Transcription of Ritter family letters written in German during 1732-1739 Recent discoveries from Linda Ritter of Louisiana detail the Ritter family history through personal letters that richly detail the beginning of the Ritter family in America through the migration of John Heinrich Ritter and two brothers from Germany to Pennsylvania in the late 1600's.
John Heinrich Ritter [d. 1739] and his wife Elisabeth settled in Pennsylvania where they are believed to have lived the rest of their lives. Several children continued the migration and moved south by 1732. John Heinrich "Henry" Ritter Jr. settled in Virginia and brothers Christian and Frederick migrated to the Carolina Colony near present day Salisbury, NC. Several daughters were born to Henry and Elisabeth including Margaretha, Maria, Elisabeth and Hannah.
In 1734, Henry Ritter married Sarah MNU in Virginia. His parents disapproved as she was not German. Jesse Ritter Sr. was born to them in 1735 and Sarah died during childbirth or shortly thereafter. After Sarah's death, Henry Ritter relocated to Salisbury, NC near his brother and remarried a cousin of his mother, Augusta "Gussie" Hobson Holt in 1736. She was also recently widowed. Henry and Gussie had several children but only John Ritter was named.
