MANY HOURS OF RESEARCH have went into compiling this genealogical record of the Ritchey and Diehl families along with their inter-related family lines. I've tried to be as accurate as possible and have compiled many legitimate resources that have been published separately into one cohesive site, which is offered here.

Records that have been lost to memory or are long gone to the fate of history have been sought. Formal records over 300 years ago are very incomplete, and complicated by the fact that the colonists were emigrants from a number of different nations, with different languages and most of them with little or no formal education. Thus census and tax records may be incomplete or incorrect. The spellings of names may differ depending on the records, but may refer to the same family.

This venture started out as a curiosity around 1998 in order to try and find our Ritchey connections. From this research, I've included what I have found in Census data and published books to what has been contributed by many individuals that have contacted me.

My research and sources come from Census records which I've obtained directly from the Federal historical archives, obituaries, cemetery records and personal visits to record cemetery data, death certificates, and from ancestry.com. Some of the published materials include:

• The Inquirer Steam Printing Company, Bedford, PA, An Account of the Family Reunion of the Descendants of Samuel Diehl of Friend's Cove, Bedford County, PA held September 19, 1890 with a Genealogical Table of his decendants, Rec. Date: 19 Sep 1891
• Elias Henry Diehl, Diehl Families of America, History, Genealogy, Reminiscences, Etc., (E H Diehl-1915) (E H Diehl, Ipava, Illinois, February 22, 1915)
• Karen James, Elizabeth Ansbro & John William James, Ancestors, Siblings & Descendants (published winter 2003)
• Diehl Reunion Publication, Frank Diehl and His Descendants called "Jack" by his friends (Married to Martha Alice Knepper), September 2002
• Diehl Genealogy Publishing Committee, Genealogy of the Descendants of Samuel Diehl and Margaretha Ritchey his wife (Diehl Genealogy Publishing Committee, Copyright 1976 by N. Paul Bernhardt)
• Betty Jean (Taylor) Haneline, Tall, Straight & Proud, 200 years in the life of an American Family (Betty Jean (Taylor) Haneline, 2004)
• Goldie Turner May, The Descendants of a Hessian Soldier, Lorenzo Frederick Smith (Printed by BookCrafters, Inc., Fredericksburg, VA, ISBN 0-87813-138-8, Copyright 1994 Second Printing)
• Vergie Ruth Carr Lantz, The Descendants of Isaac Ritchie of Virginia (Bridewater Beacon Printing, Inc., Bridewater, Virginia, Copyright 1983)
• The Origins of the Judge, Glenn A. Ritchey, Jr. Family of Modesto, California - A Ritchey Family Ancestral Study (Donning Company Publishers, ISBN 978-1-57864-619-9, Copyright  2010 First Printing)
• Supplement and Update 2017 to The Origins of the Judge Glenn A. Ritchey Jr. Family of Modesto, California - A Ritchey Family Ancestral Study (Donning Company Publishers, ISBN 9781681841175, Copyright 2017)

Many individuals have contributed and continue to contribute to the ongoing and growing research. Some individuals that I would like to personally thank for their contributions are Michael Caldwell, Karen James, David Richey, Susan Powers, Barbara McMahon Lorenson, Larry Lee Stanley, Betty Jean Haneline, and Pat Ritchie.

But most of all I would like to thank my late father, Douglas McKinley Ritchey whom I dedicate this site. His love and support for our past and the continued pursuit to locate our ancestors and heritage was my driving force.