Posted By:	David Ricketts
	Email:
	Subject:	Re: Thomas Ricketts, Maryland Militia, Rev. War
	Post Date:	January 03, 2003 at 20:46:12
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/ricketts/messages/1185.html
	Forum:	Ricketts Family Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/ricketts/

More information on descendents of Thomas Ricketts Palmer Ricketts b 1817 d 8 mar 1860 m Eliza Getty 8 sept 1851 Children: Thomas G died age 40 Alexander G died as small child Palmer C Lewis D died 1940 Henrietta Palmer sr was editor of the Cecil County Whig in elkton MD after his death Eliza sold her share of the Ricketts farm and moved her family to Princeton NJ where they were educated at the University. Palmer Jr. became President of Rennselier University in Troy NY ( there is a building named for him there.) Lewis D was became a prominent Mining Engineer in Colorodo Henrietta wrote articles for the Encylopedia Brittanica . The Grist Mills that were part of the Farm in Elkton soon prooved to be a loosing proposition for the rest of the family left in Elkton and the once prosperous enterprises became obsolete as the Industrialization of the country in post Civil War MD . The Great Depression and the wellfare of elderly spinster relatives forced the sale of all Elkton Properties and the dispursal of the survivors to NJ . by 1940 all the connected relatives of the Ricketts Mill properties were either dead or had moved North. Eliza saw the writing on the wall early and left all the traditions behind. The letters and correspondence after the Civil War seemed to describe a great struggle to survive . The Farm became a place for the family that had gone north to retreat in the Summer . The family albums show the pre Revolutionary Farm house slowly decaying . There are histories of the place and the times written by various relatives who lived or visited at Ricketts Mill Road most unpublished. Today part of the farm is a housing development. The main house has been fixed up and is owned by people of means. There is something magical about the setting to the casual visitor who views it from the road. There are other houses nearby one of which was supposed to have been slave quaters ( During the civil war the slaves had long before been given freedom, the family was Republican and pro Union. Son Benjamin was a Captain in the Union Army and seriously wounded at Fredericksburg. There is much written by him and about him in Jerre Garrett's book Muffled Drums and Mustard Spoons , Cecil County Maryland 1860- 1865 Please correspond with any questions or comments David Ricketts