Notes about children of Michael Ritner, page 2
c 1838 Michael Ritner had a widowed daughter, living in Ohio, with a family. Michael's family was described in a biosketch of his son, Joseph Ritner, who was governor of Pennsylvania. [1] [Photocopy, Notes about Michael Ritner and his children, page 1.]
Notes about children of Michael Ritner, page 2
1838 Four daughters of Michael Ritner were described in a newspaper story about brother Joseph Ritner: "Of Joseph's living sisters, one is married to Leonard Wise of Cumberland County; one to Jacob Brindle of Perry; one to Peter Swanger of Cumberland; one to C. Winters of Dauphin, and one is a widow residing in Ohio. They all have families. His other brothers and sisters are dead." [2]
A biosketch of son Joseph Ritner Cunningham named his father and his sibling sisters [3]:
Gustavus Cunningham was a son of Dr. Cunningham, and learned the tailor's trade. In early life he was married to Elizabeth, a sister of Gov. Joseph Ritner, and she bore him four children, viz.: Sarah (wife of James Denny, Iowa), Matilda (married to David Le Fevre, Cumberland county, Penn.), Catherine (widow of Henry Canarr, of Iowa), and Joseph Ritner. The father died when his youngest son was yet an infant, and the mother married again, giving her babe to the care of his uncle, Joseph Ritner, of a whom a sketch is given. ...[biosketches of Michael Ritner and Governor Joseph Ritner, which includes an extract from a letter which the governor wrote March 22, 1863, to Mrs. Cunningham.]
1850 Henry Kanarr (age 27) and Catharine Kanarr (age 23) lived in Dallas Twp, Crawford County, Ohio with Mary R (age 2), Elizabeth Forbes (age 56), and Amelia Weaver (age 15). [4] [5]
1860 Son Joseph Cunninghan (age 35, born in Pennsylvania) lived in Hopewell Twp, Washington County, Pennsylvania, in a household with Nancy Cunninghan (age 29), Clark Hale (age 11), and John B Ritner (age 20). Joseph Cunninghan's occupation was farmer. [6]
1907 Mrs Sarah Denny, daughter of Rudolph [sic] Cunningham and Elizabeth Ritner, died on January 16 in Hopewell Twp, Washington County, Pennsylvania. She was buried in Middleton, Iowa. [7]
1909 Joseph Ritner Conningham, son of Gustuvas Cunningham and Elizabeth Ritner, died on August 2, 1909, at age 84, in Hopewell Twp, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Joseph Ritner Conningham was born on September 18, 1824, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. [8]
1914 Catharine Cannars, child of Joseph Cunningham and Elizabeth Ritner, died on March 1, at age 87, in Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa. [9]
Perhaps widow Elizabeth (Ritner) Cunningham, daughter of Michael Ritner, moved to Ohio and married Forbes/Fosher. She was age 56 in 1850. The children we show are plausibly those children described in the biosketch of Gustavus Cunningham.
Research Notes:
The relationship, if any, to Gustaves Cunningham, living in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, is unknown.
1830 Gustaves Cunningham lived in Hopewell Twp, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in a household with males: 1 (under 5) and 1 (30 thru 39). [10]
1840 Gustaves Cunningham lived in Woodberry, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in a household with Males: two age 0-5, one age 5-10, one age 10-15, one age 30-40; and Females: one age 5-10, and one age 10-15, one age 20-30. [11]
[1] Lives of David Porter and Joseph Ritner, Two Candidates for the Office of Governor of Pennsylvania, compiled from authentic sources (1838), 9, "His domestic life and habits", [GoogleBooks].
[2] Newspaper, Inquirer and Daily Courier (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Tuesday, October 9, 1838, column 4.
[3] J. H. Beers & Co, Pub., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County Pennsylvania (1893), 465, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[4] United States Federal Census, 1850, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[5] United States Federal Census, 1850, [FamilySearchImage], [FamilySearchRecord].
[6] United States Federal Census, 1860, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[7] Pennsylvania Death Certificates, Certificate 10748, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[8] Pennsylvania Death Certificates, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[9] Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992, [FamilySearchRecord].
[10] United States Federal Census, 1830, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[11] United States Federal Census, 1840, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].