SECOND GENERATION

9. Theodore "Thee" Ritchie was born on Jul 15 1855 in Washington County, Ohio. (43) He died on Apr 23 1942 in Parkersburg, West Virginia. His Marietta Times obituary read, "Theodore Ritchie of Rockland Taken - Theodore Ritchie, 86, lifelong resident of the Rockland neighborhood, died at Camden-Clark Hospital in Parkersburg, W. Wa., Thursday afternoon following a brief illness. - Mr. Ritchie was a son of the late William and Catherine Ritchie. He is survived by four sons and one daughter, William Ritchie, Floyd L. Ritchie, and Earl A. Ritchie of Marietta, Winford Ritchie of Oilton, Okla., and Mrs. Stella Martin of Detroit, Mich. There are 32 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchilden. Mrs. Viola Sayres of Marietta is the surviving sister. - Funeral services will be held at the Spencer funeral home in Belpre on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Rev. Mr. Rucker, pastor of the Belpre Methodist Church, will officiate. Interment will be made in Rockland Cemetery." He was buried in Rockland Cemetery, Belpre, Ohio. (9)

He was married to Martha "Mattie" S. Rollins (daughter of Henry M. O. Rollins and Rachel C. Lemmons) on Oct 6 1873 in Wood County, West Virginia. He was divorced from Martha "Mattie" S. Rollins in Mar 1894 in Washington County, Ohio. (44) According to court records she filed for divorce on Mar 15 1894 charging him with adultery. She was also granted custody of children. The divorce was a direct result of the following incident as reported by the Marietta Times of Oct 19 1893 (back then a weekly paper); "WAS HE POISONED - Constitution is all agog over a very suspicious case. Leonidus Swords died at his home at that place Saturday night under very suspicious circumstances and his wife is under arrest and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Theodore Richie on the charge of poisoning him. The circumstances in the case as far as we can learn them are as follows; Ritche is terror of the neighborhood and a warrant for his arrest has been out for some time. He has been in hiding but would spend his nights at Swords' house; he would get Swords drunk and then spend the night with Swords' wife in carousals. Saturday night he went to Swords' home as usual and produced a pint of whiskey and a pint of wine which the three drank. He then called Swords out of the house to give him so he said a drink of whiskey. Swords went out and drank the whiskey, returned to the house and was soon taken sick, dying in a short time with every indication of being poisoned. Richie offered to go to Belpre to get a doctor saying that he would return as soon as he got him. Instead of returning, as soon as he notified the physician he went over to Parkersburg to make good his escape. The circumstances where so suspicious that the physician notified Coroner McKim who went down Sunday and held a post mortem examination. On Tuesday an inquest was held and many damaging admissions were made by Mrs. Swords. She refused to answer to some of the Coroner's questions and was brought up and lodged in jail that evening. A warrant was then issued for the arrest of Richie. Tuesday night Coroner McKim took Sword's stomach to Cincinnati to have it analyzed to ascertain whether or not the man did die of poison. Swords and his wife were about 45 years of age and Richie was about 40. The report of the Chemist is awaited with considerable interest."

On November 2, 1893, the Marietta Times reported on page 3; "Coroner McKim received last week the report of the chemist to whom the stomach of Leonidus Swords had been submitted for analysis. The chemist finds no traces of poison, and thus sets aside all theories that Swords was poisoned. The Coroner renders this verdict" "I do find that the deceased came to his death by unknown causes; but probably from excessive use of whiskey, furnished by one Theodore Ritchie; and I do further find that the deceased had contusions on his forehead, which no doubt contributed largely to the cause of his death."" The front page of the same issue reports; "WAS IT MURDER? - Theodore Ritchie was given a preliminary hearing before Squire Guyton, Friday and Saturday last, on the charge of murdering Leonidus Swords. As noticed in another column the report of the chemist who made an analysis of Sword's stomach dispelled the theory that he had been poisoned. The preliminary examination set forth several new and very important facts. The evidence showed several suspicious actions on the part of Ritchie and Mrs. Swords; it also showed there was every probability that the deceased came to his death by foul means. Swords head bore evidence of having been beaten by a sand bag or some similar instrument; his throat bore finger marks, showing that he had been choked by some one. The justice thought that the evidence was sufficiently strong and held Ritchie to the grand jury." On page 3 of the same issue the following was reported; "A special grand jury was convened Tuesday to take up the cases against Theodore Ritchie and Joan Swords. The jury reported that evening indictments against Ritchie for assault with the intent to kill and against Mrs. Swords for assault and battery. They ignored the charge of murder and the indictments are for offenses committed some time prior to Sword's death." According to court records a not guilty verdict was returned on Tuesday, Nov 21 1893, acquittal due to lack of evidence. Leonidus Swords was the brother of William J. Swords and John Wesley Swords. William and John both were brother-in-laws of Theodore (William was married to Eliza Jane Ritchey and John was married to Nancy Ritchey). Leonidus was a Confederate Civil War veteran; his brother John was a Union Civil War veteran. There must have been some hard feelings between siblings during these years. Martha "Mattie" S. Rollins (45) was born about 1857 in Grafton, Virginia (now WV). (46)(47) Her marriage record lists George & Mary Rollins as her parents. Martha is listed in order with the children of the household of Henry & Rachel Rollins in the 1870 Federal Census of Belpre Township, Washington Co., Ohio. Theodore & Martha may not have had consent from Henry & Rachel and may have eloped in Wood County, Martha lying about the identity of her parents; or, something happen to her parents and she was adopted or taken in by Henry & Rachel who where kin to her parents. She died after 1894. According to Bob Masters she died shortly after her divorce, but I have not been able to find any documentation. Nig Ritchie said that the children where out on their own at an early age. Theodore "Thee" Ritchie and Martha "Mattie" S. Rollins had the following children:

child+43 i. Oliver "Ollie" Baxter Ritchie.
child+44 ii. William "Wib" Arthur Ritchie.
child+45 iii. Cordelia "Delia" V. Ritchie.
child+46 iv. Theodore "Win" Winford Ritchie.
child+47 v. Floyd "Hoed" Leroy Ritchie.
child+48 vi. Martha "Mattie" N. Ritchie.
child+49 vii. Earl Alexander Ritchie.

He was married to Joanna M. Hopkins (daughter of Louisa M. -?-) on Nov 27 1895 in Washington County, Ohio. They were married by W. L. Hyland. Joanna [Hopkins] Swords was the widow of Leonidus Swords. The following article appeared on the front page of the Marietta Daily Times on Thursday Evening, Nov 12 1911: "WIFE GIVEN BIG VERDICT - ALIENATION SUIT DECIDED IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS - MRS. JOANNA RITCHIE AWARDED $1,316 AGAINST ALMIRA WARE - A verdict for $1,316 damages, for alienation of her husband's affections was returned for the plaintiff in the case of Mrs. Joanna Ritchie against Almira Ware, by a jury in the court of common pleas, Wednesday evening. The plaintiff, who was represented by Attorney B. E. Guyton, asked for $5,000. The case was not contested. - In her petition Mrs. Ritchie related that her husband, Theodore, had been enticed away from her by the defendant and had gone away with the latter; that while all of the parties were residing at Rockland, the husband had spent his time and money with the defendant than he had with his wife. He was divorced from Joanna M. Hopkins in Jul 1919. The following is a Jul 22 1919 Marietta Times newspaper story concerning his shooting an ex-lover. "WOMAN SHOT IN A QUARREL - Mrs. Lettie Criss of Rockland, lies in the Parkersburg City hospital, perhaps fatally wounded, from a charge fired from a shotgun at close range in the hands of Theodore Ritchie , also of Rockland, who voluntarily gave himself up to Deputy Sheriff E. L. Yarnell at the sheriff's office late Monday afternoon. The shooting was a result of a series of quarrels. Reports from the bedside of Mrs. Criss in the Parkersburg city hospital received Tuesday afternoon, indicate that she will recover. Physicians in attendance announced that she had rallied nicely from the shock and was resting as well as could be expected. The couple, who are said to have been intimate for the past four years, became estranged two weeks ago, when Ritchie's wife filed suit for divorce in the Washington county common pleas court, and named Mrs. Criss as one of the co- respondents in her petition. - Ritchie then went to the home of Mrs. Criss and ordered her to pay him the money that he had given her for the repair of her home and other things, it is said. She refused and he grabbed her hair and assaulted her in other ways. She filed suit against him charging assault and battery, for which he was fined $10 and costs by Justice F. W. Combs on July 12. - Ritchie filed counter charges against Mrs. Criss, alleging that she had pointed a gun at him and ordered him to leave the premises. She won the case, which came to trial before Justice Combs on Saturday, July 19, being dismissed. - The shooting Monday is said to have resulted when Mrs. Criss jeered at Ritchie over the loss of his suit. Possessing an uncontrollable temper, Ritchie who was carrying a gun at the time, is said to have thrown up the gun and fired point blank. The shooting occurred at 1:15 Monday afternoon, when Mrs. Criss was returning from a neighbor's farm where she had been picking blackberries and passed Ritchie's home on the way to her house. - When Ritchie presented himself for arrest he made but few statements, merely saying that he wanted to be locked up and giving the nature of the crime he committed. He is said to have made the noncommittal remark that the "berries certainly did fly" when he fired the shot at Mrs. Criss. - The shot which was fired at close range, struck Mrs. Criss in the left side of the face and scattered very little. The flesh was torn completely away. Should the unfortunate woman recover, she will lose sight of her left eye. The upper facial bones were exposed and the wound bled profusely. - Dr. H. M. Campbell, of Parkersburg, found her lying on the porch of her home. Using his automobile as an improvised ambulance, Mrs. Criss was conveyed to the Parkersburg City hospital. - Following the shooting Ritchie went to Belpre to surrender himself to Constable Burnfield, but being unable to locate that official, took the afternoon train to Marietta, where he surrendered himself to Deputy Yarnell in the sheriff's office. - When interviewed Tuesday, Ritchie was surly and refused to talk about the shooting. He is apparently unconcerned about the crime. Ritchie is 65 years of age and has been employed as a section hand on the railroad and on farms for the major part of his life. He worked in a Belpre canning factory for several years, some time ago, it is understood. - He has been married to Joanna Ritchie for about 25 years and, according to allegations in her petition to divorce him, has been guilty of extreme cruelty for many years. - Mrs. Criss is about 50 years of age and is separated from her husband, William Criss. She has one son, William, in the American expeditionary forces in France. - Ritchie will be detained in the county jail pending the result of his victims injuries, before which time definite charges cannot be made against him." Evidently Lettie Criss lived. Theodore was indicted for shooting with the intent to kill on Oct 16 1919. He was arraigned on October 23 and pleaded not guilty. He changed his plea to guilty of shooting with the intent to wound. He was sentenced 1 to 20 years hard labor in the state penitentiary with the court recommending parole after two years. According to Fred Ritchie he was in only a few years. Joanna M. Hopkins was born in Dec 1852 in Ohio.(34) She died on Nov 2 1923 in Washington County, Ohio.(48)

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