Biography - Elliot Ritchie


Elliot Ritchie, son of James and Caroline Ritchie, was born in December 1841 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. He was one of 5 children in the family. He married Susan "Susie" Haynes Gibson on 09 June 1862 in New Hampshire. They had no children. Sadly - Susan died in 1885.

Nehemiah Gibson bought the USRMCS Harriet Lane about 1869 and rebuilt her as a sailing vessel. She was renamed the Elliot Ritchie (Read More) in honor of his son in law. Elliot worked for the N. Gibson & Company, owned by Nehemiah Gibson while he was alive. Elliot appears to have run the business after Nehemiah's death on 1882. 

After Susie's death in 1885 - he remarried to a Susan D. Baker on February 20, 1887 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Unfortunately - the N. Gibson & Company appears to have gone out of business between 1892 and 1893. There was an article in the Boston Daily Globe asserting that Elliot Ritchie ran into financial difficulties and spent some time in debtors prison. [read more from a Boston Daily Globe article in 1894].

He moved to New York City after 1905 and perhaps lived near or with Charles Earl Gibson.

He died on 27 December 1914 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery alongside his first wife and with the rest of the Gibson family.

Additional Information:

Residences:

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References:

Elliot appears in the following census records

James Ritchie - U.S. Census 1860

Nehemiah Gibson - U.S. Census 1870

Nehemiah Gibson - U.S. Census 1880