Finding My 3rd Great Grandparents

A few days ago I participated in an exercise to determine my genealogy score. My goal is to improve my score during 2014. Tonight I have decided to see if I can fill in the gaps for my 3rd great grandparents.

One of my 2nd great grandfathers was a mystery man, Fred Richardson. That is really all I know about him. According to family legend, my 2nd great grandmother, Rosa Holcomb, had a one night stand with a traveling business man and became pregnant with my great grandfather. Through some sleuthing, I was able to find a birth record in Vergennes, Vermont listing his father as Frederick Richardson, possibly from Rutland, Vermont (his place of birth was written, "Rutland, VT?" My guess is that Rosa wouldn't have known where he was born, but he ma have told her he was from Rutland).

I have found a few Fred Richardsons that lived in or around the are at that time: One was the son of a hotel owner in Rutland. Another was a preacher at a church in Bristol (a town very close in proximity to Vergennes).

I am not sure how/if I will ever find Fred's parents. I hope I will, and I will never stop trying, but for now, I think I will have to accept the fact that this gap may realistically never be filled in.