William Henry Harrison Ryder (1839-06-25 – 1915-12-08) and Mary Jane Elliott (1844-12-25 – 1912-04-18) were my patrilineal great-great-grandparents through their son George Ryder, their oldest son and second child of nine.

William is sometimes recorded as Henry, or William Henry, or W.H.H., or William H. H., but I will just call him William. Records differ as to his birth date; see below. William’s parents are documented as Nathan Ryder and Melissa Vadakin, but DNA has raised doubts about whether Nathan is really his father, although I think it is slightly more likely that he is and that instead Nathan’s father is misattributed; see Ryder paternity.

Mary was the daughter of Jacob Elliott and Mary Ann Cole. She is often referred to as Jennie, and other variants.

Birth of William

I have found no record of William’s birth. His death record gives his birth date as 1838-06-25.^⟮1⟯ His gravestone says 1840-06-25. The 1900 census has June 1839.^⟮2⟯

Fremont Rider’s multi-volume Rider work has a date of 1839-06-25, and for it cites a set of notebooks dated to 1922 by Nellie Agnes Rider, of which there seems to be only one copy held at a membership-only library in Boston.^⟮3⟯ She may or may not have a credible source for this date.

We can also look at his ages from census returns (excepting 1900 as noted above, which lists month of birth), and the birth year implied by the agreed birthday of June 25; I also include years married where given, since that date has similar issues:

So, the date of 1839 is well-supported by the census records. The official date of the 1870 census was June 1, so the age may have been given relative to that date (as in theory it’s supposed to be).

Service

William’s Civil War record shows he served from 1861-09-27 to 1862-11-13 as a Private in Company A, 6th Vermont Infantry.^⟮10⟯ I have not determined why his term of service was so short.

Marriage and children

William and Mary’s marriage date is often given as 1866-07-29 in Addison County, Vermont, but this date also has an obscure source, and there are reasons to doubt it. Their first child was not born until 1874, more than 8 years later, and their self-reported “years married” on the censuses indicates a marriage in spring 1868.

They had nine children:

• Minnie May (1874-09-01 – 1968-11-15), although her middle name is listed as Irene on William’s probate record. She had an illegitimate child born 1891-02-07, the father probably Frank Elkanah Rich (not apparently related to Nicholas Rich). She married first Edward Charles Stewart (1891-07-24); second Samuel Wilson; finally Samuel L. Robbins. She moved to Maine.
• George Emerson (1876-10-26 – 1927-04-12), my great-grandfather.
• Grace Maude (1878-02-25 – 1950-08-23). She married first Frank Lewis Miller, divorced; second Charles Arthur Wetmore.
• Nathan (1880-06-30 – 1881-04-18), died aged 9 months.
• William H. (1882-03-07 – 1934-03-09). He married Clara Quimby.
• Herbert Edwin “Bert” (1884-03-29 – 1969-04-09). He married first Lois Margaret Fleming, sister of Mary L. Ryder, divorced; second Aurilla Gertrude Lavene. His son Nathan is the father of Lucius Cousino.
• Edith A. (1888-08-11 – 1916-12-17), twin. She married Willis Fleming, brother of Herman B. Fleming.
• Eva May (1888-08-11 – 1972-06-24), twin. She married first Chauncy L. Clark; second Willis Fleming, her twin sister’s widower; third Wyman Andrew O’Dell.
• Jennie Blanche (* 1890-07-08). She had an illegitimate child born 1907-09-30 by John McCarter. She married on 1910-07-15 to widower Charles Augustus Myatt (1846–1922), when he was 64 and she was 20. She was in Hanover, Massachusetts in the 1930 census^⟮11⟯ aged 39, with her daughter and only child by Charles, but I have not found what became of her after that.

William died intestate, and all these children are listed as his heirs, except Nathan.^⟮12⟯ Minnie’s residence is stated as Bonnville, New York.

Competency

Much information about the family can be gleaned from the commitment of their daughter Edith, aged 26, to the Vermont State Hospital for the Insane, overseen by Judge Charles Ira Button and dated 1915-06-21. On the form, for the question of whether the patient has insane relatives, the answer is “Father distinctly so and sisters mentally deficient.” It continues about the widowed father:

Wm. H. H. Ryder, her father, is under guardianship of Leslie A. Severy, Brandon, Vermont, has a small place occupied by him in said Leicester and is pensioned by U. S. Government. 

It also notes that Edith’s only daughter, Pauline (1910-08-26 – 1993-10-19), full name Gertrude Pauline Fleming, is living with William. Edith’s husband Willis “has had to be helped by the Town of Leicester.”

Edith herself is checked off as violent, destructive, and excited, although she was not paralytic, dangerous, depressed, homicidal, or suicidal, and she was “cleanly in dress and personal habits”.

There is a final, unflattering remark about the family:

These are very porr [sic] and very shiftless people. Degenerate.

William died less than six months later. Edith died about a year and a half later. Pauline married and had children with German immigrant Helmut Will; was widowed in 1944 and married a second German immigrant in 1949; and died aged 83 and is buried in White Plains, New York^⟮13⟯.

Other

There is a different William Henry Ryder (1822–1888), a clergyman, who is more famous.^⟮14⟯

Ancestry

... of William

This includes the span made uncertain by DNA, and beyond that the span probably ruled out.

... of Mary

See

• Ryder paternity
• William’s probate record on FamilySearch; he died intestate
• Find a Grave memorial for William (created by me though photo was contributed), who shares a gravestone with Mary.

Footnotes

1. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQV-7FQ2
2. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DHCQ-L1Q
3. ↑ https://library.nehgs.org/search?/eMss+772/emss++++++772/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CB/frameset&FF=emss++++++772&1%2C1%2C
4. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZ8Q-X9H
5. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFDM-58T
6. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6R9-RPS
7. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8WX-8QJ
8. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMGR-84C
9. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPFW-WVW
10. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=7A7435CC-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A
11. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQ5N-RPZ
12. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SS-Q9YQ
13. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80923688/pauline-meutzner
14. ↑ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biography_of_William_Henry_Ryder/8irsqZnPC2MC?