Richard Fitzhugh was born in North Carolina, but while he was a boy his parents removed to Davidson Co., Tenn., where he was raised. He married Mary Watson, who was also born in North Carolina and raised in Tennessee. They came to Montgomery Co., Mo., in 1818, and settled on the east side of Loutre creek. Mr. Fitzhugh was a hard-working man, and he and his son Hopkins sawed a great deal of lumber with a whip-saw, and sold it in Danville. He once met with a misfortune by which he had several of his ribs broken, and after that he would eat nothing but milk and mush, which he imagined kept the broken ribs in their places. His children were Hopkins, Mary A., Matilda, Louisa J., John S., Thomas B., and Catharine.