Born in the English village of Ashwell, Montgomery Harrison Wadsworth "Montie" Ritchie was the grandson of Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair, who founded the JA Ranch with her husband, John Adair, in Texas.
The ranch was started in 1877 by the Adairs and Col. Charles Goodnight. The ranch remains in the family today. It is located in three Texas counties: Armstrong, Briscoe and Donley.
John Adair died in 1885, and his wife, Cornelia, inherited his portion of the ranch. She became the sole owner of the ranch in 1888, after Goodnight chose to end their partnership. She died in 1921.
Ritchie, the eldest son of the eldest son, was in line to inherit the JA Ranch. After graduating Cambridge University in 1931, he visited the ranch for the first time. By 1935, he directed the ranch's management along with his brother, Richard Morgan Wadsworth "Dick" Ritchie, and sister, Gabrielle M. Ritchie Keiller. Dick Ritchie died in 1941. Gabrielle became a British citizen and elected to sell her interests in the JA.
Because he had a dual citizenship, when World War II began, he declared himself a United States citizen and joined the Navy Reserve as an aviator and held the rank of lieutenant commander. He piloted his own aircraft well into his 70s.
During the war, he married Elizabeth Barrell of Boston, who died when their only daughter was a child.
Ritchie spent the following decade consolidating the ranchland under one fence. A number of enhancements are credited to his ranching ingenuity over the years.
He was a director of the Continental Bank in Fort Worth and was elected a director of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 1947. He was named an honorary vice president of the TSCRA in 1995, a prestigious title to which few are elevated.
He was an avid sportsman and mountaineer, acting as photographer on the 1949 expedition to the Baffin Islands. He had been a member of the British Alpine Club since 1934.
He and his wife, Hildegard "Hildy" Neill, also owned a ranch in Larkspur, Colo. She died in 1992.
The uniqueness of the JA Ranch is that its success did not involve oil or gas.
Ritchie retired as active ranch president in 1993 turning control over to his daughter, Ninia Ritchie Bivins, and her managing partner, Jay O'Brien.
Ritchie was an avid photographer and artist. He began collecting French impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the 1940s. Since 1990, Ritchie was a lifetime member of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., where much of his collection of impressionist art was on loan. In 1992, he donated 75 percent of his collection to the museum. The collection included works by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Redon, Bonnard and Vuillard.
The American Quarter Horse Association honored Ritchie in 1997 with one of its first Legacy Awards. This award recognizes breeders who have provided a foundation for the quarter horse industry. The JA Ranch has bred quarterhorses since the 1930s and present-day stock traces its pedigrees back to those first horses.
Ritchie also was known for his dedication to preserving ranching history for posterity. In 1972 and 1988, he made donations to the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.
The ranch was started in 1877 by the Adairs and Col. Charles Goodnight. The ranch remains in the family today. It is located in three Texas counties: Armstrong, Briscoe and Donley.
John Adair died in 1885, and his wife, Cornelia, inherited his portion of the ranch. She became the sole owner of the ranch in 1888, after Goodnight chose to end their partnership. She died in 1921.
Ritchie, the eldest son of the eldest son, was in line to inherit the JA Ranch. After graduating Cambridge University in 1931, he visited the ranch for the first time. By 1935, he directed the ranch's management along with his brother, Richard Morgan Wadsworth "Dick" Ritchie, and sister, Gabrielle M. Ritchie Keiller. Dick Ritchie died in 1941. Gabrielle became a British citizen and elected to sell her interests in the JA.
Because he had a dual citizenship, when World War II began, he declared himself a United States citizen and joined the Navy Reserve as an aviator and held the rank of lieutenant commander. He piloted his own aircraft well into his 70s.
During the war, he married Elizabeth Barrell of Boston, who died when their only daughter was a child.
Ritchie spent the following decade consolidating the ranchland under one fence. A number of enhancements are credited to his ranching ingenuity over the years.
He was a director of the Continental Bank in Fort Worth and was elected a director of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 1947. He was named an honorary vice president of the TSCRA in 1995, a prestigious title to which few are elevated.
He was an avid sportsman and mountaineer, acting as photographer on the 1949 expedition to the Baffin Islands. He had been a member of the British Alpine Club since 1934.
He and his wife, Hildegard "Hildy" Neill, also owned a ranch in Larkspur, Colo. She died in 1992.
The uniqueness of the JA Ranch is that its success did not involve oil or gas.
Ritchie retired as active ranch president in 1993 turning control over to his daughter, Ninia Ritchie Bivins, and her managing partner, Jay O'Brien.
Ritchie was an avid photographer and artist. He began collecting French impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the 1940s. Since 1990, Ritchie was a lifetime member of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., where much of his collection of impressionist art was on loan. In 1992, he donated 75 percent of his collection to the museum. The collection included works by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Redon, Bonnard and Vuillard.
The American Quarter Horse Association honored Ritchie in 1997 with one of its first Legacy Awards. This award recognizes breeders who have provided a foundation for the quarter horse industry. The JA Ranch has bred quarterhorses since the 1930s and present-day stock traces its pedigrees back to those first horses.
Ritchie also was known for his dedication to preserving ranching history for posterity. In 1972 and 1988, he made donations to the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.
Born in the English village of Ashwell, Montgomery Harrison Wadsworth "Montie" Ritchie was the grandson of Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair, who founded the JA Ranch with her husband, John Adair, in Texas.
The ranch was started in 1877 by the Adairs and Col. Charles Goodnight. The ranch remains in the family today. It is located in three Texas counties: Armstrong, Briscoe and Donley.
John Adair died in 1885, and his wife, Cornelia, inherited his portion of the ranch. She became the sole owner of the ranch in 1888, after Goodnight chose to end their partnership. She died in 1921.
Ritchie, the eldest son of the eldest son, was in line to inherit the JA Ranch. After graduating Cambridge University in 1931, he visited the ranch for the first time. By 1935, he directed the ranch's management along with his brother, Richard Morgan Wadsworth "Dick" Ritchie, and sister, Gabrielle M. Ritchie Keiller. Dick Ritchie died in 1941. Gabrielle became a British citizen and elected to sell her interests in the JA.
Because he had a dual citizenship, when World War II began, he declared himself a United States citizen and joined the Navy Reserve as an aviator and held the rank of lieutenant commander. He piloted his own aircraft well into his 70s.
During the war, he married Elizabeth Barrell of Boston, who died when their only daughter was a child.
Ritchie spent the following decade consolidating the ranchland under one fence. A number of enhancements are credited to his ranching ingenuity over the years.
He was a director of the Continental Bank in Fort Worth and was elected a director of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 1947. He was named an honorary vice president of the TSCRA in 1995, a prestigious title to which few are elevated.
He was an avid sportsman and mountaineer, acting as photographer on the 1949 expedition to the Baffin Islands. He had been a member of the British Alpine Club since 1934.
He and his wife, Hildegard "Hildy" Neill, also owned a ranch in Larkspur, Colo. She died in 1992.
The uniqueness of the JA Ranch is that its success did not involve oil or gas.
Ritchie retired as active ranch president in 1993 turning control over to his daughter, Ninia Ritchie Bivins, and her managing partner, Jay O'Brien.
Ritchie was an avid photographer and artist. He began collecting French impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the 1940s. Since 1990, Ritchie was a lifetime member of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., where much of his collection of impressionist art was on loan. In 1992, he donated 75 percent of his collection to the museum. The collection included works by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Redon, Bonnard and Vuillard.
The American Quarter Horse Association honored Ritchie in 1997 with one of its first Legacy Awards. This award recognizes breeders who have provided a foundation for the quarter horse industry. The JA Ranch has bred quarterhorses since the 1930s and present-day stock traces its pedigrees back to those first horses.
Ritchie also was known for his dedication to preserving ranching history for posterity. In 1972 and 1988, he made donations to the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.
The ranch was started in 1877 by the Adairs and Col. Charles Goodnight. The ranch remains in the family today. It is located in three Texas counties: Armstrong, Briscoe and Donley.
John Adair died in 1885, and his wife, Cornelia, inherited his portion of the ranch. She became the sole owner of the ranch in 1888, after Goodnight chose to end their partnership. She died in 1921.
Ritchie, the eldest son of the eldest son, was in line to inherit the JA Ranch. After graduating Cambridge University in 1931, he visited the ranch for the first time. By 1935, he directed the ranch's management along with his brother, Richard Morgan Wadsworth "Dick" Ritchie, and sister, Gabrielle M. Ritchie Keiller. Dick Ritchie died in 1941. Gabrielle became a British citizen and elected to sell her interests in the JA.
Because he had a dual citizenship, when World War II began, he declared himself a United States citizen and joined the Navy Reserve as an aviator and held the rank of lieutenant commander. He piloted his own aircraft well into his 70s.
During the war, he married Elizabeth Barrell of Boston, who died when their only daughter was a child.
Ritchie spent the following decade consolidating the ranchland under one fence. A number of enhancements are credited to his ranching ingenuity over the years.
He was a director of the Continental Bank in Fort Worth and was elected a director of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 1947. He was named an honorary vice president of the TSCRA in 1995, a prestigious title to which few are elevated.
He was an avid sportsman and mountaineer, acting as photographer on the 1949 expedition to the Baffin Islands. He had been a member of the British Alpine Club since 1934.
He and his wife, Hildegard "Hildy" Neill, also owned a ranch in Larkspur, Colo. She died in 1992.
The uniqueness of the JA Ranch is that its success did not involve oil or gas.
Ritchie retired as active ranch president in 1993 turning control over to his daughter, Ninia Ritchie Bivins, and her managing partner, Jay O'Brien.
Ritchie was an avid photographer and artist. He began collecting French impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the 1940s. Since 1990, Ritchie was a lifetime member of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., where much of his collection of impressionist art was on loan. In 1992, he donated 75 percent of his collection to the museum. The collection included works by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Redon, Bonnard and Vuillard.
The American Quarter Horse Association honored Ritchie in 1997 with one of its first Legacy Awards. This award recognizes breeders who have provided a foundation for the quarter horse industry. The JA Ranch has bred quarterhorses since the 1930s and present-day stock traces its pedigrees back to those first horses.
Ritchie also was known for his dedication to preserving ranching history for posterity. In 1972 and 1988, he made donations to the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.
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