John and Mary Jane Ritchie

Book--John Ritchie: Portrait of an Uncommon Man

 

Separate sections of the book can be found below

  • Foreword, by Daniel Fitzgerald

  • John Ritchie in the Context of History, by Bill Cecil-Fronsman, Washburn University

  • Introduction

  • Town and Fireside, 1855-1860

  • Underground Railroad

  • Border War - Capture and Escape

  • The Conventions - 1858 to 1859

  • Aftermath of Border War, John Ritchie Kills A U.S. Marshal, 1860

  • Land for Washburn College 1856-1869

  • Civil War Service, Volunteer and Regular Armies

  • Back Home for Other Battles

  • Strongly Supports Women's Suffrage

  • "He Was a Strong Prohibitionist"

  • Building A City Upon The Farm

  • Mary Jane Shelledy Ritchie, 1821-1880

  • John Ritchie Remarries - Some Property to Sons

  • John Ritchie's Death

  • Topeka's Oldest House

 

 

Ritchie/Shelledy Family History: Our People Who Came To Kansas Territory in 1855 (Compiled And Written By Mary Evelyn Ritchie) 

KTWU Sunflower Journeys 2002 - Episode 1510A - The Ritchie House

JOHN RITCHIE’S CIVIL WAR: A Documentary History. by Bryce Benedict

Wrecking Slavery from the Kansas Territory: The "Topeka Boys" as Saboteurs, 1855-1861

Account of the death of Deputy U.S. Marshal Leonard Arms (PDF)

Terrible Homicide –"The Kansas Record" (Topeka) Monday Morning April 28, 1860

Public Meeting in Lawrence "Kansas State Record" Saturday, May 5, 1860

A Just Judge "Kansas State Record" April 28, 1860

The Story of the Killing of Leonard Ames - The Topeka "Capital" - July 30, 1881

Lewis Bodwell's Account of Assisting Slaves Containing Description of the Ritchie House (PDF)"The Kansas Telephone" (Manhattan, Kansas) August 1893

 

 

 

 

Lewis Bodwell, Frontier Preacher: The Early Years, Part 1, by Russell K. Hickman

Lewis Bodwell, Frontier Preacher: The Early Years (Conclusion), by Russell K. Hickman

Excerpts that reference John Ritchie from William G. Cutler's "History of the State of Kansas", 1883, A. T. Andreas, chicago, IL

Mrs. H. C. Root's Paper on the Life of John Ritchie April 27, 1903 (PDF)

Major Harrison Hannahs account of John Ritchie and Washburn University from the Rome, N.Y. Daily Sentinel dated February 27, 1911

The Ritchie Lime Kiln, an article from the Topeka Daily State Journal written by Lloyd Sieber on Saturday, June 4, 1921

Mary Margaret Ritchie Wright's recollections of her grandfather John Ritchie

Narrative Report for Evaluating Eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places and/or the Register of Historic Kansas Places (PDF version here)

A FRIENDSHIP FORMED IN TURBULENT TIMES--Brown and Ritchie left deep and lasting footprints in Topeka history, by Steve Fry

Southwest Topeka Cemetery Resting Place Of Black Soldiers, by Dick King