A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965 Page: 19
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Armstrong County
with her settled down in the house he had
built in England. Here his three children
were born--in 1908 my sister Gabrielle
Muriel Ritchie, myself in 1910, and my
brother Richard Morgan Wadsworth Ritchie
in 1912.
At about the outbreak of the first World
War in 1914, my father became a semi-
invalid and a return to the United States
became impossible for him because of his
health. His children, consequently start-
ed their educations in England. In 1924
my father died and my mother, having
lost her British nationality by virtue of
her marriage to an American citizen,
became a renaturalized British subject
and raised her family in England.
My father never forgot his years on the
Texas ranch and as a small child I vivid.
ly remember many of the exciting tales
he told of his adventures in Texas.
By M. H. W. Ritchie--1965
MONTGOMERY HARRISON WADSWORTH
RITCHIE
I was born on December 2, 1910, in Eng-
land and since my father was an Ameri-
can Citizen I too was born an American
Citizen.
Following my mother's wishes I came
to Texas to inspect my birthright and
became fascinated with the ranch and the
life on the range and remained more or
less constantly in close association with
the ranch thereafter.
In 1935 I took over as Administrator of
Mrs. Adair's Estate following the death
of Messrs. Coke and Hobart who were
my grandmother's original executors.
In 1949, after payment of all the be.
quests left by Mrs. Adair in her will,
the JA Ranch was finally owned by Mrs.
Adair's Residuary Heirs who were her
three grandchildren--my sister, my bro-
ther and myself. My brother sadly died
of an accident in 1942 so that the proper-
ty passed to my sister, my mother and
myself.
My term as Administrator of Mrs. A-
dair's Estate was interrupted during the
years of the second World War duringwhich
I was a pilot for the United States Navy
in the Naval Air Transport Service.In 1942 I was married to Elizabeth
Barrell of Boston and in 1949 we wereblessed with the birth of a daughter, Cor-
nelia Wadsworth Ritchie.
By M, H. W. Ritchie-1965
The Dyer Brothers
The five Dyer men, brothers of Mrs,
Charles Goodnight, came to Armstrong
County in the middle or late seventies. All
were born in Dyer County, Tennessee
except Walter who was born in Fort Worth.
Their father, Henry Dyer, was a govern..
ment attorney; his principal work seemed to
be negotiating treaties with the Indians.
His name appears in this capacity in many
parts of history of western and northwest.
ern states.
Albert Dyer
Albert Dyer was born in 1832, It is not
known when he came to the JA Ranch.
When Donley County was organized Charles
Goodnight was named Commissioner for
Armstrong County and he in turn nominated
Albert Dyer as manager of elections. Char-
les Hinsdale, bookkeeper of the JA's, was
Justice of the Peace, and Henry Taylor,
who ran a hardware store in Clarendon,
was Constable,
It is not known that Taylor ever made an
arrest or that Hinsdale tried a case but he
did perform the marriage ceremony of Rob-
ert T. Bishop and Miss Lizzie Hopkins. He
also did such notary work that became nec-
essary in the conduct of the ranch.
Albert Dyer filed on Section 70 in Block
B-3 I&GN Survey as a homestead but he
spent most of his time in Mrs. Goodnight's
home. He possessed a large library. He
wore a neat beard and looked more like a
country doctor than a frontiersman. He was
always well dressed and very neat.
When Mr. or Mrs. Goodnight were not
around he entertained the visitors and al-
ways was very careful to caution them that
when they were in the buffalo park not to
dismount or leave their rig if the buffalo
or elk were near,
His special charge seemed to be the deer
of whom there was about a hundred and
they would come at his calling. When he
left they became such a nuisance that
Goodnight killed a lot of them and ran the
others into the canyonsIn 1890 he traded his land to Goodnight for
a pair of young buffalo and attempted to
tame them but with little success,19
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Armstrong County Historical Society. A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965, book, 1965; Hereford, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91040/m1/27/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .