Joseph Risdon Sr.
March 15, 1984

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pix # 1 - FRANK KINN

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth and last in a series of articles about the Risdon family which started Feb. 9 and ends today.)

Only two of the five daughters of Josiah and Martha "Patty" Risdon have been rediscovered: Martha, the third child, and Patience, the last of 10. At present, only the names, dates of birth and place of birth are known for Betsy, Charity and Electra.

Martha "Patty" was born either in Bennington County or Pawlet, Vt. She married Thomas Munger, Stillwater, N.Y. and to them were born five sons and eight daughters. Several members of the Munger family migrated into Michigan. Additional information on the Munger family may be obtained by referring to "The Munger Book - Something of the Mungers, 1639-1914," by J.B. Munger of Chicago, and Francis E. Munger of San Diego, Calif. - Tuttle, Moorehouse & Taylor.

Patience Risdon was born in New York State and married Stephen Mix. They settled for a time in Chautauqua County, N.Y. as one of the earliest settlers in that area.

ONE BECAME DOCTOR

Ten of their 12 children lived to maturity, and of these, their fourth child, Miles Mix, became an influential citizen of Berlin, Wisc. He was graduated from the Indiana Medical College at LaPorte, Ind., in 1850. During his long residence at Berlin, he became the outstanding physician of the county.

Dr. Mix married Louisa E. Wheeler, born in Vermont. She died at Berlin, Wisc., March 4, 1877. Dr. Mix died in April 1897 in Berlin.

Details of the Mix family may be found in "Portrait & Biographical Album of Green Lake, Marquette, and Waisjara Counties, Wisc.," Acme Publishing Co., Chicago.

RISDON BOOK EDITORS

Daniel Bond Risdon, a Connecticut resident, and Robert E. Cook, a California resident were the co-editors of the Risdon Book, from which the material was extracted (with permission) for the series of Risdon articles in The Review Times.

The following are statements made by Daniel Bond Risdon in the book, which seems appropriate at the end of today's article:

"Considering the great number of descendants of Josiah and Martha Risdon assembled in this compilation, it is astonishing and regrettable that we have little more information about most of them than vital statistics, and names of children, but very little about their livelihoods or professions, where they lived, how they spent their lives.

"What we do know indicates that they were for the most part hard-working, God-fearing, family-minded men and women, kindly to their neighbors, civic-minded and generous citizens wherever they settled.

RISDONS MOVED WESTWARD

"Like their ancestor Josiah and many other New Englander, they were marked by a desire to move on to new and exciting places, emigrating westward until they reached the Pacific and settled in California, Washington and Oregon with numerous descendants left in their wake in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio.

"Their modern representatives have reason to be proud of forefathers and their wives whose history of the family was the history of the early development of our country."

Though a member of a related family branch which does not appear in the Risdon book, much of the substance in the book and in these articles is due to the research of Daniel B. Risdon, who spent approximately 30 years collecting information on the Risdon families in America. Born in Danbury, Vt., in 1907, he retired from teaching at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.

Related to the Risdon family through marriage, Mr. Robert E. Cook, with the help and encouragement of second cousins, did the work correlating and publishing the Risdon Book. Born in San Jose, Calif., in 1911, he retired as senior clerk at the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in 1971.

FOSTORIANS FOLLOWED RISDON

The author of "Potluck" had exchanged correspondence with Edna Risdon Neary, a Texas resident, on a number of occasions.

In one instance she had heard of Mel Murray's book "The Return to Risdon" about the history of the Methodists in this area, and wrote to me to obtain copies, which were sent with Mel's compliments.

After receiving the books, she replied, saying how much she enjoyed the history, and listed the names of so many people who moved from the Fostoria area to Iowa County, where David Risdon , her grandfather, had emigrated, and where he was murdered. The names on her list were: Hollopeter, Stoner, Coates, Watson, Rosenberger, Bricker, Schaull, Rumple, Slosser, Lewis, Bear, Sheller, Snavely.

ARE RISDON FOLK STILL LIVING HERE

These last paragraphs of the Risdon series pertains to the possibility that the Rumples, currently living in Fostoria, may be descendants of the David Risdon branch. They are the Clarence Rumple family, 501 McDougal St., Mrs. Nora Rumple, 127 E. Sixth St., also Mrs. Joseph Lukas, Endwell, N.Y., sister of Clarence.

Mrs. Lukas has done some research to establish the Risdon-Rumple link, but at this time has been unsuccessful.

Henry Baltzell Risdon, son of David, married Elizabeth Ann Rumple. Both lived in Seneca County and followed David to Iowa.

If Mrs. Lukas is successful in her search, this column will report it later, along with photos of the early ancestors.

As mentioned earlier in this series, the Risdon Book is on file at Kaubisch Memorial Public Library for reference, but not loan. Copies of the book are still available by writing to Mr. Robert E. Cook, 407 Capitola, Calif., 95010. (Price $30.)

HEED GOD'S WORD

PRAYER IS A GOLDEN RIVER - KNEEL AND DRINK

"Then another angel with a golden senser came and stood at the altar; and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to offer upon the golden altar before the throne. And the perfume of the incense mixed with the prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out." (Revelation 8:3,4)

Corie ten Boom, a great Christian, known worldwide, adds her thought to the scripture... "Sometimes we underestimate the value of our prayers. In the book of Revelation, we read how precious they are in God's eyes. They are so precious that they are all preserved there. When I read this text, I understood a little bit of the great value that our prayers have in the eyes of our heavenly Father. Look back on the prayers you have prayed for that person you are worrying about. Not one of those prayers is lost. They are kept in heaven. What a comfort. What an encouragement!"

ABOUT THE RISDON PLAQUE

In the first of a series of articles about the Risdon family, appearing in "Potluck" on Feb. 9, there was an excellent photo of the plaque mounted at the northeast corner of Summit and Countyline, marking the square of the Village of Risdon.

After the article appeared in print, I was talking with Mary Fish, Jackson Township Road 57, about some historical matters, and she commented how well the plaque had shown up. Then she asked if I knew who had donated the plaque. My answer was "no", but I had always supposed the donor was either the Fostoria Historical Society or The Ohio Historical Society, or both.

Mrs. Fish's answer was "no, it was Frank Kinn, president of the Commercial Bank." She was of the opinion Kinn had wanted to remain anonymous.

Since then I have talked with Kinn about it. He explained that he had no particular wish to remain anonymous, or to be given credit for the project. He explained that at that time he was chairman of the city's beautification committee and was interested in doing various things to improve Fostoria. He said he saw improvements that could be made on Risdon Square, and it occurred to him the plaque was something that should be added.

Kinn took it upon himself to foster the plaque project, doing the writing of the message on it and arranging for the drawing of the layout of the village streets, which is in the upper left-hand corner, and paying the bill.

"I do not want any particular praise for the project, " Kinn said. "I only hope that it will prompt others in our town to look for projects they can do to make the town better."

We need more people in Fostoria like Frank Kinn.