Elizabeth wales
When we first began this project, we eagerly began searching for information regarding Richard Barclay's life. However, at a certain point, we realized that all the information we were gathering consisted of hard facts which would not help us sculpt a personal and more meaningful story of his life. So, we searched for relatives of Lt. Barclay in order to discover more about his childhood and family. Soon, we were able to contact Elizabeth "Betsy" Wales, Richard Barclay's sister. She has kindly taken her time to give us information about her brother's life and his service in the military up until his death. The contributions that she has made have allowed us to give a more personal feel to the project and help us understand the sacrifice he made for his country on both a personal and factual level. Betsy has greatly influenced the success of the this website and intensified its meaning to reflect something that not only commemorates her courageous brother, but every other soldier who died fighting for their country.
Michael Robinson
Riverton Library
Thanks to Mr. Michael Robinson, head librarian at Riverton Library, we were able to shift from the early stages of our project into a website that we have come to appreciate. Although we originally contacted Mr. Robinson in an effort to come across any records of Lt. Barclay located in his hometown library, Mr. Robinson provided us with the key element to unlock several doors in this project that we never believed we would be able to gain access to. Once we had contacted both Alison Barclay Young, Lt. Barclay's niece, and Mrs. Elizabeth Wales, his sister, our project became the cohesive website we had envisioned. Growing up, Mr. Robinson told us that he remembered going to school with a Richard Barclay, who must have been Lt. Barclay's family relative. He also mentioned that he and his two daughters leave flowers on the memorial markers set before trees at the Riverton Park every Memorial Day. Lt. Richard Barclay's name is among them. If it were not for this essential bridge that Mr. Robinson had provided us, it is hard to determine how our website would have accurately represented Lt. Barclay.
Historical Society of Riverton
We first discovered the Riverton Historical Society when we researched Barclay’s early life, specifically his home town. Eager to have a breakthrough, we decided to contact them. When they replied, we were pleasantly surprised to receive do much new information on Lt. Barclay, things that we would not have been able to find ourselves, such as information on his family, the archives of his college, and providing us Lt. Barclay's obituary. We have such gratitude to President Gerald Weaber, John McCormick, and the entire Riverton Historical Society, who have been vital to the construction of the website in honor of not only the Riverton native, Richard M. Barclay, but all the men who sacrificed their lives fighting for our freedom.
mike weeks
Thanks to Mike Weeks, we discovered additional information about Richard and also found additional means of research that allowed our project to become more historically accurate. He led us to a website that specialized in historical military records therefore providing us with more in-depth information about Richard's time in the Navy. Furthermore, he gave us specific dates that related to Richard's service in the military including his date of enlistment. It was because of Mike Weeks access detailed military records and his willingness to help us that we were able to properly honor Richard M. Barclay and his service in the U.S. Navy.
Click for 'Riverton, Burlington' Click for 'U.S Navy'