Martin Ritzman, who is numbered among the substantial farmers of Buckeye Township, is a native of Union County, Pa., his birth taking place there April 11, 1844. His father, William Ritzman, a native of the same county, was born in 1805, and was there married and lived until 1846. In the fall of that year he started with his wife and nine sons for Illinois, making the entire journey overland, and camping and cooking by the wayside, after the manner of the travelers of those days. He possessed some means and purchased a tract of land which is now included in the homestead of our subject. Forty acres of this was in meadow and twelve acres had been cleared from the timber. The remainder consisted mostly of a growth of underbrush. Upon it was a small frame house, of which the family took possession and prepared to make the best of their circumstances. The nearest markets were at Galena and Chicago, the former on the western borders of Jo Daviess County, and the latter, 120 miles east.
The father of our subject, however, was a man not to be discouraged by trifles, and he persevered amid all the difficulties which beset him, and was successful in his undertakings. In due time he had added to his real estate, and the first humble dwelling was replaced by a shapely and substantial brick residence. He also put up a large frame barn and other necessary out-buildings, and upon the homestead thus established continued to live until the spring of 1881, when he rested from his earthly labors. The mother of our subject, who in her girlhood was Miss Sarah Gaywix, also a native of Union County, Pa., died the year following the removal of the family to this State. The father was married again, and five more children were added to the eleven formerly included in the household.
Our subject was in the third year of his age when his parents came to this county. As soon as old enough he commenced assisting his father and brothers in clearing the farm, and remained a member of the parental household until after the outbreak of the late Civil War. In July, 1862, he enlisted in Co. B., 71st Ill. Vol. Inf., and after his term of enlistment had expired returned home for a time, but re-enlisted, and went with his regiment into Missouri and Arkansas, being chiefly assigned to teaming, a duty which involved very little direct fighting with the enemy. At the close of the war he returned home, and resumed farming until 1870. Subsequently he rented a tract of laud in Black Hawk County, Iowa, which he occupied four years, then returning to this county, purchased eighty acres of land in Florence Township, which he occupied until 1876. He then traded this land for eighty acres in Buckeye Township. The year previous, however, he had established a butcher shop at Orangeville, which he operated until 1881, when he sold it and took possession of a farm in Buckeye Township. There he lived until 1881, when he removed to the old homestead where he purposes to remain. Of this he owns ninety-six acres adjoining the town of Orangeville, which is quite valuable. In 1883 he also laid off a portion of his land as an addition to the town. A view of the residence and surroundings of Mr. Ritzman is shown in this volume.
Our subject was married, Feb. 7, 1868, to Miss Mary M. Dersham, a native of Union County, Pa., and one of his childhood associates. Of this union there were born seven children, six now living, namely, George W., Laura B., Luella A., Harvey, Maude and Leon. Martin was drowned on Christmas Day in 1882, when five years of age. Mr. Ritzman, politically, is a straight Republican, and with his estimable wife, is prominently connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The father of our subject was a Lieutenant in the Mexican War. Four of his sons, beside our subject, assisted in putting down the late Reliellion. John belonged to Co. A. 46th Ill. Vol. Inf.; William was in the 2d Kansas Infantry, which operated mostly in Kansas; George was in the 2d Illinois Battery, and Robert was in Co. A, 46th Ill. Vol. Inf.
Contributed by Karen Hammer
Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Illinois Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888 p. 686
