The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-03-16
CAPT. RITTENBERRY
At DEATHS DOOR
SURROUNDED BY MEMBERS OF
HIS FAMILY, THE GALLANT OLD
SOLDIER is PASSING AWAY.
MASON AND ODD FELLOW.

Surrounded by members of his family,
Captain l. ]. Rittenberry, a gallant ex-
Confederate soldier and one of the most
widely known and most highly esteemed
men In Tennessee and Alabama through
out the last forty years. lies at the point
of death at his home, No. 1905 Eleventh
avenue.
For more than year it had been known
that Captain Rittenberry's health was
failing, yet his kinsmen and friends, be-
guied by his genial temper and his dis
position not to emphasize his personal suf-
fering, little thought that his condition
was so serious. 1t was only last Satur-
day that he was down town, and at that
time friends of his were congratulating
him that he was wearing his more than
three score years and ten so graciously.
On the day following, however. his
strength failed emphaticaly,
An affection of the heart that had
troubled Captain Rittenberry for several
years and that had often made his family
keenly apprehensive of his condition, be-
came aggravated, and he was compelled
to remain in his room under constant
medical attention. In spite of all the pre-
cautions that loving friends could take and
of all the attention that skilled physicians
could give, 1t was recognized that life's
fitful fever would soon be over with the
gallant old soldier His condition grew
steadily worse, and at o'clock this MORN
ing all hope that he might be even tenn
porarily restored TO health was aban-
doned In the judgment of attending
physicians the end was hourly expected.
AT the Rittenberry home minstering
to him in his dying hours are his devoted
wife, Mrs. Mary e. Rittenberry; his two
1.,se Inn af,1 Nor
his three sons, Mack Rittenberry, the
warden of the city prison; DR.. Baxter
Rittenberry. DIR. Crockett Rittenberry,
and Alex Rittenberry, and his nephew,
Samuel Rittenberry. Throughout yester-
day many friends of the family who
had known the captain, made solctous
inquiries regarding his condition.
Captain Rittenberry was born seventy
two years ago in the old aristocratic
town of Warrenton, Warren county,
North Carolina While he was yet a child
his parents moved from North Carolina
to Tennessee and made their home in
what is now Maury county. There, and
il Giles county, Captain Rittenberry s
early manhood was passed. Like many
other North Carolina Scotch-Irish fami-
lies, his people were whigs-loyal fol-
levers of Henry Clay. AS a young man
he took an active interest in politics,
and stoutly opposed the secession move
ment. When, however, the attempt was
made by the north to coerce the south
he entered the Confederate army as a
private, served continuously for threc
years, rose to the rank of captain and
fell CALAMITY leading his brave Tennes-
scans, when Hood attacked the federals
a. Franklin. By these wounds he was
severely incapacitated for the rest of
his life. After the war he returned to
his old home and sought there to re-
build his war wasted fortunes.
In 1881 Captain Rittenberry came to
Birmingham where he has since been
an honored citizen in every relation Of
life. In fraternal circles In Alabama and
Tennessee he has taken high rank, being
especially prominent as a Mason and
Odd Fellow. The intelligence that he IS
at the point of death will awaken keen
and widespread regret in many circles
ir Tennessee and Alabama.