ANDREW SCOTT RITCHIE. The family of which this gentleman was a worthy representative claim their descent from Scottish ancestry; Andrew Ritchie, grandfather of Andrew S., was a Revolutionary soldier, and at the close of war came to Cross Creek township, settling on a wild tract of land on Muller's run. In 1796 he purchased from Ephraim Hart the farm still owned by the Ritchie family, situated about a mile from Cross Creek village. His wife died in 1834, aged seventy-nine years, and himself at the advanced age of eighty-five, four years later. James Ritchie, his son, was born in 1789, and received his education at the subscription schools of the neighborhood. In 1826 or 1827 he married Matilda, daughter of Robert Bowland, a member of an old Washington county family. James Ritchie was a man six feet three inches in height and almost perfect in physique. In politics he was an Old-line Democrat, and a substantial supporter of the Presbyterian Church under the guidance of Dr. John Stockton. They had two children: Andrew S., and a daughter who died in infancy. He died in 1834, aged forty-five, from cholera contracted at Pittsburgh, Penn. His widow married James Thompson, by which union she had one child - R. B. Thompson - a prominent citizen of West Middletown. Andrew S. Ritchie was born, December 10, 1828, and reared at West Middletown. When he had completed his rudimentary education in the schools of his district, he entered the Florence Academy and then Washington College, where he graduated in 1849, dividing first honor with three others. He commenced the study of law under T. M. T. McKennan and after his death continued study with Hon. William McKennan, being admitted to the bar in 1852. He never practiced his profession, however, and spent the next few years in teaching. In 1865 he accepted the position of paying teller in the First National Bank of Washington, Penn., which position he filled until 1890, when he was compelled to resign on account of failing health. During the twenty-five years of his connection with the bank he performed his duties ably and faithfully, so that he enjoyed the entire confidence of the board of directors and the community in which he lived. For many years he was a very active member of the board of trustees in the Washington Female Seminary and also of Washington and Jefferson College. On September 10, 1851, Mr. Ritchie married Jane, daughter of James McFadden, of West Middletown, and they had four children, viz.: James McFadden, residing at Sewickley, Penn. (auditor for the H. C. Frick Coke Co., married Nannie Doyle in 1884. They have one child, Charles Lothrope); Charles Stewart (assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Washington); Annie C. (the wife of Mr. Owen Murphy, a prominent operator in the Washington and Sistersville oil fields), and William Bowland (paying teller of the First National Bank). Mr. Andrew S. Ritchie was a Whig, but later a Republican, and his sons are all Republicans. He died, December 10, 1892, of paralysis, from which disease he had been suffering for two years. He was a member of the First M. E. Church, was loved by a wide circle of friends and relatives, and was respected by all who knew him.

Text taken from page 271 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed June 1997 by Betty J. Stewart of Pittsburgh, PA as part of the Beers Project. Published June 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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