RitterLetter for Autumn 2000
In this edition of the RitterLetter:
News from the Publisher
Perhaps it comes as no surprise to most of you that this issue is verytardy. We have searched for good reasons to give for not getting out a fallissue as promised, but alas none could be found. We hoped for a good disaster toblame for the tardiness but that didn't happen either. So you will just have tosettle for our appology.We wish to express our appreciation to those ofyou who have submitted articles for this letter. We appreciate your efforts, andplease keep the material coming. It is very likely that these letters are beingarchived by many folks and will be kept for a long time to come. Even if you donot get acknowledged for your effort or get your question answered in the nearfuture, surely something will come in due time.
This issue should be oneof the best yet. It is packed with submissions from our readers, many of whomare passionate in their search for information on their ancestors.
Weare pleased to announce that we now have in excess of 70 email addresses ofpeople who have asked to be included on our mailing list. In some cases we gettwo new addresses during a week.
Just a note. If you change your email,or ISP you should remember to notify us of the change. We have at least 15people on our previous lists that we can not contact since they have madechanges in their email and apparently forgot to notify us.
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Ritter celebration in North Carolina
Again this year Ritter family, and interested parties met at theSmyrna United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall to honor the memory of Capt. JohnRitter (1816-1902). Eventhough the title would indicate that the celebration wasmostly about Capt. John, folks again brought memoribilia, photos, and stories tothe gathering to share.Eli and Carrie Ritter, Lotte S. Ritter andothers were the driving force behind the gathering and we are sure that allappreciate their efforts to keep memories of this Ritter ancestor alive.
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Ritter/Williamson Connection ??
The following was submitted by Berta Brewer [email protected] 10/15/2000I was very excited to find someone who has researched the Williamson Family. Iam grasping at straws, but here goes!My ancestor, Adam Brown Brewer wasborn in Randolph County, NC in 1824. He married Nancy A. Moffitt in Randolph Coin 1842. Nancy and children are listed in the Moore County 1850 Census. Adam ismissing. It has been suggested that he went to California to search for gold.Connected to Nancy and Adam is a Molsey Ann Craven who married William WyattWilliamson, son of Wyatt Williamson of Moore County. William Wyatt was killed inthe Civil War and Adam went to Missouri and collected Molsey and her childrenand brought them to Stone County, Arkansas (then Izard County). The childrenwere listed as living next door to Adam and Nancy in the 1880 Stone CountyCensus Records and they were listed as nieces and nephews of Adam and Nancy. Doyou have any clues as to how they are related? Also, Adam Moffitt, son ofStephen and Ruth Moffitt was in Stone County and purchased land from Adam andNancy in the late 1800's. I can find no proof of parentage of either Adam orNancy. Can someone help please?
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Sailing on the Princess Augustus
The following is a note from Janice W.who submitted this article (By the way the Princess Augustus was a three-masted,square-rigged ship - whatever that means!)Jerry - I noticed via theInternet that your ancestor (Ritter) was on the Princess Augustus.
Myancestor David Lowenstein was also a passenger on this ship. I have discovered awritten account of the trip by a Durs Thommen who was also aboard this ship. Itwill make a wonderfull addition to your family history. I printed off thisaccount from the Internet over a year ago, filing it away, because I thought itwould be a good example of what the trip to America entailed and I could use itwhen I wrote up my family's history. Little did I know that one year later, Iwould discover that my ancestor was actually aboard that very ship!! I still getgoose bumps thinking about it!
Here is the letter written by Dursincluding the source. I hope you enjoy it.
(In German) "Sept 16, 1736.Pfalzer fammt ibren Familien, 330 an to Bahl, famen auf dem Shiffe PrincessAugustus, Capitain Samuel Merchant, von Rotterdam uber Cowes".
(InEnglish) Princess Augustus Sept. 16, 1736.
Palatines with their families, inall 330, imported in the ship Princess Augustus, Samuel Merchant, Master, fromRotterdam, last from Cowes. A Passenger on the Princes Augustus.
AnAccount by Durs Thommen From June to September 1736
Written in Philadelphia,October 20, 1736 "On The Power O?Pietism" by Leo
Schelbert, PhD published inthe "Historic Scaefferstown Record" vol 17, Issues
No 3 & 4. [{a notefrom Janice} It appears to me that Durs is writing to a minister in Germany whomust have been contemplating a trip to America)]
My friendly greetingsand service to you, my much beloved Reverent Mr. Candidate Annoni and yourbeloved wife Ester Annoni, born in Zwingerin.
I cannot desist fromwriting to you and to tell you in a few words that I with my family - the lovingfaithful Father in Heaven be praised for that - have come into this land freshand healthy. But at sea our two younger sons became sick with ship fever but,thank God, have regained their previous health. But I now know nothing furtherto write because we have come so late into this country and everything hasalready been harvested.
As to the journey, we were detained for 5 weeks,have slept on the Rhine for 2 weeks and travelled from Rotterdam across the seafor 12 weeks and 4 days until Philadelphia, but only 8 weeks from land to land,and we did not have good wind save for 8 days, more contrary winds than sidewind. And as we saw land a new pilot came to us and we thought all was well andwon. All evening we got good wind from behind so that the ship moved vigorously.The new pilot, however made cast anchor because it was not far (from there)dangerous; in the morning when the anchor was lifted again and we had barelygone 30 feet the boat ran into a rock, and it crashed that one thought it wouldbreak in the middle. The anxious crying began, and one could see where there wasfaith or not. Then the captain had a warning shot fired and had a flag ofdistress hoisted, but we drove far out to the sea so that we saw no land anymorefor days and even thought we would never see it again.
As far as illnessare concerned, the Mannheim skippers had two of the boats sidewise together; inthe one besides ours 7 children died of small pox and a woman of spotted fever,and in our boat 19 people died until Rotterdam. Those people who have means andare interested in this land and need not go into debt, those I advise to staywhere they are because the journey is onerous and very dangerous. Thus who wantsto come to this land shall be well provided with butter and bacon, dried applesnips and plums, and flour, wine and brandy and dried bread, tea and sugar. Andif young people come and cannot pay fare, there are enough people to redeem themfrom the boat, and they must serve them a certain time for it. There are peoplewith whom I have talked myself who had brought not a penny into the land and hadto serve for their fare, now (they) are very rich people. But I do not know towrite much of the land because we came into it quite late and everything hadalready been harvested, and one should not rely much on the talk of otherpeople, thus I am willing, if it were to please the Lord in Heaven, to send veryaccurate news in the future when I have investigated things my self.
ButI have not yet taken up the land, but I am also willing to wait until I know theland better or have approached trusted friends so that I may believe them. Icould have already taken up, however, more than 3 to 400 acres that have beenmuch planted, and there would remain in my hands quite a good portion of myimported wealth. What has already been cleared of that place, meadow and fields,is for 6 horses, 8 cows, 12 goats, 14 pigs. We are very sorry that at home wehave not lived according to Christ's demand on occasion as we should have done.
Signed:
Durs Thommen formerly of Niederdorff your servant
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Old Cemeteries of Moore County
March 19, 2000The following submittedby Lotte Ritter, [email protected]
On March 18, 2000 Donna Ritter Rileyand I drove up to Robbins to meet Eli & Carrie Ritter at Thurman Maness'house. The various spring-flowering trees were in full bloom, and it was apleasant drive up to Moore County.
Being a native German I canunderstand why those early Ritters and other German families settled in thatpart of the country. The rolling hills and meadows reminded me so much of myhomeland, and the beauty of it almost made me breathless. In my mind's eye Icould almost see tall, handsome Ritter men, guns over their shoulders, ridingthrough the countryside tending to their livestock or hunting for their supper.
Arriving at Thurman's house we all piled into Eli's car and started ourjourney with great anticipation.
First Thurman guided us to the OldScotch Graveyard. Anthony E. Parker in his guide book MOORE COUNTY CEMETERIESgives the following directions:
"This cemetery is located in agrove of oaks South of county Highway #1261 approximately ¾ of
a mile fromthe junction of Highway #1264."
This property was known as thePeter Bethune Place, more recently, the Old Barrett Place (#38).
Theonly German names we saw on tombstones were those of the Stutts family. RassieWicker, author of MISCELLANEOUS ANCIENT RECORDS OF MOORE COUNTY, claims that the Stutts family came with the Ritter family and otherGerman settlers from Pennsylvania to upper Moore County (pg.334).
Ournext stop was Bethlehem Church Cemetery. Parker in MOORE COUNTY CEMETERIES givesthe following
directions:
"This cemetery is located on countyroad #1261 approximately 200 yards NW of where county road #1243 junctions(#79)."
Of interest to us were the graves of Thomas W. Ritterand his wife, Julia Caddell. Thomas who served as Sheriff of Moore County from1857 – 1860 was the son of John R. Ritter and wife Mary Kennedy. Thomas was born1829 and died 1891. Julia was born 1845 and died 1910. She was the daughter ofPresley and Hannah Caddell. We also found the grave of Dicy Jane Ritter,daughter of John R. Ritter and Mary Kennedy and wife of Nelson Hunsucker. LeroyRitter (1875-1908), whose grave was nearby, may have been a son of Thomas andJulia.
Our next stop was Cross Hill Cemetery in Carthage. Parker givesthese directions:
"This cemetery is located at the west townlimits of Carthage on State Highway #27. Cross Hill is a town kept tax supportedcemetery (#47)."
This cemetery was very large and we weregetting tired. Thurman decided to stay in the car to get a much deserved rest.
The rest of us spread out and searched for Ritter tombstones. Thanks toCarrie it didn't take long to find the following graves:
Mary C. Ritter(1920-1964)
David A. Ritter (1917-1934
Mamie S. Ritter (1893-1945)
Joe T. Ritter (1880-1923)
Joe was the son of Addison Ritter(1847-1938) and Catherine Maness and grandson of Eliza Ritter who was Capt.John's youngest sister. Joe was married to (1) Beulah Mae Stout and (2) MamieSeawell. Mary and David must have been children of Joe and Mamie. Joe wasmurdered by a Negro at the age of 43. I am currently searching for an account ofthat tragedy.
Margaret Corinna Ritter Cagle (1858-1935) and her husbandJohn Ransom Cagle (1839-1922) are also buried at Cross Hill Cemetery. Margaretis the daughter of Elizabeth Ritter and granddaughter of William D. Ritter andwife Cathrin Melton.
Next Eli drove to Friendship Baptist ChurchCemetery. Parker writes in his Moore County Cemetery Guide:
"Thiscemetery, established approximately in 1771, is located on county road #1637. Atone time, this was a well-traveled road, but at present is a dead end. Thecemetery is actually located in the church yard (#67)."
Among themany graves were those of E. Q. and Mary D. Seawell. Eleazer Quimby Seawell wasthe son of Jesse Seawell and Nancy Ritter, the latter a daughter of old JesseRitter. Mary Seawell was the daughter of Rev. Eli Dickerson and Nancy Dowd.
We were all getting tired, but since it was on our way we stopped atPleasant Hill Methodist Church Cemetery. It is located across North Moore HighSchool in Robbins. According to Thurman Maness, Pleasant Hill Church was builtin 1860 on land donated to the church by Thomas and Mary Maness and John andLydia Riddle.
By 1906 the original church building was getting too smallto hold a growing membership and a second wooden church was built. After 1951 abrick structure replaced the existing building. Part of the land was donated byReuben Maness. Thurman Maness and his wife, Verda, donated land in 1964 to addan educational building to the church (Moore County Cemetery Guide, #104).Buried here were Asa McClellan Maness (Dec. 1, 1861 ----), son of Asa Maness andMary Annie Ritter Maness. Mary Annie was a sister to Capt. John Ritter. Alsoburied here was Elizabeth Ritter (1822-1904), daughter of William Ritter andCathrin Melton Ritter. Several of the John Henry Ritter and Nancy Cole familyare also buried at Pleasant Hill.
We all decided that we had roamedaround enough. Thurman invited us back to his house for some refreshments andreminiscence of our experience that day.
We, who are on the same quest,seem to find and help each other preserve some family history for our childrenand the generations to come. Even though we dredge many miles to discover what'sleft of the past, we never want to have a certain destination in mind because itwould spoil our journey.
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A Story about Willie Walter and Flossie Elizabeth Ritter
The followingsubmitted by Susan Queen [email protected] October 30, 2000The story thathas always captured my imagination is how Flossie Elizabeth Williamson andWillie Walter Ritter got together. Walter's mother (Ruthie Jane Florence WallaceRitter) told my mother (Ruby Ritter Peurifoy) this story when my mother was agirl: Walter, who was around 19 at the time, had walked another girl home afterchurch (or something). The girl did not have an especially good reputation, soRuthie Jane voiced her disapproval to Walter. (He was her firstborn, and notjust anybody was good enough for him.) Walter told her not to worry that hewould not marry anyone until Flossie Williamson was old enough to marry. Walterhad seen Flossie at the annual July 4th picnic(s) at the farm of Capt. JohnRitter, Walter's grandfather, and had picked her out as his wife-to-be. He wasseven years older than Flossie, so she was only 12 years old at the time. Sixmonths after she turned 16, they were married (March 1907). He always said shewas the only woman he ever loved.
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A Story about George Ritter b.1685
The following submitted by GlennRitter [email protected] 10/30/00I've run into a dead end. Does anyonehave any info on a George Ritter, born 1685, with a son, Frantz.
Georgelived in Oley, PA. His son, Frantz, was born in 1710. There are unsubstantiatedarticles that claim this Ritter is related to Elias Ritter from the Frederick,MD, area. Elias came to America in 1650 with an expedition of Lord Baltimore.Some of Elias' family settled in Fayetteville, PA. Some of these Ritters laterwent to KY, and settled around the Monmoth Cave area. I, and others, have lotsof info about George Ritter's family. But, nothing about his origin.
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A story of the skills of Capt. John Ritter
Submitted by W. ClintonPowers [email protected] 10/30/00Cynthia America Ritter Powers, daughter ofCaptain John Ritter, was my grandmother. She had married Jack
Powers. Theirson, Charles Herbert Powers was my father.
An early memory was beingtold that Captain John Ritter was a skilled craftsman. My grandmother had abeautiful hutch that her father made. I was told that each daughter received asimilar piece of furniture when she was married. My grandmother's hutch is ownedtoday by my cousin Edison Powers. I saw it again a couple of yeas ago and it wasbeautiful in restored condition.
Another skill Captain John Ritter hadwas as a gun craftsman. Son's, I have heard, received a new gun from
theirfather when they married and moved out of the home from their father. Thatalways story always
fascinated me, because I loved guns, and wanted to ownone of the guns he had made. I remember that
Jack Caviness, who married mygrandmother's sister Exie Louise Ritter, had one of my great-grandfather's
guns. I saw it once when I was very young. I remember the excellentcraftsmanship. I was also told that he had the tools, also, which Captain JohnRitter made and used in crafting guns.
I often wondered where heacquired the skill for making guns. More recently I have learned that there wasa gun making factory in Mechanics Hill (Now Robbins, NC) for many years. Thismakes me wonder if he at one time worked there and acquired the skills. It wouldhave been not many miles from Captain Ritter's home.
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Interview with J.C. (Jeremiah Coleman) Ritter
Submitted by VicciFlatt [email protected] 10/31/00These 2 documents are on file withthe Oklahoma Historical Society. They are called "The
Indian PioneerPapers". They are interviews that were done with some of the early Oklahoma(Indian Territory) settlers and does not necessarily mean they were Indian.
Interview with J.C. (Jeremiah Coleman) Ritter Atwood, OK.
Investigator: Nettie Cain
January 25, 1938
I was born in 1879, inLee County, Mississippi, and was fifteen years old at the time I left that statewith my parents. We lived twenty-five miles from a railroad. We came to FortSmith, Arkansas, and settled three miles east of Sugar Loaf Mountain in 1888,near Cameron. This was in the Choctaw country and Green McCurtin was one of theChoctaw Indian leaders. At this time a white person would have to get a permitto lease Indian land, which would cost him about $15.00 a year for forty acresof land.
A short time after we arrived in the Indian Territory, myfather, Everett Bayless Ritter put in a store. We would go to Fort Worth afterour stock of supplies, going across the Backbone Mountain. We had to pass a tollgate and had to pay 50 cents for a wagon and team for a round trip. The fundsthus derived were used to keep the road worked and in shape to travel. Fatherwould sometimes have a wagon bed full of eggs which he would pack in loose hayand haul them across the mountains and very few of them were ever broken.
The Indians were very honest in all their business dealings. At thistime there were no churches or schools, but soon a few of the white peopledecided to have a school for their children so employed a teacher to teach asubscription school; so much was charged few each student. Then they soon beganto have church and Sunday School.
The Indians had very few churches butthey had a lot of dances and big ball games. In 1901 I bought my father's storeand later moved to Calvin.
In 1905 I moved my family to Calvin and in1907 we moved to Atwood. I am still interested in the public welfare of HughesCounty and still operate a store In Atwood.
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A second interview with J.C. (Jeremiah Coleman) Ritter
Submitted byVicci Flatt [email protected] 10/31/00J.C. (Coleman) Ritter,Atwood, OK Born March 2, 1873, Lee County, Mississippi
Parents, EverettBayless and Mary C. Ritter. White.
My parents came to Oklahoma "aboutthe first of November 1887." They came by rail from Amory, Mississippi, to FortSmith, Arkansas, thence by wagon to Cameron, or rather to Kully Chaha, as thatwas before Cameron. I moved from what is now LeFlore County and came to HughesCounty in 1904. Some of our most interesting episodes were when some settlerrefused to pay his permit and was ejected from the Territory.
The familyof Uncle Joe Tucker was very interesting at the time we came to the Territory.Uncle Joe is dead now and the boys are scattered. His daughter, Mrs. J.H. Adams,lives at Atwood. Mrs. Katie Hill (widow of Bud Hill) lives at Cameron and isalso a daughter of Uncle Joe Tucker. Bud Hill was killed while serving as adeputy U.S. Marshall before statehood. Hill was a mighty fine man and I thoughtit would have been impossible to have killed a man that our community would havemissed as much as he was, he was killed by a Mr. Simpson, whose boy he and BoleyGrady were trying to arrest, near Jenson Arkansas. They were at a meeting justacross the line from Jenson and the boy had been disturbing the meeting, so Hilland Boley Grady were asked to be there and arrest him, and Grady had gone underthe arbor and had the boy down and he called for his father, who came to hisrescue and killed Hill and Grady both. (Or rather killed Grady and Hill both, ashe killed Mr. Grady first.)
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A Tribute to Clinard Hobson Ritter
Submitted by Lotte Ritter,[email protected] 11/04/00Clinard Hobson Ritter
Born: August09, 1902
Died: May 02, 2000
Father: Jack Ritter born 1858and died July 04, 1903
Mother:Sarah Howard born May 15, 1863 and diedOctober 26, 1903 (Source: Howard Family Bible, owned by Charles Howard, 719 PageSt., Troy, NC 27371)
Grandparents:
Paternal Grandfather:(Capt.) John Ritter
Paternal Grandmother: Sarah Annie Myrick
MaternalGrandfather: John Howard
Maternal Grandmother: Julia Ann Moffit
Siblings:
Hattie Louise R. Welch
Annie Florence R.Caviness
Martha Emily R. Bray
Herbert Ritter
Eli Marvin Ritter
William Curtis Ritter
Dewey Lennie Ritter
Spouse: SarahMildred Sullivan born June 03, 1905, died July 26, 1997
Hobson was bornin Robbins, Moore County, North Carolina. When Hobson was eleven months old, hisfather died of typhoid fever, and three months later his mother died of the samedisease.
Capt. John Ritter's daughter, Julia Ann and her husband, GeorgeWilliamson, took Hobson in and raised him.
On January 03, 1926 Hobsonmarried Sarah Mildred Sullivan, daughter of Jesse Sullivan and Laura EllenPierce. Mildred's family lived in the Bethlehem area north of Carthage.
Hobson and Mildred made their home on Linden Road in Pinehurst wherethey raised their two daughters, Jessie and Betty.
Hobson worked forPeachland, Inc. and later in Lexie Smith's store on Linden Road. When LexieSmith went bankrupt during the depression, Hobson bought fourteen acres and fourhouses from T. S. Fuller who owned property on Linden Road in Pinehurst. Hobsonstarted to haul and sell wood and take care of yards around the area. In hisspare time he policed Knollwood, dug graves, and buried people. Hobson alwaysliked to stay busy.
Late in the 1930s Hobson and his brother-in-lawbought a chicken processing plant after having worked there for some time. Theybought chickens, dressed them, and then sold them to A&P Stores, ColonialStores, and other grocery stores all over North Carolina and adjoining states.Business was good, and after a few years Hobson built his own chicken houses toraise his own chickens.
During WWII Hobson sold chickens to thegovernment to be shipped overseas. Some years later when the price of chickendropped, Hobson sold the business, renting out his buildings.
In 1987Mildred suffered a stroke, which made living in their big home difficult. In1990 Hobson and Mildred moved to a condominium on Linden Road. After Mildredsuffered another stroke, both she and Hobson moved to Siler City – Mildred to arest home and Hobson to the home of his daughter, Jessie. Every day hefaithfully spend the afternoon with his wife at the rest home, up until the dayshe died on July 26, 1997.
Hobson lived out his life in Siler City inhis daughter's home with his family's love and care surrounding him. Before hisdeath he often received visitors from relatives and friends from around MooreCounty. Hobson enjoyed telling stories he had heard about his grandfather, Capt.John Ritter.
During their lifetime Hobson and Mildred loved and servedthe Lord. Hobson was a former Sunday School Superintendent and deacon of BeulahHill Baptist Church and later a member and deacon of Deep Creek Baptist Churchin Pinehurst.
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Questions from our readers
Who was Columbus Ritter?Thefollowing was submitted by Vicci Flatt [email protected] 10/31/00
Iwould like to know if anyone could tell me something about a Columbus Ritter. Iam fairly certain he is related to my line as they were all in the same area atthe same time, but have not been able to connect him to a specific family.
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Some Ritter History
Date: 5/18/01Submitted by Gerhard Ritter email:[email protected]
The Ritters are descendants of the German Knights ofwhich there were too many. As only the first born male inherited the castle andthe adjacent lands during the dark ages, the younger siblings migrated mostly tothe eastern lands after the crusades and established Ritterguts, large tracts offarmlands. These Ritterguts (pronounced Rittergoots in plural and Rittergoot forsingular) were particularly large and predominant in Silesia, East Prussia, andPommerania. Lands east of the Oder-Neisse Line that were lost after WWII. Also,the longer names that included the landholdings, such as Walther Ritter vonKirchheim-Teck, etc. were shortened to Walther Ritter or Walther von Kirchheimor, simply, Walther Kirchheim for the younger siblings as they had no rights tothe landholdings. As land became scarcer in Europe, many of the Ritters soughtnew lands in the New World.
I was actually born in Germany, back in1936. Our lands were confiscated by the Poles in 1945 when Roosevelt/Truman gavethe eastern German territories to Stalin who then gave them to Poland ascompensation for the Polish section of the Ukraine that he incorporated into theSoviet Union. Hence Poland's geography shifted westward in 1945 and formerCentral Germany (Berlin was the epicenter of Germany) became East Germany.Loosing our landholdings, I like so many other Ritters immigrated to the US in1955.
According to my family history, a brother and his family on mygreat-great grandfathers side immigrated to Texas and spread the Ritter name inthat area.
Well, enough history.
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Milestones
Clinard Hobson Ritter b.August 09, 1902 d.May 02, 2000Jessie Ritter Bradley d. March 23, 2001
Fletcher Carroll Williamsond.March 16, 2001
Jessie Ritter Bradly (daughter of Clinard Hobson Ritter)d.March, 2001
Viola Hussey Ritter, age 92 d. Aug. 19, 2000
LessieTillman Ritter, age 89 d.Aug. 20, 2000
Editor's Note: Please keep us informed of births and deaths of Ritter familymembers
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Pleasesend any comments and suggestions to mailto:[email protected]?subject=RitterFamily Newsletter #5