Ella Gertrude (Ritchie) Keen (1868 - 1920)

Born 1 Oct 1868 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Richard Henry Keen — married 3 Nov 1892 (to before 1903) in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA

Descendants

Died 18 Dec 1920 at age 52 in Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bobbie Hall [send private message]

Biography

Ella Gertrude Ritchie was born in Boston on 01 October 1868, to James and Harriet (Lunt) Ritchie.^[1]
She was married in Boston on 03 November 1892 to Richard Henry Keen when she was age 22. ^[2] They had two children born in 1893 and 1897.
In 1898, not long after her second child was born, Ella was declared insane and incapable of caring for herself. Guardianship was appointed to her father, James A. Ritchie. She was divorced from her husband about 1903. She was a patient in the Danvers State Hospital from at least 1900 until 1920, when she died there of enteritis at age 51.^[3]
Stories passed down from a family member (now deceased) suggested that she had been in a TB Sanitorium. She is buried in Everett, MA, according to her death record.
Her children did not remain with their father, but were sent to board with a family named Barber in Townsend, MA. Her ex-husband remarried, and had two more children with his second wife. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ MA Birth Registration - Gertrude Ella Keen, (1868) Vol. 207:145, entry #7339, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts. "Gertrude Ella Ritchie, born 1 Oct 1868, at 141 Webster, Boston; father James A Ritchie, residence and birthplace Boston, occupation tollman; mother Harriet M---, residence Boston, birthplace Newburyport, MA."
2. ↑ Marriage Record of Richard H. Keen & Ella G. Richie: Vol. 426(1892):279, entry #5018, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts. "03 Nov 1892, Groom: Richard H. Keen, res. Boston, age 23, meatcutter, born Boston to Richard S. & Mary E., 1st marriage; Bride: Ella G. Richie, res. Boston, age 24, at home, born Boston to James & Harriet, 1st marriage; by W.H. Marshall, Boston."
3. ↑ MA Death Registration - Ella G. Keen, (1920) Vol. 21:235, Town of Danvers, Massachusetts. "Ella G. Keen, female, married, no spouse listed, aged 51 years 0m0d, residence East Boston, MA, occupation housewife, place of birth Boston, MA, father James A. Ritchie, birthplace unknown, mother Harriet M. Lunt, birthplace unknown, cause of death enteritis, place of disposition Everett, MA, date of record 3 Jan 1921."
4. ↑ Entered by Bobbie Hall, great-granddaughter, 20 Jul 2013