Richard Inge

Richard Inge
Revolutionary War Soldier
(Greenwood Cemetery, Plot 6.289)

Richard Inge was born in 1754 in King and Queen County, Virginia. Little is known of his early life as his parents died when he was an infant. He was raised by strangers and educated in the schools of Virginia. He became a tobacco planter and served in the military during the Revolutionary War as a member of the Virginia Militia. He fought under Lafayette and participated in the victory of Yorktown, as well as the surrender of Cornwallis. It is said Mr. Inge “refused to accept a pension,” stating he did not charge his country for his services. This remark brought him into a generalized notoriety.
Richard Inge married Sarah (Sally) Johnson on November 9, 1785, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and together they had seven children. Sally died between 1802 and 1805. Later, Mr. Inge married Mary Sturdivant of Dinwiddie County, VA, on August 28, 1806. They, too, had seven children.
Richard Inge moved his family to Alabama in about 1820. He was one of the first settlers of New Town in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he built a small house on Sanders Ferry Road. It is believed to have been located on the site of the former Creek Village, called Black Warrior Town, or near it. Lore indicates Mr. Inge eventually built and occupied a two-story home in New Town called “The Grove,” which later became the home of his son-in-law, Gen. George W. Crabb, who was married to Mr. Inge’s daughter, Elizabeth.
Mr. Inge was a tobacco planter and a pioneer citizen who became a member of the Alabama State Legislature in 1825. Mr. Inge raised a large family while devoting care and attention to their education. He spared no expense in their education so they might enjoy life and become useful and respectful members of society. It was said by those who knew him that Mr. Inge was generous, hospitable, and conscientious Christian without reproach. In a letter written by his granddaughter, Mary Hogan, her mother (Sally Johnson Hogan) said of her father, “He wore long black silk hose and slippers with silver buckles upon them and knee pants. He always wore white crimped ruffles down his shirt front and similar ruffles fell over his delicate white hands.”
Richard Inge died at the age of 79 in his home on August 13, 1833, in New Town, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Both he and his wife, Mary Sturdivant Inge, are buried in the old Inge plot in Greenwood Cemetery, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Many of Richard Inge’s children contributed a large amount to the settlement of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and other southern states.
1. Dr. Richard Inge, Jr. was a physician in Green County, Alabama. According to family lore, Dr. Inge’s son, William Bullock Inge, was the first to matriculate at the University of Alabama, and his tuition was paid with a bale of cotton.
2. Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike Inge was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy. He served in the Seminole and Mexican War. Lt. Inge was killed in battle May 9, 1846, while serving in the US Army at La Resaca De La Palma, Mexico. His body was being delivered to Alabama but was lost in the river when the steamboat “Tuscaloosa” exploded in the Tombigbee River just north of Mobile, Alabama. Lt. Inge’s niece wrote in a letter that “he was so handsome that he attracted attention everywhere." Lt. Inge was named after Zebulon Pike, who discovered Pike’s Peak. It is said that Zebulon Pike was a friend of a family member.
3. William Inge represented a district in Tennessee in the 23rd Congress. He later moved to Livingston, Alabama and was a member of the Alabama State House of Representatives.
4. Robert Inge practiced law and was appointed as a circuit judge in Tennessee. He later moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and became the mayor. He was a frequent contributor to The Southern Literary Magazine, as well as other periodicals. He authored articles, fiction stories, and poetry. He published a book titled Prose and Poetry.
5. Sarah Inge married James Hogan. James Hogan was a co-partner in the merchandise store named ‘Cox and Hogan.’ Mr. Hogan was well-informed in historical and political matters and because of this he had powerful influence in the control of the affairs of the county. Mr. Hogan accumulated considerable property which enabled him to raise and educate a large and interesting family of children. According to William R. Smith, in Reminiscences of a Long Life – Historical, Political, Personal, and Literary, Mr. Hogan had an inordinate passion for hunting bee trees. He became an expert in this “art” and would often drop his long body on some grassy spot to watch the “blossom-pillagers.”
6. Elizabeth Turner Inge married Gen. George Crabb who was a member of the State House and Senate and the United States Congress.
Sources:
The Herndon and Inge Families: Genealogical, Historical, Biographical, by George Bullock Inge, The Gregath Company, Cullman, Alabama 1977
History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, by Thomas McAdory Owen, LLD, Volume III, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1921
Notable Men of Alabama, Personal and Genealogical with portraits, by Hon. Joel C. DuBose, Editor, Volume 1, Southern Historical Association Atlanta, GA,1904
Reminiscences of a Long Life – Historical, Political, Personal, and Literary, Vol. 1 – by William R. Smith
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Its Early Days 1816 – 1855, by Mathew Clinton
Alabama, U.S., Revolutionary War Residents, 1776 – 1783
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 – 2005

Richard Inge

Information compiled by members of the Chief Tuskaloosa Chapter, NSDAR

Last updated June 14, 2026