Redpath/Ridpath/Reidpath Family Newsletter
4Q November 2003
Table of Contents:
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Family History
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Redpath death record
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and Ann Redpath query
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of Arms
Although this edition was a month
late to press, it was not due to lack of quality articles submitted.
We have samples from all over on many topics, and I hope you enjoy reading
this as much as I had putting it together. A big thanks to all the
past, current, and future contributors of the wonderful content we see
here!
News
The website is now in it's third
year, and while the format has been very stable, it continues to grow with
the increased activity in the Forum,
additional links
to other Redpath/Ridpath/Reidpath web sites, and of course the regular
newsletter. Look for a long overdue refresh of the GeneWeb
family tree database early next year as well.
Birth of Wayne Francis Ridpath II submitted
by Wayne F. Ridpath
This to announce the birth of:
Wayne Francis Ridpath II. He was born on December 6th to the proud parents of Wayne and Kellie Ridpath of South
Hill, Virginia. Also of the proud brother John James Skinner and sister
Kelsie Lynn.
Birthday of Kelsie Lynn Ridpath
submitted by Wayne F. Ridpath
This is to announce the Birthday
of Kelsie Lynn Ridpath. She is five years young on December 9th. And she
is the daughter of Wayne and Kellie Ridpath of South Hill, Virginia
- Leeds,
England submitted by Diane Redpath
Charlotte Redpath will be appearing in the 4th series of "Down To Earth"
to be televised on BBC1 Sunday 4th January 2004 for 8 weeks. She plays the 10 year old daughter Lucy Brewer.
She is seen here with her screen parents Angela Griffin and Ian Kelsey and her screen brother Thomas Byrne.
[editor: another article/photo
about Charlotte is here: http://www.stagecoach.co.uk/news/030301charlotte.htm
]
Doris Ridpath Girdner and Gerald Girdner
of Lincoln, Nebraska
50th anniversary submitted by Mark Beam
Doris Ridpath Girdner and Gerald Girdner of Lincoln, Nebraska celebrated
their 50th anniversary on 11/23/03 in Lincoln. Her surviving brother and
sister and their spouses John & Patsy Ridpath and Mary Ann & Jim West of St.
Joseph, Missouri attended the mid-afternoon affair.
Doris is the oldest child of Marion & Thelma Jones Ridpath of St. Joseph. Marion was the oldest
child of Harry & Edith Pottorff Ridpath, also of that community, and Harry
was the second son of Jacob & Laura Brothers Ridpath of the Pierce City,
Missouri clan that our noted genealogist, Roger Ridpath is also descended
from.
Doris & Jerry have five children: Jearlyn Schumacher
(Dale) is a licensed midwife and the mother of three children and soon-to-be grandmother of two.
Nancy Johnson (Darryl) is in retailing and is the mother of five children
and grandmother of four. Juanita Beam (Mark) is in radiology and is the mother of two sons. Twins
Gerald Jr. and Jeff are married to Susan and Kimberly and have a son and
three children, respectively. Jerry, Jr. owns a flower shop and Jeff is a
dispatcher.
After getting married in St. Joe on 11/25/1953 when Jerry got out of the
service, they lived near his home town in Brookfield, Missouri until moving
to Beatrice, Nebraska in 1963. They then moved to Lincoln a few years later
where Jerry retired from Crete Carriers and Doris retired from the Nebraska
Department of Roads.
Photo: Doris, John, & Mary Ann
Photo: Doris & Jerry
Mark Beam
PS Thank you for all the time you put in on this. I enjoy it thoroughly.
Ridpath submitted by John Ridpath, California, USA
My family can trace our ancestry back to Scotland and my great-great grandfather (William Redpath), along with his family, came to Nova Scotia in 1830 and settled in the Pictou area. William and his wife, Phyllis Mathor Redpath, had eight children and my family comes from the James Redpath branch of the family. This branch is quite small and fairly easy to track. James had three children (John Robert, George and Margaret). All three ended up in Seattle, WA with my grandfather, George and his sister Margaret, spending some time in the Okanogan Valley of eastern Washington. My father, also George, was born in Seattle, moved to the Okanogan area as a young man and died there at the age of 94 in 2001. I'm the only male descendent alive from the James Redpath line, but would love to make contact with other descendants of the William Redpath of Nova Scotia line.
I have attached a eulogy I presented at my father's funeral. While it is a lot about him there is also a little family history.
GEORGE ALLISON (AL) RIDPATH
September 24, 1907
May 9, 2002
I would like to spend a few minutes talking about our father, providing some family history, sharing memories of him, noting some personal and professional accomplishments, and our feeling of loss.
First a little family history. This is somewhat difficult in that Father was an only child and rarely talked about his parents or even much about growing up. His parents were both gone before we were born and except for recollections from our Aunt Dot (Dorothy Walley) we knew little about them. Maybe we werent that interested when we were younger and maybe he just forgot as he grew older. Another problem of tracking the Ridpaths is that every son is named George, Robert, James, John or William and after a while you sort of lose track of which Robert or James your talking about.
We can trace the Ridpath name back to the thirteenth century in the border area between England and Scotland near the mouth of the Tweed River. Our great-great-great grandfather was James Ridpath who lived in Roxbury Shire probably somewhere near the small village of Redpath. I have been there and it is not much more than a signpost and a few old houses. One of his sons, William Ridpath (our great-great grandfather, received a commission as a shepherd in Sutherland Shire located in the extreme northern part of the Highlands near the town of Laid. He and his new wife moved to the Highlands and lived there 24 years and raised their family. This was during the Industrial Revolution in the British Isles when most of the Highlands were deforested to support new industries in the south and local Highlanders were forced to either immigrate or move to the Lowlands to find employment. During this period wealthy Englishmen bought large plots of Highland land and converted them to meadows and open fields suitable for the grazing of sheep. They also hired and resettled industrious, honest and hard working Lowlanders to oversee these investments.
In 1830 the family, including son James (our great grandfather), left the Highlands and along with many other Scottish people immigrated to Pictou, Nova Scotia. I have also been to Pictou and the area is still an enclave of Scottish immigrants living in places like New Glasgow and Scotsburn. There are only a few Ridpaths living in the area but many can be found in the local cemeteries like the one at Scotch Hill.
Im not sure when or why, but one of James sons, George (our grandfather), left Pictou and headed west. Maybe it was like so many other first generation North Americans, the call of adventure and opportunity. We dont know all the places George passed through but there are records of him in the mining areas of Montana, northern Idaho and also in the gold fields of the Yukon. He was in Seattle just following the great fire of 1889 and participated in the reconstruction of several buildings in the downtown area of that city. Sometime around the turn of the century he arrived in Loomis and was involved in developing several mines in the Palmer Lake and Chopaka Mountain area and in selling mining claims to investors from back east. During this period his sister, Margaret, arrived and married Vic Champneys who owned a large cattle ranch north of Palmer Lake on Chopaka Road.
In 1906 George married Anna Williams (our grandmother). Anna was born in California and had been living in Detroit before coming to the Okanogan to visit a friend in Loomis. She found work as a seamstress and became friends with the Andy Johnson family who had a ranch north of Ellisforde. When our grandparents married it was winter and along with friends (Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Giebner), took a sleigh from Loomis to Conconully and had the wedding at the old Myers Hotel. I have often enjoyed the drive between Loomis and Conconully and have imagined how beautiful it would be in the snow. After an extended honeymoon the couple settled down in Seattle and my father was born in 1907. He attended Franklin High School and went to Washington State Collage.
As he was growing up he and his mother returned often to the Loomis/Oroville area where he worked summers for his uncle Vic and on the Andy Johnson ranch. He had many stories to tell about those early days. On his first trip to the Champneys ranch he took the train from Seattle to Oroville then to Nighthawk and got off somewhere near the Chopaka school where Uncle Vic picked him up in the wagon. In those days you could get off or on the train anywhere you liked. The next morning Aunt Margaret told Vic and Father to take the wagon into Loomis and pick up supplies. The trip was about 1012 miles one way.
After they arrived in Loomis and picked up a few supplies Vic told Father to stay with the wagon and keep an eye on the supplies and the mules, Jewel and Doll, and that he had a few things to take care of and would be back shortly. Time went by and it was starting to get dark. Several men asked what he was doing and he stated the instructions given by Vic but that he had been gone for some time. The men stated that they knew where his uncle was and that theyd go get him. Shortly they returned with Uncle Vic, passed out drunk. They hauled him into the back of the wagon and tied him down so he wouldnt fall out and told our father to take him home. Father explained he didnt know the way back to the ranch but the men said not to worry as Jewel and Doll did. They gave them a whack on the rump and sent them on their way.
This was a frightening night for a city boy on his first trip to the wild west. He was not sure if he was on the right road and it was already dark. His life was in the hands of the two mules. When they arrived back at the ranch Aunt Margaret met them and gave Uncle Vic a tongue-lashing as father had never heard before.
Another story he tells is about herding cattle while living on the Andy Johnson ranch. They were taking them to summer pasture up Cecil Creek and Sarsapkin Creek and had to pass through Loomis. As the mothers of Loomis saw them coming they would hustle their children indoors and look out the windows in disgust as the cattle came through their yards and gardens, eating whatever they wanted.
Our grandfather died in 1926 and was buried in Washelli Cemetery in Seattle. In 1927 Father, Grandmother and Aunt Dot (Aunt Dot was his orphaned cousin who grew up in our grandparents home) moved back to Okanogan County for good. They first lived with the Andy Johnson family and later moved to their home in Oroville where he had a small orchard and became a distributor for Union Oil. While staying at the Johnsons, Aunt Dot remembers spending one winter in an old sod roof dwelling on the ranch where they were better able to feed the cattle. That sod house is now located at the Okanogan Historical Society in Okanogan. During this time our father would drive to Wenatchee a couple of times each week to fill up his oil truck and then return to deliver his petroleum products to the folks in Oroville, Republic, Waconda, Molson, Nighthawk, Loomis and Tonasket. While in Oroville he met and married our mother, Lillian Hughes. Lillian was a schoolteacher in Oroville and her father, A.C. (Pop) Hughes, was the immigration officer at the Oroville point of entry. In 1932 the newly married couple and his mother moved to Okanogan and he changed from Union Oil to Richfield. His mother died from complications of being hit by a car while crossing the street in front of the Blackwell store. She is also buried at the family plot in Washelli Cemetery in Seattle. After moving to Okanogan our mother and father built a new home and bulk plant on Elmway. The three of us Ridpath kids were born there. He continued his interest in orcharding by planting soft fruit trees in the lots next to the house. Having a bulk plant eliminated his need to drive to Wenatchee but increased his customer base and he spent much more time on the back roads delivering petroleum products.
In 1947 he married Marjorie Kendall Roser (Jim and Jerrys mother). They built a new home on 4th Ave. where he lived until his death. In 1949 he changed his affiliation from Richfield to Mobil Oil and built additional bulk plants in Tonasket, Brewster and Twisp. By having employees at each of his bulk plants he then had time to get involved in other activities. He started a sporting goods store in a building just south of the current Rawson store in downtown Okanogan. That enterprise was short lived when the building burned down a year or so after opening. He also wanted to get back into orcharding and in 1954 he purchased the old Pogue place on Pogue Flat and planted it to apples and pears.
He retired from the oil business in 1974 and went into orcharding as a full time occupation. He expanded the acreage on the Flat to include a second orchard on the east side of the Conconully Highway. He also went into business with two partners and planted an orchard south of Mallot where the Chilliwist Creek runs into the Okanogan River. I even bought some land adjacent to his orchard on the Flat. We planted it together and then he managed it and I would come up a couple of weeks every summer. I had hoped that maybe I could eventually move back and help with all of his orchards but that never worked out.
He always worried more about how his orchards looked and that he had the latest varieties planted and the latest irrigation methods than about maximizing profits. I remember him calling me two years after we had planned my orchard and stated that he felt we should have planted a different variety of apples so some of the trees were replaced and others grafted to the newer variety. The next year I got a call stating that Bosc pears, not dAnjous, would do better on the Flat so we replaced some of the dAnjous with Bosc. After five years, my orchard looked great but the trees were just about the same size as after the first year.
He and I (also Marge and my wife Anita) took a trip to New Zealand where, besides taking a vacation, he could take a first hand look at the Granny Smith trees that were so popular there. He was one of the first to plant Granny Smiths in Washington but never really got into them in large quantities.
Marge died in 1994 and is buried in the Okanogan Cemetery.
Our father finally retired from the orchard business in 1998 at the age of 91.
Our father participated in many community civic, social and cultural activities. He always felt that it should be everyones responsibility to serve the community. He enjoyed being involved in organizations, committees and activities that enhanced the quality of life for all. He was a social person and liked working with people to solve problems or just to have a good time. He was a doer. Some of us are hesitant to take on new or difficult tasks but for him hesitation was never even considered. The following are some of the many activities he was involved in during his life in Okanogan County:
Charter member and 3rd president of the Kiwanis Club. Active participant in their annual musical programs
Washington State Highway Commission including 10 years of work on the proposed North Cross State Highway
President of the Okanogan Chamber of Commerce
Manager of Okanogan County Fair for its first 3 years
Okanogan School Board for 5 years
Ran for Washington State Representative and was actively involved with the Republican party for many years
Belonged to the Masonic Lodge, Shriners, Elks, Eagles, Bridge Club and Fly Fishing Club
Helped organize the Community Concert Association and was the president for 2 years
Worked on the establishment of the golf course, the auction yard, the Mid-Valley Hospital, Alma Park and the PUD.
Member of the Omak Presbyterian Church
First recipient of the GROWER OF THE YEAR AWARD presented by the Okanogan County Horticultural Association
Finance Committee Chairman and Okanogan City Representative for the Omak Performing Arts Center
For his efforts he received a great deal of recognition and was very proud of this.
Our father really liked people and wanted people to like him. I dont ever remember him having a bad word to say about anyone. He didnt always agree with everyone and a few people he didnt trust, but I never heard him comment that he didnt like someone. He liked giving parties and going to parties. He liked to see people laugh and enjoy themselves. He always had a sense of humor and a quick wit and a story to tell. I can remember every time we came home from college or were visiting he would always insist that we take the time to visit someone or some organization that he was involved with or thought we would enjoy.
We often had people tell us how much they liked our dad and how much he had helped them personally or helped the community and how he had been a good friend over the years. He could talk to anyone, from the Governor to the guy painting his house, and he would do it in a way that was friendly, good natured and convincing. If you were his employee it was most often a relationship of lasting friendship and trust.
I recently read two letters from friends of his on the occasion of his 90th birthday. I think they say a lot about our father, the way he lived his life and what others though of him. The first was from Vernon Lynn who worked for father as a kid and later ran the bulk plant in Brewster. In the letter Vernon has one line stating the advice Father gave him as a young man: Enjoy the sight of a good looking lady, a case of good bourbon and maintain your health. While this might be an oxymoron to some, it states a lot about how he lived.
The second letter was from Dr. Bob Jensen who was his surgeon and later became his partner and good friend. As his surgeon, while Al was under spinal anesthesia we thoroughly discussed the apple and pear business as the surgery progressed. As a result my brother Kenneth, Al and I started from rocky ground in the Chilliwist and developed a very fine orchard. My brother and I take all the credit but we let Al do the worrying and the work. The profits were such that Al finds it necessary to work at his age. Al is completely honest; he knows the orchard business and is more than fair with employees. In this day and age it would be nice to have more people of his stature.
At the age of ninety he filed a lawsuit against American Family Publishers. He felt their Publishing Clearing House Sweepstakes was taking advantage of older people like himself with their very aggressive and often misleading correspondence related to the sweepstakes. It was because of his effort and the effort of others like him that the company was forced to significantly alter their Sweepstakes program.
He loved this part of the country. He thought it was the most beautiful place on earth and couldnt imagine living anywhere else. He didnt hunt, fish or play golf but he loved driving the country roads looking at the scenery and the wildlife. During those early years of delivering heating oil, gasoline or diesel to the many farmers, ranchers and lumbermen he got to know a lot of country roads and country folks and in his later years he could always point out an old dirt road and tell you who lived there and a story about them or an incident that happened in the old days, like a truck getting stuck or breaking down.
He was a worrier but not a complainer. He worried everyday about his orchards, was everything done and done right, how would he solve this problem or convince that person or were the books in order? Even when times were hard he would not complain. Not about the weather, money, politicians, the government, the community or even about us kids when complaints were most likely in order.
We are happy our dad had such a satisfying and productive life here in Okanogan County. He was fortunate to have so many friends. We are thankful for his good character, sense of humor and long life. While the community will remember him for all the things I have stated above, we will remember him as a good father and a close friend. We were fortunate to have known him and we will all miss him very much.
Father died on May 9, 2002 and is buried next to Marge in the Okanogan Cemetery overlooking the valley they both loved.
submitted by Lova Hawley Overholts
I am the GGG-granddaughter of Hiram Smith and Mary Ridpath.This is my direct line:
Hiram Smith - Mary Ridpath
James R. Smith-Asineth Farmer
James D. Smith-Tabitha Covey
Bessie Smith-SS Hawley
Clifford Hawley-Ethel Askins
I would appreciate any help in finding the parents of Hiram Smith, his mothers first name was Mary on his death certificate.
I don't know anyone in the Smith family as my family moved to Ohio when my Dad was young. I have been to Pulaski where my
father was born and it is beautiful country.
Will appreciate any help on the Family. Thanks,
Lova Hawley Overholts
Redpath death record submitted by Barrie Hope
I wonder if you could help me.
Attached is an extract of a scan of an entry of death for William son of James Redpath my g-g-g-g-g-grandfather.
James is shown being married to Margaret (?) thought it could be Whitelaw but not sure. Could you offer your opinion or maybe circulate it to members for
theirs?
Click on picture below for full
size.
and Ann Redpath query submitted by Bob Redpath
Still haven't managed to find anyone connected to the
Redpaths from Ayr Scotland. Thomas & Ann Redpath came to New Zealand on the Robert Henderson ship in 1860. Their son George married Charlotte,
daughter of Alexander & Isabela Walker who had also migrated to NZ from
Grieff in Scotland . George & Charlotte married in 1886, their children were Isabella & Thomas (twins) born at Xmas 1886, Jack 1884,Elizabeth
(1890),George (1892) This gives a little more information than the last letter so may be of more assistance.
Arms submitted by Roger Redpath
Greetings to All,
While I am not an expert by any means, I am sure that the meanings given to the blazon of arms, are probably Victorian. The reason I mention this is that within a reenacting group I have been a Herald, for twenty years. I am not an expert, but Argent ( old French for silver, default, White) represent the metal silver nothing else. Gules (old French for red) was just the color. Ridpath crest is quite correct, whereas the Redpath crest is a Stork with a key in its beak. I would suggest that our Victorian relatives could not just accept that metals and colors were and had no meanings. Just as line and ordinaries did not mean anything , but a different look. The shield is divided into nine section from the view point of the wear (i.e.: carrier of the shield.) If the news letter would like an article on Heraldry, I could try and put one together. As it might be quite long you could serialize anyway you wanted to.
[ed. Yes! This is a great idea for a newsletter article, especially
as we have seen quite a bit of interest in this area.]
BLAZON OF ARMS: Argent: a chevron engrailed between three boar's heads
erased gules. Translation: Argent, silver or white symbolizes the Moon,
Peace and Sincerity; Gules or red, the planet Mars, Magnanimity and Military
Fortitude.
CREST: A boar's head as in the arms.
submitted by David Redpath
I can't recall the detail of what it all means. I have it written down somewhere
e.g. the bird on top is an ostrich but why it has a key in its mouth I can't remember. Boar's heads and chevrons in gules against an argent background also have some deep heraldic meaning that presently escapes my memory.. The family motto inscribed in Latin translates to English as "persevere and win". The background is the McGregor tartan.
Also enclosed is one of me in the Highland formal outfit wearing the "Flower of Scotland" tartan (which all Redpath's are entitled to wear) after a wonderful dinner at the New Stanford Plaza ballroom in Double Bay in Sydney.
Here are two other tartans Redpath's can wear, the Borderland Scottish and the Tweedside. Both are representative of the area where the village of Redpath is located.
Borderland Scottish Tartan
Tweedside Tartan
Please acknowledge Lochcarron of Scotland whose tartan house is located near Redpath in Galashiels and would happily sell ties, Tam O'shanters, Glengarries, scarves, car blankets and kilts etc... to all
Redpaths. Bit hard to tell from small samples but I suspect both would look very smart as a tie or kilt.
Lang mae yer lum reek!!
David Redpath
