[p. 743] whose fine farm of 210 acres is situated in Little Beaver Township, is one of the leading men of this section, in which he has resided since 1876. He was born on a farm in Plump [sic] Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1844, and is a son of Samuel Lock and Mary Ann (Shroder) Riddle.
Samuel Lock Riddle was born at Pittsburg, June 15, 1814, and was a son of Charles Riddle, who was a settler where Pittsburg now stands when all that great iron city had not been thought of, deer running through the forests so near to the Riddle home that Samuel frequently shot them. In his younger days, Samuel Riddle followed farming and butchering, living in Allegheny County, but in 1854 he moved to Butler County, where he bought a farm for $3,000, which proved immensely valuable on account of oil being discovered there. This brought Samuel L. Riddle an ample fortune. He lived in retirement for a number of years and died in 1895, at Oakmont, Pa. He was married in 1835 at Pittsburg, to Mary Ann Shroder, and they had nine children, namely: Margaret, who is the wife of Robert Kinkaid; W. H. H., who is a lawyer, residing at Butler; Samuel L., and O. I., the latter a prominent farmer of Little Beaver Township, and five who died young.
Samuel L. Riddle accompanied his parents to Butler County and worked in the oil fields and also at farming. In 1864, Mr. Riddle enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering Company B, Fiftieth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. Frank H. Barnhardt, and was mustered out of the army June 12, 1865. In the interim he had seen hard service and participated in the battles of Hatcher's Run, Fort Steadman and Petersburg. He was never wounded or taken prisoner and after the close of the war returned home and resumed peaceful pursuits. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. On March 24, 1876, Mr. Riddle came to Lawrence County and settled on his present farm, making all the excellent improvements on the place.
On April 17, 1865, Mr. Riddle was married in Butler County to Eliza Jane McClymans, who was born in 1847 and died in 1892. Three of their fifteen children died young, but twelve reached mature years, as follows: Laura, who is the wife of Elmer E. Hohnoddle; Myron O.; Harriet Dilla, who is the wife of James E. Pollyblank; Hugh A.; Ada, who is the wife of Charles Morrow; Dora A., who is the wife of Harry Scholl; Mary, who is the wife of Milton Wolfe; Anna, who is the wife of P. M. Bonnett; Lucy A., who is the wife of Delmar Duncan; Charles, who died aged twenty-one years; and Samuel R. Earl C.
Mr. Riddle is a stockholder in the Mt. Air Telephone Company and is a director of the Darlington Foundry Company. In politics he is an active Republican and has served in local offices, three terms as township supervisor and also as judge of elections. He belongs to the order of Knights of Pythias.
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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