1827 Henry Ritner, son of Joseph Ritner Esq, and Miss Lucetta Alter, both of Buffalo Twp, Washington County, Pennsylvania were married on May 10, by Rev. C Wheeler. [1]
1838 When Governor Joe Ritner [father of Henry] lost his re-election bid in 1838, ... Henry Ritner ... moved to Iowa. [2]
1841 Henry Alter Ritner was granted 160 acres in Des Moines County, Iowa, on December 1, through the Burlington land office. [3] [4]
1855 Henry A Ritner patented land in Polk County, Iowa. [5]
H.A. RITNER, deceased. Far back in the history of Des Moines County we find the name of this gentleman, who during his life was one of the most prominent farmers in this part of the country. As his demise occurred long since, the name can only live in history and his memory be perpetuated on historic pages. Possessing the greatest personal merit, Henry A. Ritner, the second son of Gov. Ritner, of Pennsylvania, endeared himself to the people of Des Moines County, and a chapter devoted to personal mention of him and his family is here with presented. Mr. Ritner was born in Washington County, Pa., Dec. 16, 1803, and is a son of Gov. Joseph and Susan (Alter) Ritner, their marriage being celebrated in Pennsylvania. The mother, and probably the father, was a native of that State, but the history is not authentic. The Ritners settled near Washington, Washington Co., Pa., at an early day, and after becoming a prosperous farmer, beloved and respected by all, Joseph Ritner was chosen to the highest office possible to be conferred upon him by the people of the State. He was elected Governor in 1839, and served a term as chief of the great State of Pennsylvania, retiring from the duties of his office with all the honor that merit bestows upon a faithful servant. The children were eight in number, and our subject was the second son. Given the educational advantages of those days, and stimulated by the example of a worthy father, Henry Ritner grew to manhood and was married in his native county to Miss Lucetta Alter, of whose people an extensive history is given in the sketch of Jacob Alter, Secretary of the Burlington Insurance Company, and a resident of Danville Township. She was born Aug. 22, 1807, and was married May 10, 1827. Her husband owned a farm near Washington, Pa., known as the "Birch Farm," and for thirteen years the young couple led a happy life in Pennsylvania. On this farm part of their children were born–Jacob, Joseph, Henry, Eliza, Isaac and Susan. None are living of these except Susan, who resides in a pleasant home in Danville Center. Jacob married Emeline Berryman; Henry wedded Victoria L. Saunders; and Eliza married Jackson McCollum. In 1840 Henry A. Ritner, with his family, emigrated to Iowa, embarking at Pittsburgh, Pa., on a steamer, and, after a long and tedious journey down the Ohio and up the Mississippi, landed at Burlington May 1, 1840. He purchased a large tract of land and entered other lands in the vicinity, and upon these he lived for many years in happiness and prosperity. The old mansion that stands on the northeast quarter of section 11 was erected by him in 1845, and to-day is one of the oldest landmarks in that part of Danville Township. The towering elm trees are monuments to his memory and were planted by him the same year the house was erected. In this county and on the old homestead the remainder of the children were born: Lucetta, who died in childhood; Judson, who enlisted when eighteen years of age in Company B, 25th Iowa Infantry, died while in the service and was buried at Greenville, Miss.; Peter married Isabella M. Leyburn; David wedded Almeda Foster; and Spencer became the husband of Mary A. Lindley. Jacob and Isaac were also soldiers. The former a member of the 25th Iowa Insantry, serving as Captain of Company B from its organization, was wounded during his service, but later recovered. Isaac belonged to the 33d Regiment, Company G, of which he was Second Lieutenant. This brave boy lost his life from the effects of wounds and disease contracted in the army, and his remains were interred at Little Rock, Ark. Three of the brave sons of our subject were given cheerfully for the preservation of the Union, and only one returned to gladden the mother's heart, whose life was doubly saddened by the death of her devoted husband in 1863. He was returning from Burlington, where he had gone with a box of things for his soldier sons, and while walking on the railroad track near Middletown was run down by an engine and crushed to death. His last act was one of love and affection, and was characteristic of his fatherly kindness. For many years both himself and wife were members of the Baptist Church at Danville, of which, for a long while, he was Deacon, and he was serving in that capacity at the time of his death. Mr. Ritner was one of the founders of the Baptist College at Pella, of which he was one of the Board of Directors and a Trustee. During this time the family resided in Pella, and the three and a half years spent there comprised their entire absence from the farm during his lifetime.
Other children—Jacob, Henry, Isaac, Peter, Eliza and Susan—were teachers, some of them for many years. Peter is principal of the Commercial College at St. Joseph, Mo. The aged widow and her daughter became residents of Danville Center in February, 1879. For some time before her death Mrs. Ritner was an invalid, and had reached the age of eighty-one years when she was called home. Loving hands made the venerable lady comfortable, and the good Christian people and friends of her early years were assiduous in their attentions. With a competence left by her husband and in a home made bright by all the comforts with which those in easy circumstances surround themselves, she passed her last days, and, when her summons came, cheerfully went to join her husband and children who had gone before.
[1] Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, Historical Society, Index Cards, Marriages and Deaths (A-Sn), [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[2] Charles F. Larimer, ed., Love and valor, the intimate civil war letters between captain Jacob and Emeline Ritner (Sigourney Press, 1999), 1, [GoogleBooks].
[3] United States Bureau of Land Management Patent, [US_BLM image].
[4] United States Bureau of Land Management Patent, [US_BLM image].
[5] United States Bureau of Land Management Patent, [US_BLM image].
[6] Chapman Brothers, Portrait and biographical album of Des Moines County, Iowa (1855), 463, [URL].