to have been a full-time vocation. He continued to maintain a residence and storefront business in London, and much of his time in Spain was devoted to the acquisition of books and manuscripts.
Rich continued dealing in rare books and manuscripts, which he advertised through a series of descriptive catalogs published between 1827 and 1846, some of which were issued under the Spanish title Bibliotheca Americana Nova. Among the more significant materials he acquired and sold during this period was the library of Don Antonio de Uguina, which included the notes and transcripts of unpublished documents collected by the Spanish historian Juan Bautista Muñoz for his Historia del nuevo mundo. Rich acquired this collection from Henri Ternaux de Compans, a French book dealer, in 1844. These, along with other rare books and manuscripts, including a collection acquired from Lord Kingsborough, were sold to American book collectors and libraries through Henry Stevens, an American book dealer. The bulk of the manuscripts were purchased by James Lenox in 1848 and now constitute the Obadiah Rich Collection at the New York Public Library. Other materials collected by Rich were acquired by the John Carter Brown Library, the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the Boston Athenaeum Library.
By 1849 Obadiah Rich had fallen into ill health; he died in London. His book-dealing business was carried on initially by his sons and later by Edward G. Allen.
Today Obadiah Rich is primarily known as a bibliographer. His descriptive catalogs, one of which was reprinted as recently as 1967, continue to be used as primary sources in researching the provenance of rare books and manuscripts.
Bibliography
Collections of correspondence and other materials relating to Obadiah Rich are at the Boston Public Library, the New York Public Library, the William L. Clements Library (Univ. of Mich.), the Workingmen's Institute (New Harmony, Ind.), and the Library of the Boston Athenaeum. The most comprehensive biographical account of Rich is Norman Tucker, "Obadiah Rich (1783-1850): Early American Hispanist" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard Univ., 1973). See also Tucker, "Obadiah Rich (1783-1850): American in Spain," in Studies in Honor of Ruth Lee Kennedy (1977); Edwin Blake Brownrigg, Colonial Latin American Manuscripts and Transcripts in the Obadiah Rich Collection: An Inventory and Index (1978); and Henry Stevens, Recollections of James Lenox and the Formation of His Library (1951).
Richard Hollinger
Citation:
Richard Hollinger. "Rich, Obadiah";
http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-00855.html;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
Copyright © 2000 American Council of Learned Societies. Published by Oxford University Press.
Obadiah Rich
Sex: M
AKA: Obediah Rich
Individual Information
Birth: 21 Dec 1730 - Truro, Massachusetts 4
Baptism: 24 Jan 1731 - Truro, Massachusetts 5
Death: 25 Jan 1760 - Truro, Massachusetts
Burial: in Old North Cemetery, Truro 6
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Richard Rich (1699-Cir 1742)
Mother: Hannah Doane (1703-After 1754) 3
Spouses and Children
1. *Priscilla Rich (10 Aug 1734 - 1 Jun 1807) 7
Marriage:
Status:
Children:
1. Bethia Rich (1756-1779) 5
2. Captain Obadiah Rich (1758-1805) 2
3. Captain Aquila Rich (1759- )
Notes
General:
"Obadiah is found on the war rolls of 1758."
stone:
Here lies Buried
the Body of Mr
OBEDIAH RICH
who Died Jan'ry
ye 25th 1760
In ye 30th Year
of his Age 5 8
Obadiah Rich
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 15 Jul 1707 - Eastham, Massachusetts 9 10
Baptism:
Death: 7 Apr 1788 - Truro, Massachusetts 11 12
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Richard Rich (1674-1743) 13 14
Mother: Anne Mulford (1677-1753)
Spouses and Children
1. *Mary Crowell (13 Jul 1712 - Cir 1755) 11
Marriage: 3 Feb 1737 - Yarmouth, Massachusetts 11
Status:
Children:
1. Jonathan Rich (1737-1776) 11
2. Deborah Rich (1739-1814) 11
3. Josiah Rich (1741-Cir 1789) 11
4. Rebecca Rich (1743- ) 11
5. Ruth Rich (1745-1840) 11
6. Obadiah Rich (1749-Bef 1761) 11
7. Isaac Rich (1751-1829) 11
8. David Rich (1753- ) 11
2. Ruth Harding (Cir 1723 - 23 Jun 1803)
Marriage: 2 Jan 1756 - Truro, Massachusetts 11
Status:
Children:
1. Mary Rich (1757- ) 11
2. Nathaniel Rich (1759-1835) 11
3. Obadiah Rich (1761- ) 11
Obadiah Rich
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth:
Baptism: 23 Apr 1749 - Truro, Massachusetts 11
Death: Bef 1761 11
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Obadiah Rich (1707-1788) 9
Mother: Mary Crowell (1712-Cir 1755) 11
Captain Obadiah Rich
Sex: M
AKA: Obediah Rich
Individual Information
Birth: 16 May 1775 - Truro, Massachusetts 15
Baptism:
Death: Dec 1810 - At Sea
Burial: in Staten Island, New York
Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt Burial 16 in Truro Methodist cemetery
Parents
Father: Richard Rich (1740-1813) 3
Mother: Betty Smith (1743-1812)
Spouses and Children
1. *Polly Lombard (6 Feb 1780 - )
Marriage: 11 Apr 1797 - Truro, Massachusetts 17
Status:
Children:
1. Capt Obadiah Rich (1799-1835)
2. Snow Rich (1801-1835)
3. Mary Lombard Rich (1804-1874) 18 19
4. Michael Atkins Rich (1807-1868) 20
5. Xenophon Rich (1809- ) 21
Notes
General:
stone:
In memory of
Capt. OBEDIAH RICH
who died Dec. 6, 1835
Æt. 37
His father
Capt. OBEDIAH RICH
died at sea
Dec. 24, 1810 AEt. 35 8 22
Captain Obadiah Rich
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 9 Jun 1758 - Truro, Massachusetts 23
Baptism: 6 Aug 1758 - Truro, Massachusetts
Death: 1805 - Boston, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Obadiah Rich (1730-1760) 3
Mother: Priscilla Rich (1734-1807) 7
Spouses and Children
1. *Salome Lombard (1 May 1761 - 1807)
Marriage: 22 Jan 1781 - Truro, Massachusetts 2
Status:
Children:
1. Rich (1782-1782)
2. Obadiah Rich (1783-1850)
3. Salome Rich (1785-1785)
4. John Wilkes Rich (1787- ) 2
5. Henry Rich (Abt 1789- ) 2
6. William Rich (Est 1790- )
7. Salome Rich (1798- )
8. William Rich (1800-Abt 1870) 2
2. Jemima Lombard (11 Sep 1750 - Bef 1781)
Marriage:
Status:
Children:
1. Obadiah Rich (1777-Bef 1783)
Notes
General:
"In the War of the Revolution he commanded the brig "Intrepid," a well-known privateer. About 1790 he settled in Boston, and lived on Unity Street, at the North End. His widow, Salome, was appointed executrix of his estate, 25 Nov. 1805." 2
Obediah Rich
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 19 Nov 1778 - Truro, Massachusetts 24
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Hannah Hatch (Est 1780 - )
Marriage: 15 Nov 1797 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 25
Status:
Children:
1. John Rich (1798- ) 26
2. Martha Rich (1801- ) 26
3. William Hatch Rich (1803- ) 26
Obediah L Rich
Sex: M
AKA: Obadiah L Rich
Individual Information
Birth: 23 Oct 1833 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 27
Baptism:
Death: 18 Oct 1902 - Melrose, Massachusetts
Burial: in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Wellfleet
Cause of Death: heart disease
Parents
Father: Samuel Rich (1798-1872) 18 28
Mother: Mary Lombard Rich (1804-1874) 18 19
Spouses and Children
1. *Sarah Lewis Higgins (25 Nov 1836 - 6 Apr 1902) 29
Marriage: 9 May 1858 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 30
Status:
Children:
1. Almira Ellen Rich (1861-1863) 31
2. Walter Irving Rich (1866- ) 32
3. Lewis H Rich (1871- ) 33
Notes
General:
1861, 1866 seaman, WellfleetMedical:
1871 master mariner, Wellfleet
age 68-11-26Marriage Notes (Sarah Lewis Higgins)
widowed
fishman
b Wellfleet
s/o Samuel Rich, b Wellfleet & Polly L. Rich, b Truro 34
1895 res South Boston
Otis Waterman Rich
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 22 Aug 1829 - Truro, Massachusetts 35
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Captain Ephraim Rich (1806-1889)
Mother: Mary Ward Hatch (1806-1832) 8
Spouses and Children
1. *Jerusha D Pierce (19 Sep 1833 - 15 Aug 1871)
Marriage: 28 Nov 1852 - Truro, Massachusetts
Status:
Children:
1. Isabella D Rich (1854- )
2. Jerusha Lilla May Rich (1871- )
2. Margaret MacKenzie (1845 - )
Marriage: 5 Jun 1874 - Boston, Massachusetts
Status:
Pamela Abba Rich
Sex: F
AKA: Pamelia F Rich
Individual Information
Birth: 3 Dec 1848 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 36
Baptism:
Death: 12 May 1859 - (Wellfleet, Massachusetts)
Burial: in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Wellfleet
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Thomas Smith Rich (1804-1859) 37
Mother: Sarah Stevens (1814-1852)