Turning Our Hearts: Howard Hayes RIDLEBAUGH and Mattie Jane WESTCOTT updated

Howard Hayes RIDLEBAUGH and Mattie Jane WESTCOTT

1 July 1888-7 March 1976 20 June 1891-22 January 1972

Technically speaking Howard and Mattie were my great Uncle and Aunt, but we consider them our grandparents because they raised our mother after her parents divorced. They were Grandma and Grandpa Findlay. The FIndlay part is because they lived in Findlay, Ohio and it was easier for us to say than Ridlebaugh. My mom reminded me that we first called them Friendly Grandma and Grandpa before we could say Findlay right.

Summers visits to 206 Mound St. Findlay meant:

long car rides to get from Massachusetts to Ohio (dad started driving them at night so we would sleep most of the way)

the smell of fresh asphalt as we drove past the road construction going on

watching rows and rows and rows and more rows of corn go by as we drove to Findlay

eating cantaloupe, tomatoes, and corn on the cob fresh out of Grandpa's garden

watching the grasshopper Grandpa had caught in his garden and cut in half with his pocket knife jump all over and wondering how it could do that without a head (thank goodness they didn't have any chickens)

the wonderful smell of Grandpa's pipe (the cigars, not so much)

catching fireflies in jars in the little park across the street from their house (we'd put the fireflies in jars and keep them by our beds at night and in the morning let them go so we could catch some more that evening)

listening to the sound of train whistles while laying in bed at night with the windows open because it was very warm and there was no such thing as central air in their house

Howard Hayes RIDLEBAUGH (he dropped a "d" from his name) is the 4th of 14 children born to John Henry RIDDLEBAUGH and Almeda Elvira WISELEY.

b. 1 July 1888 in Marion township, Hancock, Ohio

m. 8 June 1909 Mattie WESTCOTT in Toledo, Lucas, Ohio

d. 7 March 1976 in Findlay, Hancock, Ohio

Mattie WESTCOTT is the 3rd of 5 children born to Theodore W. WESTCOTT and Florence Holland ASPINALL

b. 20 June 1891 in Vanlue, Hancock, Ohio

d. 22 January 1972 Findlay, Hancock, Ohio

Since Mattie was 12 days away from her 18th birthday and Howard was 23 days away from his 21st birthday, they had to lie about their age so they could get married without parental consent. Don't know the story behind that, but I'm wondering why they didn't just get parental consent. Did they think they couldn't get permission? If so, why didn't they just wait a month to get married?

Mattie didn't like her name and at some point, after they moved away from Ohio, she took on the name Jane; so to her family she was Mattie, but to her friends in the places she lived after she was married, she was Jane. She is Mattie in the 1930 census, Mattie Jane in the 1940 census, and in the 1950 census she is listed as M. Jane.

Grandpa worked for a clothing store…

Jack Hayes RIDLEBAUGH was the only child born to Howard and Mattie.

b. 27 October 1914 Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin.

d. 30 June 1936 drown in the Potomac river

When Jack drowned in the Potomac River, he was engaged to be married to Mary and attending Georgetown University in Washington DC. He was just 8 credits short of graduating in Political Science. He had wanted to be an FBI agent. He was only 21.

Jack had played the piano and had his own band. Apparently he was an excellent musician. After his death, Grandma and Grandpa had his piano dismantled, using it’s wood to make a secretary desk that now is in my sister's home. We both love that desk.

As for the story of his death, I was told that he and his friend, who wasn't a very good swimmer, had gone canoeing and the canoe overturned. The friend made it safely to shore, and since Jack was a better swimmer, he had assumed Jack had also made it safely to shore. But Jack hadn't. I found a newspaper article that tells better details and it is posted below.

Grandpa's 48th birthday was the next day. It was a very difficult time for them, and Mom said that Grandma and Grandpa couldn't have made it through that tough time if they hadn't believed that they'd see Jack again.

While I was doing a newspaper search for Ridlebaughs, I came across a few articles.

The following article was a complete surprise to mom and to us. When Jack drowned, he was engaged to Mary. For years after his death, she would write to Howard and Mattie from time to time, and then she finally sent a letter saying she was going to marry someone else and that would be her last letter. Mom knew nothing about Jack's annulled marriage mentioned in the article below (or even the fact that he was also known as John).

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The News Journal

Wilmington, Delaware

7 July 1934, Saturday

Kathryn E Ridlebaugh, by her father and next [sic] friend, William F. McClatchey, has docketed suit in the Circuit Court here, to have her marriage to Jack Hayes Ridlebaugh also known as John Ridlebaugh, declared null and void. The bill states that the parties were married in Elkton by the Rev. Edward Minor, on June 3, 1933 [should that say 1934?]; that neither of the parties is a resident of this state; that the plaintiff was born July 29, 1916, and the defendant was born October 23 [sic], 1914; that neither of them was of age when the [sic] obtained their license to marry.

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The Evening Star

Washington D. C.

Monday, June 29, 1936. page A-10 (a photo of Jack accompanied the article)

BODY OF STUDENT SOUGHT IN RIVER

Jack Ridlebaugh, G. W. U., Victim of Canoe Accident Above Chain Bridge

Grappling irons were thrown into the Potomac River above Chain Bridge today by police searching for the body of Jack Hayes Ridlebaugh, 21, of 812 Somerset place, a George Washington University student. Ridlebaugh drowned yesterday as his life-long friend, Stuart B. Wright, 24, of 1202 Delafield place looked on helplessly.

The two young men were paddling a canoe toward the Virginia shore when their craft was upset by the currents which eddy above Chain Bridge. Ridlebaugh struck out for the bank, but 20 feet off shore sank from sight where the water is 80 feet deep. The strong current made it impossible for Wright to swim to his friend's rescue.

Ridlebaugh, whose parents are Mr. and Mrs. Howard Ridlebaugh of the Somerset place address, was to have been graduated from George Washington in September. He attended Drexel Institute in Philadelphia before moving to Washington with his family two years ago.

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The Evening Star

Washington, D. C.

June 30, 1936, Tuesday Page B-1

POLICE DRAG RIVER

Resume Search for Body of Drowned Student.

Police today resumed dragging the Potomac River, near Chain Bridge, for the body of Jack Hayes Ridlebaugh, 21, George Washington University student, who drowned Sunday when a canoe overturned.

Ridlebaugh, who lived at 812 Somerset place, was thrown into the rapids about half a mile above the bridge. A companion, Stuart Wright, 24, of 1202 Delafield place, swam to safety.

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Kingsport Times

Kingsport, Tennessee

8 July 1936

STICK TO THE BOAT!

The tragic drowning of Jack Hayes Ridlebaugh on Sunday afternoon emphasizes two facts recently pointed out by Commodore W. E. Longfellow, water safety expert of the American Red Cross, and commented on in these columns last month. The first: that this is the time when many of us feel an urge to take to the water. The second, and more important: that we should stick to our craft if it overturns.

Rirlebaugh [sic] and Stuart B. Wright were foolishly paddling in a very dangerous part of the Potomac, above Chain Bridge. But even in a strong current, an ordinary canoe can be filled with water and still hold up [sic] four persons. It is natural for any swimmer to think that he can reach shore quicker alone, unencumbered by the overturned craft. But Sunday's accident again revealed the importance of sticking to the boat.

The Potomac is cool and accessible. Those taking advantage of its charm should guard particularly against the sort of casualty which took Ridlebaugh's life while his companion "clung to the canoe and made his way to shore safely." It is a simple rule, but the annual toll of lives shows how little it is heeded. --Washington Post.

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Jack passed away in 1936 and Howard and Mattie later raised my mother, their niece, Barbara Ann MOMINEE, After my mom's parents, Helen RIDDLEBAUGH and Theodore MOMINEE, separated, she first stayed with her mother, but then lived with different aunts, uncles, and cousins in Ohio. After a few years of doing this, mom went to live with Howard, one of her uncles. She hadn't known Howard and Mattie when they took her in as they lived in Alabama at the time and she was in Ohio. She went down to live with them when she was about 6 or so, and they raised her. My mom is not living with them in the 1940 census (as a matter of fact, we can't find her in the 1940 census), but she is with them in the 1950 census (and she is listed as their daughter). So, we know mom didn't go live with them till after she was 5, and that makes sense as she spent 1st grade in Ohio. Howard was 21 years older than Helen and already married when Helen was born, so it was like they were raising their grandchild. Mom was only 10 months old when Jack died, so she didn't know him.

Mom thought she was adopted, and in the 1950 census record she is listed as their daughter, but when I went to find her adoption papers, there weren't any and her birth certificate lists Helen RIDDLEBAUGH and Theodore MOMINEE as her parents. She remembers people coming from the Court to do home checks, so why the adoption never occurred, we don't know.

I don't know if we have all the places that Grandma and Grandpa lived, but using the sources I have, this is what I piece together:

1888-grandpa is born in Marion Township, Hancock, Ohio

1891-grandma is born in Vanlue, Hancock, Ohio (Vanlue and Marion Township are about 40 miles apart)

1909-they married in Toledo, Lucas, Ohio

1910 census-they are living in Toledo

1914-they are in Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin where their son Jack is born

1917-Grandpa registers for the draft in WWI in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania and the papers say that Grandpa was working in New York

1920 census- they are in Capital Township, Sangamon, Illinois

1922 in April Howard took over the management of a store in Evansville, Indiana

1930 census- they are in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1935-according to the 1940 census, they were in Washington D.C. in 1935 and since Jack was going to Georgetown at the time, that makes sense

1940 census-they are in Mountain Brook, Jefferson, Alabama (a neighborhood in Birmingham)

1950 census-they are in Homewood, Jefferson, Alabama (a neighborhood in Birmingham and about 4 miles from Mountain Brook)

1953- right after mom graduated from high school, grandpa retired and they moved to Mount Dora, Lake, Florida

1963- they moved to Findlay, Hancock, Ohio and both passed away there.

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The Orlando Sentinel

Orlando, Florida

20 September 1956, Thu. Page 12

Men's Wear Store Sold To Jacksons

MOUNT DORA -- Sale of Cortland's men's wear store has been announced by James C. Jackson, owner.

The new owner is Howard Ridlebaugh, who has been associated with Jackson and who has had wide experience in the clothing field.

Mrs. Ridlebaugh also will be associated with the business in the bookkeeping department. Jackson also will devote some time at the store, assisting the new owner.

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Obituary in unknown Ohio newspaper 1972:

MATTIE J. RIDLEBAUGH

Funeral services for Mrs. Mattie Jane Ridlebaugh, 80, of 206 Mound St., will be at 3 p.m. today in the Kirkpatrick-Hawkins Funeral Home with Dr. Robert G. Scully officiating. Burial will be in the Van Horn Cemetery.

Mrs. Ridlebaugh died at 4:45 a.m. Saturday of a cerebral hemorrhage in Blanchard Valley Hospital.

She was born in Vanlue, June 20, 1891, to Theodore and Florence (Aspinall) Westcott. She came to Findlay in 1963 from Mount Dora, Fla.

On June 8, 1909, she was married to Howard H. Ridlebaugh who survives with a daughter, Mrs. Charles M. (Barbara) Jervis, Scituate, Mass.; two sisters, Mrs. Carl H. (Lucille) Shank and Mrs. George W. Egbert, both of Findlay.

Visitation is underway at the funeral home.

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Obituary in unknown Ohio newspaper 1976:

HOWARD H. RIDLEBAUGH

Howard H. Ridlebaugh, 87, a former 206 Mound St. resident living in Good Samaritan Nursing Home, Arlington, died at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the home after an illness of two years.

He was born July 1, 1888 in Marion Township to John H. and Elvira (Wiseley) Riddlebaugh. He married Mattie J. Westcott June 8, 1909 and she died Jan. 22, 1972.

Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Charles (Barbara) Jervis, Metairie, La.; four grandchildren; five sisters, Mrs. Porter (Ethel) Shuck, Findlay; Mrs. John (Mae) Schuck, 326 Glendale Ave.; Mrs. Sam (Alice) Brown, Fostoria; Mrs. Erma Nauts, Redwood, Calif.; Mrs. Ed (Helen) Pentecost, Cleveland.

Mr. Ridlebaugh was a retired manager of ready-to-wear retail stores in numerous cities east of the Mississippi River.

He was a member of Elks Lodge 75, St. Andrew's Methodist Church, and a 50-year member of Findlay Masonic Lodge 227.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Kirkpatrick-Hawkins Funeral Home, the Rev. James Foster officiating. Burial will be in Van Horn Cemetery, Amanda Township.

Visitation is from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. Tuesday in the funeral home.