This blog is designed to "share" information on the Ridgway/Ridgeway surname background from Joseph Ridgway and Mary Smith dating back to the mid 1600s. I and a few other descendants of that early family would like to find out more about the Ridg(e)way families and any other related families. We will be glad to exchange information with you in this blog. The information disclosed in these blogs may or may not be accurate.
This is the 3rd podcast of my fifth generation grandfather, John Ridgeway.
Allow me to register this disclaimer before I begin this narrative.
"The things I am about to tell of John Ridgeway are valid as far as I know. If I have noted something that is not true, please let me know in this blog and I will review it and correct if need be. Thank you."
When I went back to Illinois in the summer of 2009, I was able to get a copy of John Ridgway's will. Only recently was I able to translate John's writing into a readable typed version when I have made an interesting discovery. I learned that the will disclosed was that John knew that he was very ill and knew that he would die soon. Although, John didn't mention him by name, John Ridgway wrote the will in such a way to hold off inheritance to his heirs until Ann's youngest child reached 21 years of age. That would have been my 4th generation grandfather Barzilla (Benjamin) Franklin Ridgeway.
Initially, John gave all of his personal property to Ann Ridgway for her sole use. Then he gave her the West half (80 acres) of the NorthWest quarter of Section 16 of Township 12 North, Range 9 East. He gave her the South one third part (53 acres) of the Northwest quarter of Section 26 of Township 12 North, Range 9 East. The remaining two thirds of Section 26 he left to be used to fray any debts he might have after his death and leaving Ann a means to pay them. Until reading this will I did not know that John owned the NW quarter of section 16.
John made stipulation that should Ann die before her youngest child reached 21 years, then the proceeds of the land were to be used to support Ann's children until her youngest reached 21. Now that I see the location of John and Ann's Section 16 in relation to the Riddel farm, I think even more that John was not buried on the Riddel Polling farm. John's farm is just across the road. I think he was buried on his own land on section 16. It is even possible that his stone some how got carried to the Riddel farm. 158 years is a long, long time and a lot can happen between then and now.
This is a podcast of my fifth generation grandfather, John Ridgeway.
Allow me to register this disclaimer before I begin this narrative.
"The things I am about to tell of John Ridgeway are valid as far as I know. If I have noted something that is not true, please let me know in this blog and I will review it and correct if need be. Thank you."
In Podcast #1, I gave a general outline of John Ridgeway's life. It by no means was comprehensive. Because I have little information about his early life in Ohio, I will put my efforts to Illinois, where I was born and raised during the 1940s and 50s. To be honest, I did not know anything about my lineage until I had reached my 40s in 1980s. Little by little, I learned about my ancestors. It is ironic that I lived my early years in the same places as John, Ann 'McGee" and their children lived, worked and played. If only I had known, I would undoubtedly know more than I do now.
In 1819 John married Mary Ann Cooper in Ross county, Ohio. Shortly after November 10, 1824, John Ridgeway and his family joined George Love who settled near the present village of Mossville in Medina township, Peoria county, Illinois. John Ridgeway cast his fortunes in this new country and the Ridgeway family became a landmark and has frequently been mentioned in connection with early highways, elections and school districts. The next to appear here were Samuel Clifton, Edmund Weed Briarly, Henry Thomas and Abner Cooper. In the next few years the settlement was considerably augmented by other arrivals, many of whom became dissatisfied and soon left for other areas of activity.
In 1825, John and David, John's brother, are both listed on a military service list for the Black Hawk War (second campaign). John and his family show up in an 1830 census for Peoria county, Illinois. In the winter of 1831-32, John Ridgeway, Bill and Jerry Cooper and Simon Reed head north to trade furs with the Indians. They got as far as Penn township in Stark county. At Cooper's Defeat Creek not far from Boyd's Grove, the men were stranded by a really severe storm. John Ridgeway was the only man to survive that storm.
On June 15, 1836, John purchased 160 acres along the Illinois River about 4 to 5 miles South of Sparland, Illinois (NW Quarter S26 T12N R09E). He paid $1.25 per acre for a total of $200.00.
What was Illinois like when the Ridgeways settled there?
It was pretty rough. There were no established roads. Pavement was unheard of. Highway 29 between Chillicothe and Sparland was part of the Galena trail. In fact Chillicothe and Sparland and Lacon and Henry were not even cities yet and were not platted at the time. Most everyone who settled in the area where farmers or worked on fledgling river commerce. There were no grocery stores or clothing stores. No stop signs. No Dairy Queens. No McDonalds. You had to be pretty proficient. If you needed it, you had to grow it or make it. Fortunately, they were only 60 miles from Peoria, Illinois which was quickly becoming a thriving city. With a buckboard and horse they could make it there in 2 to 3 days one way and 2 to 3 days back.
There were no doctors in the area and edipemics were common. It is thought that John Ridgeway died on October 8, 1852 from a chloera epidemic that swept the area in 1852. One of his sons Jeremiah died the same year. John was only 55 which would be young according to today's standards. It appears he lived a full and hard life. He and his wife's bore 10 children into this world.
It is said that John is buried on the William Riddel farm, Rt. 17, Sparland in Marshall County, IL. This farm which is now the Riddel Hereford Polling farm is located 3 or 4 miles east of Sparland, Illinois. The Riddel's bought the farm in 1819 some 70 years after John was supposedly buried there. Noone has been able to locate the grave site because it was located in the pasture somewhere and is no longer visible. I went to the farm in the summer of 2009 and could not locate the grave. I have to register my doubts about John Ridgeway being layed to rest there. The first question that comes to my mind is Why would he be buried there when he had 160 acres along the Illinois River? It seems more logical that he and perhaps, Ann would be buried on the land they owned and loved. I am also thinking that some confusion may have occurred because the similarities in the first part of the names, Rid-del, Rid-egway.
John left 20 acres to his first child, Nancy (Cooper) Ridgeway (1-29-1854). She married Washington Lewis on April 1, 1844. In April 27, 1852 John willed a 1/3 quarter of the South part of Section 26 to his wife Ann. I am not sure if that was 1/3 of 40 (13) acres or 80 (26) acres. I am not sure how the remainder of the land was divided. I am sure that John's will divides it up. The is conjecture that John and Ann owned land where the Riddle farm now stands NorthEast of the Illinois River farm. I don't think so. If so, what happend to that land? Did they lose it? Supposedly John was buried there. Too many unanswered questions.
After John died, Ann still had a number of children to take care of. She lived another 36 years, had two more children and married two more times. My next podcast will be about my 5th generation grandmother, a pioneer woman who held the fabric of the Ridgeway, McGee, Purcell, Crotz and Spahr family together.
This is a podcast of my fifth generation grandfather, John Ridgeway.
Allow me to register this disclaimer before I begin this narrative.
"The things I am about to tell of John Ridgeway are valid as far as I know. If I have noted something that is not true, please let me know in this blog and I will review it and correct if need be. Thank you."
John Ridgeway was born in Ohio in 1797 of Samuel Ridgeway and Catherine Atwood. I know little about John's life in Ohio except that he married Mary Ann Cooper on August 31, 1819. John's mother, Catherine, died almost 3 months later on November 24, 1819. John and Mary Ann had three daughters in Ohio early in their marriage, Nancy, Catherine and Elizabeth or Betsy.
Five years later in 1825, Permilia, another daughter was born in Illinois. Then came Jeremiah (1828) and finally William (1830).
In 1820, John Ridgeway and family were living in Pee Wee Township, Pike county, Ohio.
He had brothers Jonathan, James and David who were living in Ross county, Ohio. That year John and brother David left Ohio and struck out to Peoria, county, Illinois with Jeremiah Cooper. Not much is mentioned about his wife Mary Ann. I am guessing that Jeremiah was probably her brother.
History books state that John Ridgeway was the 2nd settler in Steuben Township, Marshall county and settled where Grantville, Illinois stood.
On July 5, 1832 in Northampton, Peoria county, Illinois, John Ridgeway married my 5th generation grandmother, Ann McGee. I can only assume that Mary Ann, his first wife, died between 1830 and 1832, probably of complications of child birth. She was born around 1800 and she would have been only 32-33 years old at the time of her death. Or John and Mary Ann Cooper separated. I have had contact with another family that maintains that she died in Missouri around 1878.
Ann McGee Ridgeway was only 15 years old when she married John. I think she was born around 1816 in Ohio. Although future censuses have her born in Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. John would have been 35 during their marriage.
Melvina or Melinda was born around 1837. Jonathan was born July 7, 1838 in Sparland, Illinois. Rebecca was born in 1845. Elizabeth "Eliza" was born in 1846. Ezra was born in 1849. And finally, Barzilla Franklin Ridgeway, my 4th generation grandfather was born in October 1852 in Marshall county. I almost didn't make it on this earth. John Ridgeway died on October 8, 1852. Sadly, Barzilla would not have know his father and John probably didn't even know that Ann bore him a son.
In my next podcast, I will tell more about John Ridgeway's life. He has proved to be a pioneer, a family man and a real puzzle. His and Ann McGee Ridgeway death have been a brickwall. Until next time, Good Day and keep on searching.
