 ritch family ritch family ray mon 4122010 1153 israel sn ritch the beginning 1850 the family of israel sn ritch 18171858 arrived at biloxi mississippi in the late 1840s israel sn ritch a native of atlanta georgia and his wife priscilla pebukst 18161905 of norfolk virginia settled here probably coming from alabama they acquired their first land in the village of biloxi almost an acre on lameuse street in october 1848 from arne bernard the soninlaw of robert delauney mr ritch paid 280 for the tract for the next 124 years a member of the ritch family would reside on the original family homestead at 211 lameuse street harco ms land deed bk 5 p 118 from federal census data local journals and funeral home records it can be ascertained with a high degree of certitude that mrs priscilla ritch had been married previously probably in north carolina to thomas e james at biloxi in 1850 israel sn ritch made his livelihood as a carpenter an occupation that he would pursue until his demise in addition to their baby joseph ritch 18491860 there were three adolescents all shown as alabama natives but probably born in north carolina mary f james 18381850 elizabeth c james miller mohan 18381914 and thomas james 18421860 residing in the ritch household the family has real estate valued at 500 guice 1972 p 41  the property of priscilla ritch in march 1851 priscilla ritch made an affidavit to the county clerk declaring her separate property from her husbands harco ms land deed bk 5 pp 491492 she listed the following real property  1860 by 1860 it appears that israel ritch has passed on the widow priscilla ritch is head of the household and owns real estate valued at 300 she has given birth to james monroe ritch 18521919 at biloxi and jacob m ritch 18581876 in louisiana probably new orleans others living with mrs ritch are joseph ritch 18491860 thomas james ritch 18421860 and elizabeth james miller 18381914 guice 1981 p 10 elizabeth james miller had married joseph miller in june 1859 at harrison county mississippi guice 1981 p 10  1870 in 1870 priscilla ritch is keeping house and owns real estate valued at 400 her sons james monroe ritch and jacob ritch are living with her also in the under the ritch roof is the black family of kentucky born henry lewis 18341870 which includes kitty lewis 18561870 nancy lewis 18671870 and elizabeth lewis b 1870 guice 1981 p 21  1880 in 1880 priscilla ritch is living in biloxi with her son james monroe ritch who is a laborer carvin 1981 p 42  1900 p ritch 121816 va va va seventeen childrentwo alive elizabeth c mohan march 1838 alabama ga va seven children 2 alive  the children of israel ritch and priscilla ritch   i   joseph ritch 18491860  joseph ritch was born at biloxi mississippi no further information  ii   james monroe ritch 18521919  james monroe ritch was born at biloxi mississippi on june 22 1852 there is a high probability that he had an illegitimate child james rich 18791912 with josephine taltavull bradfordo keefe bk 3 p 227 ames monroe ritch married mary ann flanagan 18531934 at new orleans on december 24 1884 she was born october 23 1853 at new orleans the daughter of two irish immigrants james flanagan and walsh the ritch family moved to biloxi after the wedding  the daily herald june 25 1934 p 5 and  bradfordo keefe bk 21 p 248 the children of james monroe ritch and mary ann flanagan were john martin ritch 18861930 thomas enoch joseph ritch 18891947 mary alma ritch 18901964 and priscilla ritch 18931972 james monroe ritch was a member of the biloxi elks lodge was buried in the old biloxi cemetery under the auspices of the methodist church  the daily herald august 7 1919 p 4 and august 11 1919 p 4    the children of james monroe ritch and mary ann flanagan ritch    john martin rich 18861930  born at biloxi mississippi on june 24 1886  thomas enoch joseph rich 18891947  enoch ritch was born at biloxi mississippi on march 11 1889 graduated from biloxi high school and earned a scholarship to washington and lee university at lexington virginia ritch served as a private in the us army with the 6 th division of the 53 rd infantry in wwi he relocated to michigan after wwi he expired at douglas michigan on august 14 1947 buried ritch family plot old biloxi cemetery  the daily herald august 1947 p 6    mary alma ritch 18901964  mary alma ritch was born september 29 1890 at biloxi mississippi attended a summer normal at chicago in august 1919 in august 1950 she and her sister prisicilla attended the reading institute at george peabody college for teachers in nashville also the peabody demonstration school for workshops and classes from nashville they visited asheville north carolina and south carolina the daily herald august 15 1950 p 9 mary alma ritch died on april 14 1964          the 1898 back bay main street school  good land plat of north main street of july 1893 harco ms land deed bk 29 pp 340341 located on the west side of main street between bradford street and bayview avenue in august 1893 wf gorenflo was adjudicated two parcels of land on main street by the chancery court of harrison county mississippi the future back bay school site was situated on the tract which was described as 550 feet northsouth on the west side of main street and 76 feet eastwest bounded on the north and west by the estate of f moran on the south by gaspard didier and on the west by main street harco ms minute bk 4 p 529 the land for the back bay school was donated by william f gorenflo 18441932 the building was erected with funds provided by william km dukate 18521916 and donated to the city on september 6 1898 a school in this section of biloxi was desperately needed and sincerely appreciated by the back bay residents  the biloxi daily herald september 7 1898 p 4  in early october 1898 mrs s booth was the first teacher assigned to the back bay school the new furniture for the structure had not arrived and old seats were temporarily installed in school  the biloxi daily herald october 2 1898 p 8  attendance at the commencement of the school in october 1898 was fortyseven students  the biloxi daily herald october 5 1898 p 8  the city of biloxi sold the back bay ward school to bishop ro gerow bishop of the natchez diocese for 250 in august 1929 in the deed the structure is described as the gorenflo school the sale included all fixtures attachments pluming lighting etc harco ms land deed bk 182 pp 510511 in september 1926 prior to the sale the roman catholic parish of st john s commenced utilizing the building for a parochial school it was staffed by the sisters of mercy from their reynoir street convent this marked the fourth roman catholic school in biloxi as the sacred heart school and academy our mother of sorrows and st michael s had opened previously a fifth st theresa s was to be built shortly  the daily herald august 28 1926 p 2    1910 miss alma ritch began her teaching career in september 1910 at the back bay school she was one of four new instructors in the biloxi school system her salary was 40 per month miss ritch taught first and second grade at this time miss winnie gorenflo was the principal miss ethel dismukes the other instructor taught art  the daily herald september 9 1910 p 4    1915 in september 1915 faculty consisted of miss katie henley principal and miss alma ritch ione dulion and caroline gilbert  the daily herald september 3 1915 p 1    1921 in september 1921 faculty consisted of miss alma ritch principal miss priscilla ritch miss grace hightower miss ione dulion and miss veronica lacaze  the daily herald september 12 1921 p 1    the gorenflo school the approximate 65 acres that would become the site of the 1924 gorenflo school on lameuse street was once the john comstock bradford 18551928 homestead he acquired this parcel from his mother burrisa jane elder bradford 18301917 for 200 in february 1898 harco ms land deed bk 37 p 475 in june 1923 jc bradford conveyed his large lameuse street tract to the trustees of the biloxi city schools wf gorenflo 18441932 wj grant 18751932 elbert l dukate susan snell tonsmeire 18791953 and lille bourdon devitt 18841951 for 10000 harco ms land deed bk 138 pp 466467 here in 19231924 a school building designed by architect carl e matthes 18961972 was erected called back bay elementary school its area of educational responsibility included all north of the l n railroad from caillavet to lee street including the east side of caillavet and the west side of lee north of division bounded by caillavet and seal  the first school year when classes commenced in early september 1924 the faculty consisted of miss alma ritch principal and 1 st grade miss evelyn mcshane 1 st grade miss pricilla ritch 2 nd and 3 rd grades miss lizette mackie 3 rd and 4 th grades miss irma l harvey 18981965 4 th and 5 th grades miss veronica lacaze english geography spelling 6 th 7 th and 8 th grades miss inez rich arithmetic history writing 6 th 7 th and 8 th grades  the daily herald september 9 1924 p 3  1925 facultymiss alma ritch principal 1 st grade evelyn mcshane 1 st and 2 nd grade prisicilla ritch 2 nd and 3 rd grades lizette mackie 3 rd and 4 th grades veronica lacaze penmanship spelling physical education and music for the 6 th 7 th and 8 th grades mrs hh roof arithmetic geography hygiene and civics for the 6 th 7 th and 8 th grades mary will dent english and history for the 6 th 7 th and 8 th grades  the daily herald august 31 1925 p 3    priscilla ritch 18931972  priscilla ritch was  b orn april 9 1893 at biloxi mississippi in july 1912 she and florence holley attended the summer normal at wiggins mississippi  the daily herald july 16 1912 p 8   attended a summer normal at chicago in 1919 in august 1950 she and her sister prisicilla attended the reading institute at george peabody college for teachers in nashville also the peabody demonstration school for workshops and classes from nashville they visited asheville north carolina and south carolina the daily herald august 15 1950 p 9 miss priscilla ritch died on october 18 1972   the will miss ritch wrote her will on august 6 1971 it was filed for probate on october 20 1972 with albert mallard and wj wadlington as coexecutors  land sale in february 1974 albert mallard sold the biloxi development commissionurban renewal agency of the city of biloxi the ritch homestead at 211 and 213 lameuse street for 41000 the lots had 60 feet on lameuse street and 170 feet westward harco ms land deed bk 46 pp 266267 another lot in the same area was vended by mallard also to the biloxi development commission harco ms land deed bk 46 p 268  iii jacob m ritch 18581876   jacob m ritch died in 1876 buried in the old biloxi cemetery no further information  references    books earnest a carvin  the harrison county mississippi 1880 census  mississippi coast history genealogical society biloxi mississippi1981 julia c guice et al  harrison county mississippi marriages  18411899 city of biloxi mississippi19 julia c guice et al  the harrison county mississippi 1850 census  mississippi coast history genealogical society biloxi mississippi1972 julia c guice et al  the harrison county mississippi 1870 census   community development department of the city of biloxi mississippi 1981 julia c guice et al  the harrison county mississippi 1860 census   community development department of the city of biloxi mississippi 1982    wwa smith  biloxi city directory  volume i 1905 the biloxi daily herald printry biloxi mississippi1905  chancery court records the harrison county mississippi chancery court cause no 615   wf gorenflo v gaspard didier et al   august 1893 the harrison county mississippi chancery court cause no 1934   the estate of prisicilla ritch   1905  the harrison county mississippi chancery court will book 3 the will of priscilla ritch february 1905 p 68 the harrison county mississippi 2 nd judicial district chancery court cause no 2753   the estate of priscilla ritch   october 1972  journals   the biloxi daily herald   biloxi s public school   september 7 1898 the biloxi daily herald   teachers assigned   october 2 1898 the biloxi daily herald   public schools   october 5 1898 the daily herald   biloxi schools open september 12   september 3 1910 the daily herald   biloxi schools will open monday   september 9 1910 the daily herald   local news paragraph of interest   july 16 1912 the daily herald   james ritch dead   december 23 1912 the daily herald   mrs mohan drops dead on street   november 17 1914 the daily herald   list of teachers for city schools of biloxi is out   september 3 1915 p 1 the daily herald   antoinerich marriage   september 17 1918 the daily herald   biloxi landmark passes away  august 7 1919 the daily herald   ritch buried   august 11 1919 the daily herald   public school assignments   september 9 1924 the daily herald   school work begins again   august 31 1925 the daily herald   biloxi has new school   august 28 1926 the daily herald   martin ritch buried   august 15 1930 the daily herald   mrs mary ann ritch dies   june 25 1934 the daily herald   thomas ej ritch dies   august 1947 the daily herald    misses ritch return   august 15 1950 the daily herald   retired school principal is taken by death   april 14 1964 the daily herald   miss priscilla ritch   october 19 1972 the pascagoula democratstar   local paragraphs   mohan may 14 1880 108 views  