M. C. Ricketts
M. C. Ricketts, locomotive engineer on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, with a passenger run between Lima and Tipton (Indiana), is one of the well-known and valued citizens of the former place, whose residence here covers a period of 25 years. He is also an honored survivor of the Civil War. Mr. Ricketts was born near Morrow, Warren County, Ohio in 1843, and is a son of Zadock Ricketts.
The Ricketts family is one of the age and distinction of old Virginia, and there the father of Mr. Ricketts was born in 1803, at Fairfax Court house, Culpeper County. He came to Ohio about 1830 and settled in Warren County, where he became a man of substance and a leading agriculturist.
M. C. Ricketts attended school in Warren County until he was 15 years of age, and then assisted on the homestead for two years longer. At the age of 18 years he enlisted for service in the Civil War, joining Company , 35th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., entering the service at Hamilton, Ohio, and being mustered out at Chattanooga, Tennessee. The years intervening were filled with the hardships which attend a soldier's life, and that his service was one of constant activity and danger may be inferred by recalling the battles in which he participated. The list includes: Perryville, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Buzzaard's Roost, Corinth, Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, the fall of Atlanta and the "March to the Sea."
Upon his return from the army, Mr. Ricketts resumed work on the home farm until January 19, 1872, when he began railroading. For four years he served as fireman and for one year as engineer, on the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad, and then became an engineer on the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. In 1881 he located at Lima, becoming connected with the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, of which he is a trustworthy passenger engineer running between Lima and Tipton, Indiana.
On October 26, 1871, Mr. Ricketts was married to Cynthia Brant, who died October 10, 1899, leaving one son, F. B., who is employed in the drug-store of Harold Cunningham in Lima. Mr. Ricketts was married on August 28,1903, to Jennie R. Conrath, who is a daughter of Israel Conrath, of Lima. Mr. Conrath is now 80 years of age, while his wife is 76; they have long been residents of Ohio.
In political sentiment, Mr. Ricketts is a Republican. He cast his first presidential vote on the occasion of the second election of Abraham Lincoln, and has consistently supported the party candidates and measures ever since. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities. In religious views he is a Methodist, while Mrs. Ricketts is a member of the Christian Church. The pleasant family home is located at No. 514 South Pine street, Lima.