Biography
of AMOS RIDER,
MEXICO, NY
Many thanks to Esther Rancier
for sharing her information on the Rider family. Esther is researching
in Richland and Mexico the Soul/Soule,
Brace and Daniel
P. Smith families, and would appreciate hearing from anyone researching
these surnames. Esther Rancier at: [email protected]
For more information on the Rider Family, please
contact the
Historians
and Historical Societies.
When the local historians,
Johnson, Churchill and Simpson wrote about Oswego County, they never mentioned
Amos Rider. Instead all the Mexico Rider references were about the
colorful Henry C. Rider, a deaf mute. He published a well-received “The
Deaf-Mutes Journal.” Henry Rider and his wife, Helen Chandler, also
a deaf mute, lived with Peter Chandler’s, another deaf mute family.
Throughout the county were
other unrelated Rider families. None of these people were deaf mutes.
Amos Rider seemed to appear out of no place, but there are two records
to pin point his identity. In the 1840’s Amos Rider of Mexico, NY
received $50.00 from the State of New York as payment for a claim from
the War of 1812. Family researchers have assumed that Amos fought in the
war while he lived in Mexico. But he did not live in Oswego County
until after 1835. The National Archives Service Record for Amos said
that he joined Prior’s Regiment of the NY Militia. Nearly all the
Prior Regt. men were from Schoharie County, NY.
In the 1820 U.S. census for
Summit, Schoharie Co., NY there were an Amos Rider and a Philip Rider.
These men, who were in Prior’s Regt. during the 1812 War, were likely brothers.
Amos was 78 years old when he died in 1872. This data was taken from
his tombstone in the Primitive Cemetery at Mexico. He was born ca.
1794. Philip’s tombstone in the Old Cemetery at Summit gave his date
of birth as 15 Oct. 1790.
Checking for other Rider’s
in Schoharie County revealed that in 1794 Benjamin Rider built the first
inn at Summit according to the Town Historian Beverly Radez.
Considerably more research
needs to be done on the Amos, Philip and Benjamin Rider relationship.
It is likely that Benjamin Rider fought in the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately
there were several men named Benjamin Rider in New York, Connecticut and
Massachusetts American military units.
Philip Rider, married to Catherine,
died 6 August 1827. He left a will recorded in NY. Schoharie Co.
Wills, v. A2, p. 239. He was buried at Old Summit Cemetery, Summit,
NY. He had one known son, Philip [Jr.], born near the time of his
father’s death. His tombstone in the same place gave his death as
15 Oct. 1849, age 22. The 1820 Summit census for Philip [Sr.] indicated
the birth of 4 other children.
Amos Rider lived in Summit until
1835. He was mentioned in the will of one Howland Sherman of Schoharie
written in 1842. The will said, “… of the farm I bought of Amos Rider
in the year 1835.”
Amos married Hannah Near/Neer before
1822/23 when her eldest daughter Elizabeth was born. Hannah was 55
in the 1850 Mexico census and age 85 in the 1880 census Mexico census making
her birth ca. 1795 in Massachusetts where both her parents were born according
to her statements in the 1880 census. She later died in 1882, age
87. She was buried in Mexico’s Primitive Cemetery.
Hannah may be the daughter of Charles
Near/Neer and Catherine Hedely. Charles was listed in White’s Genealogical
Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pensions, p. 2474. He served in Schuyler’s
Regt. of NY Militia. His widow was awarded pension #W19913.
The couple had 11 children, one of whom was Hanna Neer [sic] born 4 December
1795.
All of Amos and Hannah’s children
were likely born in Summit, NY except the youngest, David Henry Rider whose
grave in the Primitive Cemetery showed dates 1836-1898. The 1839
birth data agrees with the 1850 Mexico census which gave his age as 14.
In the 1850 census the full
enumeration for the Amos Rider family:
NAME AGE JOB
VALUE BIRTHPLACE
Rider, Amos 56
Farmer $4500 NY
Hannah
55
MA
Rachel
L. 21
NY
Jane
A. 18
NY
Elizabeth
27
NY
David
H. 14
NY
One family member alleged there was
another son Richard born ca. 1827. This idea seemed to be verified
by the 1840 Mexico census which showed 3 males and 5 females. A male
between 10-15 could have been a child named Richard who died young.
There is also evidence of a female child who also died young. No
grave markers for either child were located.
Daughter Elizabeth married
Lawrence Stevens before 1854 when her son Theo. Stevens was born.
He grew up to marry a Canadian, Maria _____. By 1880 85 year-old
Hannah Rider lived in a four-generation household in Mexico with Elizabeth
and Lawrence Stevens, their son’s family, Theo, Maria, Nora and Eva, a
10 month old. Amos died in 1872, according to his tombstone
at the Primitive Cemetery. Amos’ will was recorded in NY. Oswego
Co. Record of Wills, v. K, p. 399.
Daughter Rachel married Jackson
Daniels of Mexico. He was the son of Horatio and Almeria Daniels.
Rachel and Jackson were both buried in the Primitive Cemetery. Rachel
died in 1912; Jackson in 1898.
The other daughter Jane A.
married Jerome Daniels. She died in 1907; Jerome in 1915.
Both were also buried in the Primitive Cemetery.
The scarcity of data on Amos
and Hannah suggests a quiet life of hard work on their farm. They
fared as well as their neighbors, but stayed clear of an active life in
village or town affairs. They raised successful, honest children
who married into well-known and respected families.
Their son David Henry Rider
wed Mary L. Hamilton. Born in 1839 she was a daughter of Richard
Hamilton and Agnes Beecher. For more on this Hamilton family, see
the Richard Hamilton Biography. They had a long history in Mexico
and the Riders fit right into their family life.
David and Mary had 7 children.
In the 1880 Mexico census their family was enumerated:
NAME AGE OCCUPATION
BIRTHPLACE
Rider, David
43 laborer NY
Mary 42
“
Lettie 13
“
Chas. 11
“
Richard 7
“
Robert 5
“
Orla 3
“
Carl 10 months “
Their daughter Addie or Ada Louise,
age 8, was visiting her mother’s relatives and was counted in the Dick
Hamilton household.
Lettie M. Rider, David’s oldest
daughter, who was born 21 Feb. 1867 in Mexico, died in 1894 still unmarried.
She was buried in the Primitive Cemetery.
The oldest son, Charles Edward
Rider, who was born 9 September 1868 in Mexico, married _______.
By the 1920 Palermo, NY census he called himself a widower, age 51.
He had a son, Kenneth, age 8, born in NY. Charles worked as a day
laborer. By the 1930 Palermo census in District #48, Charles was
living as a lodger without any family. No record of his son was found.
Charles died in 1960 according to his tombstone at the Primitive Cemetery.
Ada Louise, born 24 April 1871
in Mexico, married George Duane. They lived in Redfield, NY.
She died 17 March 1953. She and her husband were both buried in St.
Joseph’s Cemetery at Redfield.
Richard Amos Rider, born 8
March 1892 in Mexico, married Elizabeth E. _____. In the 1920 Palermo
census the couple had 2 children: Robert J., age 14, and Harriet L., age
10. Richard was a farmer, dying in 1942. His wife Elizabeth
expired in 1947. They were both buried in the Primitive Cemetery.
Robert T. Rider, born 25 January
1875 in Mexico, died in 1913. He was laid to rest in the Primitive
Cemetery.
Born on 26 February 1877 in
Mexico, Adelbert Orla Rider, married Ellen Marie Boucher, born in 1877.
Ellen was of French Catholic origin. Her husband seemed to have converted
for her. Adelbert was usually called Bert throughout his life.
In the 1910 Mexico census Bert and Ellen had been wed 13 years. He
was a diary farmer living on the Wilcox portion of the Hamilton farm.
In the household were David, age 11; Mary, age 9; Clarke, age 4 and Thelma,
age 2. By the 1930 Mexico census Bert worked as a wood worker in a lumber
mill, married 22 years. The family lived on Main Street. Still
at home were sons, Paul A., age 18 and John A., age 8. Bert died
in 1952. He was buried at the Catholic St. Ann’s Cemetery in Mexico.
His wife Ellen, who died in 1943, was buried there also. None of
their children were interred there.
David’s son, Carl M. Rider,
born 9 July 1879 in Mexico, married Mary F. King, ca. 1912. In the Mexico
1910 census Carl, then 30 and single, lived with his mother, Mary Rider,
age 71. Mary stated she had given birth to 7 children with 6 still
living. The dead child referred to Lettie. By the 1920 Mexico
census Carl had been married for 8 years, but his wife was not listed.
He worked as a general machinist in a canning factory. By the 1930
Mexico census Carl, age 50, with his wife, Mary F., age 41, lived with
their son Francis E., age 5 months and Francis King, age 66, the father-in-law,
a laborer. They resided together on Baker Road. Mary died in 1947
while Carl died in 1964.
In the 1930 Rome, NY census
the family of Clarke Rider resided at 305 Oak. Clarke worked for
a mason. Married 2 years to Evelyn, age 28, they had a daughter of
one month named Patricia. Evelyn’s father was born in Berlin, Germany.
Bert’s son Paul A. married
Mila E. Trask who died 19 September 1987. Paul died later on 7 March
1998 while residing in Rome, NY.
Bert’s daughter Thelma Rider,
born in 1908 in Mexico, married Robert Edward Dewey from Saranac Lake,
NY. She died 7 April 1967 in Mattydale, NY. Robert died in
August 1972 near Syracuse, NY.
Special thanks are given to
Brenda Neuhauset for her extensive research on the Near/Neer family.
Consult http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/n/e/u/Brenda-L-Neuhauser website.
See the Genealogy Report: Descendants of Frantz Ludwig Naeher. Go
to #42 for the trail to investigate on the background of Hannah Near Rider.
SOURCES:
As The Near Family Grows.
Available [online] http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/n/e/u/Brenda-L-Neuhauser
[9 July 2003]
Barber, Gertrude A. Schoharie
County, N.Y. Cemetery Records. Typescript, 1932. (LDS microfilm #0908848,
item 1-6).
Cemetery Census of the Town
of Mexico, Oswego County, New York. Mexico: Mexico Historical Society,
1984.
NY. Adjutant General’s
Office. Index of Awards on Claims of the Soldiers of the War of 1812.
Albany: 1860.
NY. Oswego Co. Record
of Wills, V. K, p. 399.
NY. Schoharie Co. Wills,
v. A2, p. 239.
Oneida County, NY – 1998 Obituaries.
Available [online] https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyoneida/
[6 July 2003]
Radez, Beverly. A Brief
History of the Town of Summit. Available [online] https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ny
schoha/summit.html [7
July 2003]
Rider, Fremont. Preliminary
Materials For a Genealogy of the Rider (Ryder) Families. Middletown,
CT.: 1959.
Rider Family Genealogy Forum.
Available. [Online] http://genforum.genealogy.com
[4 July 2003]
Roscoe, William E. History
of Schoharie County. Tucson: Cox, 1974.
St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Redfield,
NY. Available [Online] https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/town/redfield/st.josephcem.html
[5 July 2003]
Shumway, Bonnie and others.
Mexico Memories. Mexico: Mexico Historical Society, 1987.
Simpson, Elizabeth M. Mexico:
Mother of Towns. Buffalo: Clement, 1949.
Social Security Death Index.
Available [online] http://ssdi.rootsweb.com
[6 July 2003]
U.S. Census Rome, Oneida
Co., NY 1930.
U.S. Census Mexico,
Oswego Co., NY 1840, 1850, 1860, 1880, 1910, 1920 & 1930.
U.S. Census Palermo,
Oswego Co., NY 1920 & 1930.
U.S. Census Summit,
Schoharie Co., NY 1820.
War of 1812 Service Records.
Available. [online] http:/www.ancestry.com
[6 July 2003]
White, Virgil D. Genealogical
Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files. Waynesboro: National Historical
Publishing, 1992.
Will of Howland Sherman.
Available. [online] https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyschoha/howlandsherman.html
[7 July 2003]
WorldConnect Project.
Available [online] http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com
[4 July 2003]