Our Ritter family traveled from Germany\u00a0to Rotterdam, Holland\u00a0where four Ritter [spelled Reyter on the ship\u2019s passenger list] brothers, Heindrich, Paul, Martin and Caspar, sailed on the ship \u2018Pennsylvania Merchant\u2019.<\/p>\n
Heinrich Ritter was born c 1715 in Germany<\/a>. In 1732 Heinrich and his three brothers came to USA, landing in Philadelphia.\u00a0 He and his brothers landed in Philadelphia\u00a0on 11 September 1732.\u00a0 Accompanying them were Elizabeth, the wife of Paul Ritter; their sisters Anna and Barbara; and Paul, the son of Paul.<\/p>\n Heinrich Ritter\u00a0secured 170 acres of land in Lower Milford Township\u00a0in March 1737 and built a log house with a stone chimney there in 1739. The 1914 history reports this log house \u201cstood until a few years ago. The cellar and part of the chimney can still be seen.\u201d A log over the fireplace of Henry\u2019s log home had 1739 carved into it.<\/a>[1]This was presented to the Lehigh County\u00a0Historical Society. However, in writing to the Society about the log, it was learned this memento of our family can no longer be located.<\/p>\n Heinrich Ritter\u00a0was naturalized 11 September 1740. He and his wife, Maria Elizabeth (Tutt) Ritter\u00a0\u00a0attended the Lutheran Church where Heinrich was an elder. The Ritters moved to Salisbury\u00a0Township, where, in 1764, Heinrich owned 280 acres of land.<\/a>[2]<\/p>\n During the French and Indian War, 1754 \u2013 63, Salisbury and other area towns were asked to provide transportation for an army being sent to the Pittsburgh area. Northampton County was being asked, by the Provincial and British authorities for 30 wagons. Henry Ritter, Constable of Salisbury made a list of wagons, draft horses and pack horses in the town. The short list included his own name as the owner of three pack horses and Henry Keck with one wagon.<\/a>[3]\u00a0 I believe this Henry Ritter was our Heinrich Ritter as he would have been the only Ritter in our family of the right age to hold such a position.<\/p>\n \u201cNo roads existed in the Lehigh Valley before 1730.\u201d<\/a>[4]Between 1730 and 1740 one of the few main roads was an old Indian trail. Travel increased and a road was needed. In 1756 a petition was presented to the Northampton court to appoint a group of men to view and lay out a road. Due to counter petitions and other delays the road was not laid out until 1760. This road passed through the properties of several men, including Henry Ritter.<\/p>\n \u201cAgriculture was the major occupation of the residents of Salisbury from the earliest days of settlement.\u201d<\/a>[1]Early settlers made almost everything they needed including furniture, tools and clothes. By 1758 Heinrich and Maria Elizabeth had eight children to help with all the chores related to everyday life on their farm. The family continued to grow. Daughter, Anna Margaretha (Ritter) Klein\u00a0was baptized on 8 February 1761 by the Reverend Daniel Schumacher.<\/a>[2]Maria Magdelena (Ritter) Hartman\u00a0was baptized by the same reverend on 11 January 1767.<\/a>[3]Reverend Schumacher baptized those in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton Counties. These ten children went on to expand our family line in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Three sons of Heinrich Ritter\u00a0served in the Revolutionary War: Corporal Casper Ritter<\/a>[4], Johannes Ritter<\/a>[5], and Sergeant Martin Ritter<\/a>[6]. Johannes served in the Lancaster County Militia. Casper and Martin were both in the Northampton County\u00a0Militia.<\/a>[7]<\/p>\n \u201cThe Western Salisbury Church is older than the township.\u201d<\/a>[1]Its official name was the Jerusalem Reformed and Lutheran Church. Later it was known as the Jerusalem Union Church of Western Salisbury. Initially services were held in barns and groves. In 1741 a log structure was built \u201cwith a stone covered floor and hewn logs for pews and no stove.\u201d<\/a>[2]Heinrich Ritter and family were members of the church. The earliest list of communicants there includes both Heinrich and his son, Martin Ritter.<\/a>[3]The Ritter name appears in the baptismal records before 1800. One of the oldest tombstones is Martin Ritter (1749 \u2013 1827), son of Heinrich Ritter. It is believed that Heinrich\u2019s tombstone is also there but has long since become weathered and unreadable.<\/p>\n Looking closely at the church records reveals ancestors of another branch of our family. Henrich Keck\u00a0and his children were also communicants and contributors. Heinrich Ritter and Henrich Keck\u00a0were related by marriage. Their children, Johannes Ritter and Maria Elizabeth Keck were married on 29 April 1768. The Kecks and the Ritters were sponsors at the baptisms of each other\u2019s children.<\/a>[4]<\/p>\n Heinrich Ritter\u00a0remained in Pennsylvania where he died in January 1797.<\/a>[5]His grandson, Johannes Ritter, Jr.\u00a0moved his family to Wayne County, Ohio.<\/p>\n <\/a>[1]Schmehl, William L. F. Salisbury: Born the Year the Liberty Bell was Hung and Rung – 1753<\/em>. 1976.<\/p>\n <\/a>[2]Ibid.<\/p>\n <\/a>[3]Neimeyer, Stoudt, Rath, Reinhard, and Kemmerer. History of Jerusalem Lutheran and Reformed Church. Allentown, PA: H. Ray Haas & Company Publishers, 1911.<\/p>\n <\/a>[4]Ibid.<\/p>\n <\/a>[5]Roberts, Charles Rhoads, John Stoudt, Thomas Krick, and William Dietrich. History of Lehigh County<\/em>, Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of its Families 1732 – 1914<\/em>. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Lehigh Valley Publishing Company, 1914.<\/p>\n <\/a>[1]Schmehl, William L. F. Salisbury: Born the Year the Liberty Bell was Hung and Rung – 1753<\/em>. 1976.<\/p>\n <\/a>[2]Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania: Baptisms by Rev. Daniel Schumacher: 1754 – 1774.\u00a0 Microfilm # 0385062 Family History Center. Baptismal records of Anna Margaretha Ritter and Maria Magdelena Ritter.<\/p>\n <\/a>[3]Ibid.<\/p>\n <\/a>[4]Corporal Casper Ritter, Ancestor #A096300, National Society of the Daughters of the American RevolutionResearch Database.<\/p>\n <\/a>[5]Knox, Larry. The Ritter Family.<\/p>\n <\/a>[6]Sergeant Martin Ritter, Ancestor #A096359, National Society of the Daughters of the American RevolutionResearch Database.<\/p>\n <\/a>[7]Laudenslager, David R. County of Lehigh, Allentown, PA Veterans Affairs Office, Veterans Grave Registration Record<\/em>. Revolutionary War Veterans. 1. Pennsylvania: 1994. Ritters: Casper and Martin.<\/p>\n <\/a>[1]Roberts, Charles Rhoads, John Stoudt, Thomas Krick, and William Dietrich. History of Lehigh County<\/em>, Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of its Families 1732 – 1914<\/em>. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Lehigh Valley Publishing Company, 1914.<\/p>\n <\/a>[2]Roberts, Charles Rhoads, John Stoudt, Thomas Krick, and William Dietrich. History of Lehigh County<\/em>, Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of its Families 1732 – 1914<\/em>. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Lehigh Valley Publishing Company, 1914.<\/p>\n <\/a>[3]Schmehl, William L. F. Salisbury: Born the Year the Liberty Bell was Hung and Rung – 1753<\/em>. 1976.<\/p>\n