Gerson & Carrie Richard

Gerson Richard (1842-1918) was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States via New York with his parents Gumbel (1804-1871) and Helena (b. 1812) around 1856. At some point in their first four years in the US, the Richard family moved to South Carolina. While Gumbel and Helena settled in Marion, Gerson made his home to the west in Darlington and began working as a merchant. He quickly became acquainted with fellow merchant and German immigrant, Joseph Frank (1813-1879) and his wife Frances “Fannie” Eiseman Frank (1824-1899). In 1869, Gerson married the Frank’s daughter Caroline “Carrie” (1850-1939), and the newlyweds were recorded living in Charleston by June of the following year. Over the course of the next four decades, Gerson and Carrie both worked in the retail industry and welcomed eleven children. They returned to Darlington to raise many of them in the 1870s and stayed until 1899. During this time Gerson and Carrie operated a general store before moving on to new business ventures in North Carolina, Florida, and Nebraska.