[p. 794] president and manager of the Enon Valley Telephone Company, and owner of 500 acres of fine farming land in Little Beaver Township, is a prominent citizen of this section, and is identified with other business interests in western Pennsylvania. He was born September 15, 1848, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Samuel Lock and Mary Ann (Shroder) Riddle.
Samuel Lock Riddle, was born at Pittsburg, Pa., on Squirrel Hill, in 1814. He, had one brother, John, and one sister Jane, the latter of whom married a Mr. Howard, and all are deceased. The father of Samuel Lock died when he was small, and as he was the youngest, he remained with his mother. The latter lived many years longer, dying at the home of her son John, in Butler County, when aged eighty-six years. Samuel was given his middle name from his mother's family. In his earlier years he followed farming and butchering. In 1854 he purchased a farm for which he paid $3,000, which was then considered a large price, but as oil was later found on the land, his investment proved a very good one and enabled him to retire, in 1865, possessed of a large fortune. He died at Oakmont, Pa., in 1895. He married Mary Ann Shroder, at Pittsburg, in 1835. She was born in 1815 and died in 1897. They had nine children, namely: Margaret, who is the wife of Robert Kincaid residing in Illinois; William, an attorney, who resides at Butler, Pa.; Samuel L., who lives in Lawrence County; Overington I., and five who died young.
Overington I. Riddle spent his boyhood on the home farm. In 1854 he went to Butler County and for a number of years worked in the oil fields after this valuable product was discovered on his father's land. He continued to reside in Butler County until 1878, when his father bought him two of his farms in Lawrence County, and to those tracts Mr. Riddle added, until he now owns 500 acres. He carries on general farming, having his whole estate under cultivation. In addition to his agricultural interests, Mr. Riddle is one of the progressive men of his community, who can successfully co-operate with other leading men in local enterprises of a more or less public character, without interfering with his main business. In 1906, when the Enon Valley Telephone Company was organized, he was elected president and manager, and has continued at the head of this corporation ever since. He is also president of the Southern Avenue Land Company, of Pittsburg, has stock in the Union National Bank at Pittsburg, and is on the directing board of other enterprises.
In 1854, Mr. Riddle was married in Butler County to Anna Eliza Campbell, who is a daughter of Andrew Campbell, and they have the following children: Harry, John, Emma, Samuel, Margaret, Minnie and Ode. Emma is the wife of Charles Bower. Minnie is the wife of John B. Duncan. Mr. Riddle is a stanch Republican. He has served as a school director for twenty-two years, and at present is the able president of the School Board. The Riddle family is a numerous and prominent one in this section, one of ample means, fine business qualities and of excellent citizenship wherever found.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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