Browse Items (51 total)
- Collection: Lemon Family Collection
Sort by:
Items open in a separate tab. Close the tab to return to this list.
Josepha Costancia Philips Ridley
Address: Washington, D.C.
Date: 1889 ca.
Portrait when she was about age 18. She was born in St. Croix to a local laundress and George A. Philips, a wealthy white New Yorker who owned businesses and plantations in the West Indies. She was educated and cared for in St. Croix while her father…
Cornelius Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: not known
Born a slave on Bonnie Doon Plantation in Southampton County, Virginia, he lived from 1839-1922. His father, Col. Thomas Ridley III, owned the plantation. Cornelius never knew his mother, and he ran away by himself in the spring of 1861. He made his…
Martha Jane Parham Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: not known
She rejoined her husband Cornelius Ridley in Media after escaping from Virginia in 1864.
Cornelius and Martha Jane Ridley, Marriage certificate
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: 1883/02/17
The two remarried on February 17, 1883 in Media, as their slave marriage in Virginia did not have legal status.
Cornelius Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: not known
Pictured here driving a mule-drawn delivery wagon for Hawley and Snowden's hardware store on State Street.
Cornelius and Martha Jane Ridley's house
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: not known
They purchased their home at 308 North Olive Street in 1872, 10 years or so after escaping Virginia. Their descendants continued to live in the house until about 1972, when it was sold and torn down.
Children of Cornelius and Martha Jane Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: not known
Birth records from the Ridley family bible, with information about George Washington Ridley, Rachel Ann Ridley, William Henry Ridley, Rosa Ann Ridley, and Bessie L. Nicholson.
Children of Cornelius and Martha Jane Ridley, and others
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: not known
Birth records from family bible, with information about George Washington Ridley, Rachel Ann Ridley, William Henry Ridley, Rosa Ann Ridley, Bessie L. Nicholson, Alma Ridley White, Maud Ray Ridley, Everett Cornelius White, Casper Miller White, Swithin…
George Washington Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: 1890 ca.
Pictured with son Eddie and daughter Lily. George escaped slavery as a child with his mother, Martha Jane Parham, his sister Rachel, and his uncle, Andison Parham.
William H. Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: 1935 ca.
He lived from 1867 to 1945. He was the first child born to Martha Jane and Cornelius Ridley in Media.
William H. Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: 1895 ca.
Shown here in the Recorder of Deeds office at the Delaware County Court House, Media, Pa.
William H. Ridley
Address: Media (Pa.)
Date: 1891 ca.
In this group photograph of members of the Delaware County Bar Association, William H. Ridley is in the second row, 5th from left.
George A. Philips
Address: not known
Date: not known
Josepha Philips's father was a white New Yorker with businesses in Saint Croix.
Colored Officers Training Program
Address: Fort Des Moines (Iowa)
Date: 1917 ca.
Photographed at the Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School.
William H. Ridley
Address: Fort Des Moines (Iowa)
Date: 1917 ca.
Three smiling soldiers in a field.Ridley, in the middle, holds a rifle.
William H. Ridley
Address: Fort Des Moines (Iowa)
Date: 1917 ca.
In this group of soldiers, Ridley is in the center of the front row.
