Ritter, John

Flourished: 1832-1834 Menard County, Illinois

Ritter resided in his native state until 1828, when he moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, settling in that section of the county that would be subsumed into Menard County. Ritter purchased large sections of public land near what would become the town of Petersburg, Illinois. In 1835, Ritter was among the first settlers to the area of Menard County that would become Mason County, Illinois. When the Illinois General Assembly established the latter county, Ritter was one of those who suggested the name Mason. Between 1835 and 1848, Ritter acquire huge tracts of land in the northern part of the county.

The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois (Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1879), 286, 417, 507, 775; I. MacDonald Demuth, The History of Pettis County, Missouri (1882), 720; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Menard County, 68:57, 92, 118; Mason County, 68:244, 70:18, 24, 99, 110, 115, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL.