Ricketts is also spelled Rickeots, Rickeotts, Rickett, Rickets, Ricket, Rickel, Rickle, Rickels, and
Rickles.
The first Europeans settled in the Northwest Territory in 1788. Migrants came from New York and New England. Ohio was admitted to the Union as the 17th state on March 1, 1803.
Illinoisbecame a state in 1818. A large influx of American settlers came in the 1810s by the Ohio River.
Harriet Dean Ricketts was born on June 27, 1813 in Ohio. According to the 1900 census, her father's birthplace was not known and her mother was born in Pennsylvania.
In 1830 there were four Dean families in Dearborn. Enoch, George, and Noah were in Sparta and John was in Manchester.
She married William Ricketts on February 7, 1832 in Dearborn County (now Ohio), Indiana. Their children and life together are described in detail in the section on William and Elizabeth Ricketts.
In 1880, 62 year old Harriet was living with her son Garrett and his two year old son, Charles L. in Clayton, Woodford County, Illinois.
At the time of the 1900, census she was living in Eureka with her son, Samuel Ricketts, and daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Hardin Edwards. She had given birth to 10 children, 6 of whom were alive.
She died on September 28, 1900 in Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois.
Mrs. Harriett Ricketts died at her home in this city, Friday, September 28, after a long illness. She was born June 27, 1813, and had lived a life of great usefulness. The funeral services were held at the house Sunday morning at 10 o'clock and were conducted by Elder Haynes, the interment being in the cemetery north of Washington.
She was buried with William at Old Washington Cemetery in Tazewell County, Illinois also called Old Glendale Cemetery. It is at the southern end of Market Street.
Woodford County, Illinois was formed in 1841 from parts of Tazewell and McLean Counties. Metamora (Hanover before 1845) was the county seat from 1843-1894.
Women played an essential role in American society as mothers and homemakers.
Tazewell County, Illinois was formed out of Peoria County in 1827.
Minonk News Dispatch 4 October 1900
Mrs Harriet (Dean) Ricketts died at her home in Eureka, Sept 28, 1900. The deceased, whose maiden name was Dean, was born near Aberdeen, Ohio, June 27, 1813. She removed with her parents to Dearborn Co, Indiana. On Feb. 27, 1831, she was united in marriage with Wm. Ricketts. They came to Woodford county in [illegible] and lived here until 1866 when they moved to Madison Co., Ill., remaining there until 1876, then came back to Woodford county.
There were ten children born to them, six of whom are living—Garret and George, in Eureka;
Jack, in Peoria;
Samuel. In Benson;
Sarah Edwards, in Toronto, Mo;
Amanda Kent, in Chillicothe, Ill.
Mrs Ricketts has lived in Eureka for over 25 years. The funeral services were held Sunday, Sept. 30, and the remains laid to rest by the side of her husband in Washington, Illinois.Â
