My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Washington County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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R. L. Ritter, dealer in general merchandise at Elm Springs, Ark., and native of the town in which he now resides, was born in 1862, and is a son of James and Julia Ann (Harroll) Ritter. The father was born in 1817 in Tennessee, and was there married to Miss Harroll, by whom he became the father of ten children, R. L. Ritter being the seventh child. The mother died sometime in the fifties, and the father was afterward married to Miss Sarah Akin, and resides in Elm Spring. Here R. L. Ritter was reared to manhood and educated. When about twenty-one years of age, Miss Margaret A. Painter became his wife. Their union resulted in the birth of six children: Lucy E., Edward N., Georgia May, Allie, Katie, and Robert L. Until 1878 Mr. Ritter was successfully engaged in tilling the soil, but at that date he abandoned that calling, and spent a year each in Texas and Missouri, then returned to Arkansas, and engaged in general merchandising at Elm Springs, where he has a large and lucrative trade, which is constantly on the increase. He began life with a small capital, but has steadily gained ground until he now ranks among the first business men of the town. He is a Democrat, a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and belongs to the A. F. & A. M.

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This family biography is one of 300 biographies included in The History of Washington County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Washington County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Washington County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

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