Ritter, Jacob (Jackob)

Born: 1806-XX-XX Pennsylvania

Died: 1878-03-16 Vandalia, Illinois

Jacob Ritter was a farmer. Born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, his family moved to Ohio when he was just five years old. On March 1, 1827, he married Rebecca Augustine, with whom he eventually had ten children. He moved his family from Stark County, Ohio to Fayette County, Illinois in May 1850, after purchasing 600 acres of land two miles north of Vandalia for $74 per acre. He grew very prosperous in his new home. By 1850, he owned real estate valued at $3,000, and, by 1860, his real estate was valued at $11,000. In March 1865, he purchased nearly fifty more acres of land in Fayette County for $396.25.

History of Fayette County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1878), 56; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fayette County, ed. by Robert W. Ross and John J. Bullington (Chicago: Munsell, 1910), 2:796-7; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Fayette County, IL, 381; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Vandalia, Fayette County, IL, 111; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Fayette County, 791:232, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916, Fayette County, 16 March 1878, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Ritter Cemetery, Vandalia, IL.