My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM RIDENOUR. It was in 1869 that Mr. Ridenour settled in Pettis County, where he purchased a tract of farming land on section 6, township 44, range 22. At that time Washington Township contained few of the improvements that now mark it, and he has been one of the factors in its development, having, by his energy and industry, not only placed his own property under cultivation, but also given a stimulus to the agricultural interests of the locality. He is the owner of a well improved estate of two hundred and twenty-eight acres, upon which, in addition to a substantial set of farm buildings, he has made other valuable improvements, including the planting of a large number of fruit trees.

The Ridenour family originated in Holland, but has long been identified with the history of this country. The subject of this sketch was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, March 22, 1822, and is the son of Daniel and Susannah (Shaver) Ridenour. At the age of ten years he accompanied his parents to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. Being the second child and the eldest son in the family, a large share of the farm work fell upon him, and the greater part of the land was cleared through his arduous efforts. As may be supposed, he had no educational advantages, and the knowledge that he has since acquired is the result of self-culture.

Shortly before he was twenty-one, December 15, 1842, Mr. Ridenour was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Murphy, who was born in York County, Pa., November 21, 1821, being the daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Steamier) Murphy, natives of Pennsylvania. Her father entered the American service in the War of 1812, but did not participate in any active engagements with the British. Her grandfather, William Murphy, emigrated to this country from Ireland at the age of twelve years, and some years later became a soldier in the Colonial army. For his services in the Revolutionary War he was given a warrant to land in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and it was to this property that the family removed when Mrs. Ridenour was a child of seven years. Her girlhood was spent there, and she attended the common schools of the neighborhood.

In May, 1843, a few months after his marriage, Mr. Ridenour settled on a farm in Wabash County, Ind., his father having previously given him a tract of eighty acres of timber-land there. He moved into a little cabin on the place, and at once began to clear the land. From the first success attended his efforts, and in a short time he was enabled to purchase an additional tract of eighty acres. To the improvement and cultivation of the place he gave his attention for twenty-six years, meanwhile gaining a large acquaintance in the county and becoming known as a thrifty and honorable farmer.

Disposing of his farm in Wabash County in 1869, Mr. Ridenour transferred his interests to Pettis County, where he has since made his home. Here he first bought four hundred and eighty acres, but afterward sold a large tract, then bought an additional eighty, and now owns two hundred and twenty-eight acres, all in a body. Though he has never sought office, yet he is interested in public affairs and is well informed concerning questions of national importance. In former years a Democrat, he cast his first Presidential ballot for James K. Polk; for some years past, however, his allegiance has been given to the Republican party, the principles of which he supports with his vote. For many years, both while a resident of Indiana and since coming to Pettis County, he has served as School Director, and it has been his aim to see that not only his own children, but others as well, should have the educational advantages of which he was deprived in youth. He and his wife were reared in the Lutheran faith, but are now identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ridenour, but two of the number died in infancy. All were born in Wabash County, Ind. The eldest, Dan M., who is married and has five children, makes his home in Green Ridge, where he is engaged as a wagon-maker and carpenter. Margaret Rosanna is the wife of Joseph Upton, of Green Ridge. John P., a farmer and stock-raiser of Green Ridge Township, is married and has four children. David Sylvester, with his wife and seven children, resides on a farm in Washington Township, where he owns two hundred and eighty acres of land. Elizabeth, wife of Theodore Rice, lives in Oklahoma. Joseph, who cultivates the home farm for his father, married Miss Emma Saurbaugh, a native of Hardin County, Ohio, who came to Pettis County with her parents, and at the time of her marriage was living in Ionia City, Washington Township; they have one child, Omer W., born November 20, 1894. Louisa E., the youngest of the family, is the wife of D. Rice, and the mother of six children; her home is in the Chickasaw Nation, Okla.