George Ridenour, his fifth son, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Washington County, Pa., Aug. 3, 1794. When he was a child he was taken by his parents to Westmoreland county, that state, and when eighteen years of age enlisted in the service of the government of the United States in the war of 1812-15, serving under Capt. Spangler and Gen. Hooker, on the lake frontier. After the war was over he became a farmer, and in November, 1820, he married Miss Conrad, in Fairfield county, Ohio. She was born July 3, 1802, in Maryland, near Hagerstown, and was a daughter of John and Catherine (Adams) Conrad. To George Ridenour and his wife there were born eleven children, two of whom died in infancy, the others being as follows: Catherine, Christine, Dorothea, John G., Sophia, Isaac, Mary, William and Sarah. Dorothea married and died afterward. Isaac died a soldier in the Civil war.
GEORGE RIDENOUR settled on land which he cultivated, and he also owned a saw-mill, which he ran in Fairfield county, where he lived until 1829. He then removed to Sugar Creek township, Allen county, and entered eighty acres of land, then all in the woods. This land he cleared and improved, and by industry and thrift he added other acres until he owned 200 acres in all, upon which he made important improvements, and made of it one of the best improved farms of those days in the county. He had a good common education in German and in English, was an unusually intelligent man, was very handy with tools, understood the carpenter's trade, and made many useful articles. Wooden mold boards, plows, coffins, and many other things were the result of his handiwork. He also had considerable skill as a surgeon, and was accustomed to lance his patients and bleed them, as was then the fashion for any ills. He had also a knowledge of herbs, barks and roots, and administered them according to his own judgment. He also acted the part of dentist, extracting teeth with an old fashioned punch, knocking them out. Afterward he used an instrument called the pelican. He was well known among the early settlers and was of great use to them as long as he lived.
When he removed to Allen county in November, 1829, he made the journey by wagon and a four-horse team. There was then no settlement at Lima, not a tree was cut, and the Indians had a council house at Shawneetown. They however were always friendly to those whom they could trust. The trail followed bridle-paths through the woods, and i many places the road had to be cut through the standing timber from Shawneetown to where Mr. Jacobs now lives, his father being one of the early settlers in the county. Mr. Ridenour was also one of the first settlers, nearly the entire county being a wilderness when he moved into it. At that time deer and wolves were plentiful; they were visible around the cabin in the day time, and the wolves could be heard at night, howling all around. Mr. Ridenour's family then consisted of his wife and five children, the youngest member of the family having been born in Allen county. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church, he assisting to establish the Lutheran church in Elida. The first church edifice of this denomination was a frame structure, the second of brick. Before the erection of the frame building, services were held in the homes of the pioneers. Mr. Ridenour was a popular man, and held the offices of deacon and elder in his church. Politically he was a democrat, and was widely known as an honorable man, and his house was headquarters for the traveler and the prospective settler in search of land. His hospitality was unbounded, and in the homely phrase, now so seldom heard, his "latch string was always out." He died on his homestead Feb. 25, 1879, and his wife died Jan. 11, 1892, aged nearly ninety years. She was a woman of remarkable constitution, and of many virtues.
http://www.ohiogenealogyexpress.com/allenco/allenco_bios_1896/allenco_bios_1896_r.htm
