There was a sale of the household goods of Robert and Mary Richardson who died in 1803. It was very rare for people to die at the same time, so was it an indian attack or an accident or a house fire? Since there were bedding and a Bible sold at the sale of Robert and Mary Richardson's effects, the author doubts a fire.
Sam Daugherty thought that there was a fire, that is why there was no log cabin found in the area where Robert and Mary Richardson were supposed to have lived. Sam Daugherty has changed his mind and now thinks that Robert and Mary did not die at the same time and that their son John on coming back from the War of 1812, cared for his mother...
Mike Judd in an email dated 12/5/1998 says "...Am preparing the page on the ancestors of our dear Mary Bratten b ca 1760 who married our dear Robert Richardson and the two of them moved from MD to KY just after 1800 and supposidly died (or did not) both in 1803. I noted that in her father's will that was probated in 1800 (it was supposidly written in 1787) she is noted to be Mary Richardson but her mother's will in 1806 names the other children and some grandchildren but is silent to her -- which suggests that she was at dead before Nov 1806."
The second question deals with the name of Robert Richardson's wife, was it Mary of Nancy of did he marry twice? Who then was the mother of his children? If they died together, who cared for the young children they would have left?
The author has found that the family name given to the wife of Robert Richardson, namely Broughton was a very common last name in the Eastern Shore of Maryland where they both came from originally. Some researcher name his wife as Mary/Polly and others use Nancy. but they do only quibble over the spelling of Broughton or Bratten.
William Bishop uses Mary Broughton as Robert Richardson's (c1753 - c1803) wife and that is the one the author backs.