in that city when Maria Louise Moore
was born.

This woman was fortunate in coming into the world at that time. So
general had been the efforts for the elevation of the colored people
that free Negroes had many of the privileges later given only to white
people. Virginia then and for a long time thereafter ranked among the
commonwealths most liberal toward the Negro. The dissemination of
information among them was not then restricted, private teaching of
slaves was common, and progressive communities maintained colored
schools.[1a] In Fredericksburg such opportunities were not rare. The
parents of Maria Louise Moore fortunately associated with the free
Negroes who constituted an industrial class with adequate means to
provide for the thorough training of their children. Miss Moore,
therefore, easily acquired the rudiments of education and attained some
distinction as a student of history.

In 1820 Miss Moore was married to Adolphe Richards, a native of the
Island of Guadaloupe. He was a Latin of some Negro blood, had noble
ancestry, and had led an honorable career. Educated in London and
resident in Guadaloupe, he spoke both English and French fluently.
Because of poor health in later years he was directed by his friends to
the salubrious climate of Virginia. He settled at Fredericksburg, where
he soon became captivated by the charms of the talented Maria Louise
Moore. On learning of his marriage, his people and friends marveled that
a man of his standing had married a colored woman or a Southern woman at
all.

Adjusting himself to this new environment, Mr. Richards opened a shop
for wood-turning, painting and glazing. It is highly probable that he
learned these trades in the West Indies, but having adequate means to
maintain himself, he had not depended on his mechanical skill. In
Fredericksburg he had the respect and support of the best white people,
passing as one of such well-to-do free Negroes as the Lees, the Cooks,
the De Baptistes, who were contractors, and the Williamses, who were
contractors and brickmakers. His success was in a large measure due to
the good standing of the family of Mrs. Richards and to the wisdom with
which she directed this West Indian in his new environment.

They had in all fourteen children, the training of whom was largely the
work of the mother. All of them were well grounded in the rudiments of
education and given a taste for higher things. In the course of time
when the family