Thomas Ritchie (1778–1854)
Thomas Ritchie was born on 5 November 1778 in Tappahannock, Virginia. He read law and studied medicine before purchasing the Richmond Examiner in 1804. For the next four decades Ritchie was the publisher and editor of the renamed Enquirer, promoting public schools and state internal improvements while aligning with Martin Van Buren.
"Thomas Ritchie." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310004679/UHIC?u=viva_uva&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=783f8cb3. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
"Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Ritchie, 22 May 1809," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0179. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 214.]
Charles Henry Ambler, Thomas Ritchie: a Study in Virginia Politics (Richmond: Bell Book & Stationery Co., 1913).
"Richmond Enquirer (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867," Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
Richmond Dispatch, 4 July 1854, page 2, column 1 (Newspapers.com).
Thomas Ritchie at Find a Grave.
Thomas Ritchie at FamilySearch.