Christopher Lister Riding Biography

Christopher Lister Riding

  Christoper Lister Riding

Birth: Feb. 10, 1816, England
Death: Nov. 28, 1887, Saint George, Washington County, Utah, USA



Mary Ann Hale


Married Mary Ann Hale, 5 Jan 1840, Burnley, Lancashire, England.
Children: Joseph E. Riding, Edwin Taylor Hale Riding, Thirza Hale Riding, Ellen Lister Hale Riding, Willard Riding, Thomas Edward Hale Riding, Alfred Hale Riding, Lister Hale Riding, Henry Hale Riding, Mary Eleanor Riding.



Eliza Adelaide Dolbell

  Married Eliza Adelaide Dolbell, 27 Feb 1857, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
Children: Moroni Alma Riding, Julia Adelaide Riding, Josephus Riding, George Kerry Riding, Heber Christopher Riding, Thrisia Riding, Abigail Riding, John Henry Riding, Franklin Dolbel Riding, Phillip Dolbell Riding, Clara Jane Riding, Ruth Riding, Christiana Dolbell Riding, Elizabeth Ann Riding.
Christopher Lister Riding was born on February 10, 1816, the son of Thomas Riding and Eleanor Lister.

The Riding's were of the sturdy middle class, Christopher's father being a baker by trade and owning his own shop. At an early age Christopher was apprenticed to a tinsmith to learn the trade. He was very apt at this work and was made a master mechanic before he was twenty-one years of age.

He married Mary Ann Hale, a girl born and raised in his own home town. The young couple heard the Gospel and were baptized February 14, 1840.

By 1847 the family had collected enough to come to the United States. They came as far as St. Louis, Missouri, where their lack of finance compelled them to stop. During this time Christopher worked at his trade. By the end of five years he had collected money enough to purchase a wagon, a yoke of oxen, two cows, and supplies enough to last his family in the journey across the plains.

When they arrived in Salt Lake City they were housed first in the little one-roomed log house which is was once in preservation on the Temple grounds. In this house, their fifth child, Taylor, was born. Soon Brother Riding bought a lot on the block where the Walker Bank stood. He erected a two-roomed adobe house. He found work plentiful in Salt Lake.

Christopher met and married his second wife, Miss Eliza Adelaide Dolbell, a French girl who had come to Utah with her mother. At the time of the move, Brother Riding took his families to Provo. Here he was called to the Dixie Mission, settling in Santa Clara in 1860. He lived there two years when all that he had was washed away by the "Big Flood." However, he had received a call to come to St. George, previous to this. He built a dug-out 12x15, thatched with a willow roof. This with one tent and a willow shed sheltered his two families. He was soon able to build a one-roomed adobe house and later a shop.

There was not enough business in St. George to provide him work, so he secured a little four-wheeled cart and an ox. He loaded his cart with tinware and tools and visited all the northern settlements as far north as Beaver, selling his wares and accepting flour, butter, potatoes, cheese, etc. Later he secured a horse for his cart, and continued his trips until he became a well-known figure throughout the southern part of the state.

He made his wares from waste cans, as it was difficult and expensive to ship in sheet tin. People saved empty cans and old metal ware of all kinds for him. His store of wares consisted of buckets, milk pans, tin cups and plates, bread cans, lamps, canteens, coffee pots, washboards, etc.

He was a master workman in every sense of the word. Some of his buckets and pans are still in use. The ball on the Temple and the one on the Tabernacle are his work, as is the metal work on all the public buildings of town erected before his death. He died after a brief illness of only six days.

Children:
Henry Hale Riding (1845 - 1900)
Alfred Hale Riding (1848 - 1921)
Edwin Taylor Hale Riding (1853 - 1911)
Thomas Edward Hale Riding (1856 - 1898)
Christiana Dolbell Riding Allphin (1857 - 1925)
Heber Christopher Riding (1859 - 1928)
Clara Jane Riding Higgins (1860 - 1943)
Philip Dolbell Riding (1862 - 1863)
Elizabeth Ann Riding Liston (1863 - 1945)
Julia Adelaide Riding (1867 - 1869)
Thrisia Riding (1869 - 1869)
John Henry Riding (1870 - 1948)
Franklin Dolbel Riding (1874 - 1952)
Josephus Riding (1876 - 1945)
Ruth Riding Bagshaw (1877 - 1930)
Moroni Alma Riding (1879 - 1880)

Spouses:
Mary Ann Hale Riding (1816 - 1875)
Eliza Adelaide Dolbell Riding (1834 - 1908)

Burial:
Saint George City Cemetery
Saint George, Washington County, Utah, USA
Plot: A_H_164_6
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Source:
Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=78173

Christopher Lister Riding

Christopher Lister Riding

Biography of Christopher Lister Riding.

Type of Pioneer: Early Pioneer


Pioneer's Name: Riding, Christopher Lister

Birth Place: Burnley, Lancaster, England
Date of Birth: Sat, 10 Feb, 1816
Date of Death: Tue, 29 Nov, 1887

Father: Thomas Riding abt 1781
Mother: Eleanor or Ellen Lister abt 1784
Spouse: Mary Ann Hale
Other Spouses: Eliza Adelaide Dolbell

Arrived in Utah: 1847

Education: Apprenticed to tinsmith
Profession: Tinsmith Master Mechanic

Authentic Mormon Pioneer: Yes


Excerpt from Pioneer Story


St George Temple July 1976

Christopher's skills were needed in St. George because the temple was under construction there and he was the only sheet metal worker in the Dixie mission at that time. However, there was not enough business in St. George to provide him work, so he secured a little four-wheeled cart and an ox. He loaded the cart with tin ware and tools and visited all the towns in southern Utah, exchanging his ware for flour, potatoes, butter, cheese, etc. He made most of his wares from waste cans as it was difficult to ship in sheet tin. People saved empty cans and metal ware of all kinds for him. His store of wares consisted of buckets, milk pans, tin cups and plates, lamps, canteens, coffee pots, wash boards, etc. The ball on the St. George temple and the one on the St. George tabernacle are Christopher Riding's work, as is the metal work on all the public buildings erected before his death. The tin-covered sphere on the temple remained until October 25, 1994, when it was replaced with a fiberglass model as part of a renovation project.
Christopher was a loyal member of the church although he was never active in public affairs due to the fact that his work kept him away a great deal of the time. He was a great reader, spending every evening in this way.

Full Pioneer Story

CHRISTOPHER LISTER RIDING, TINSMITH
Submitted By: Sydnee Halladay

Christopher Lister Riding was born February 10, 1816, in Burnley, Lancaster, England. At an early age Christopher was apprenticed to a tinsmith to learn the trade. He was very apt at this work and became a master mechanic before he was 21. He married Mary Ann Hale 1839. The young couple had heard of the gospel of Jesus Christ from the missionaries and were both baptized February 14, 1840.



Mary Ann Hale

Christopher had had previous training in the teachings of the Bible and was a great asset to the church. When a branch was organized he was set apart as presiding elder.
In 1847 the family had collected enough money and goods to come to the United States, a dream they had had ever since they joined the church. At that time they had two living children and had buried their first baby. Christopher brought quite a stock of sheet tin, sheet iron, copper, brass, wire solder and other things which he knew he could use. All of this was taken as ballast for the ship and did not cost anything for transporting it across the Atlantic Ocean to New Orleans.

From New Orleans, the family traveled up the Mississippi as far as St. Louis, where lack of finances compelled them to stop for five years. Christopher plied his trade as a tinsmith, opened a shop, and found a ready market for his wares.

Deuell Log House

When they first arrived in Salt Lake City, they were housed temporarily in the little one¬room log house which now sits beside the Family History Library. Christopher soon found plenty of work and was able to build an adobe house for his family, which now numbered five children.



Eliza Adelaide Dolbell

Eliza Adelaide Dolbell, a French girl, became Christopher's second wife. When a call came from the church to go to Dixie to settle, Christopher sold all his interests in Salt Lake for a couple of yoke of cattle and a wagon. He took both families, including Eliza's mother, and made the move South. He left his first wife in Cedar City and brought his second wife to Santa Clara where he proceeded to make a little home and farm.

Torrential rains washed everything away so he moved Eliza to St. George and brought his first wife down from Cedar City. He built a dugout with a thatched roof. This, with one tent and willow shed, sheltered his two families, which now included ten children. He soon was able to build an adobe house and a shop.

St George Tabernacle



St George Court House

Christopher's skills were needed in St. George because the temple was under construction there and he was the only sheet metal worker in the Dixie mission at that time. However, there was not enough business in St. George to provide him work, so he secured a little four-wheeled cart and an ox. He loaded the cart with tin ware and tools and visited all the towns in southern Utah, exchanging his ware for flour, potatoes, butter, cheese, etc. He made most of his wares from waste cans as it was difficult to ship in sheet tin. People saved empty cans and metal ware of all kinds for him. His store of wares consisted of buckets, milk pans, tin cups and plates, lamps, canteens, coffee pots, wash boards, etc. The ball on the St. George temple and the one on the St. George tabernacle are Christopher Riding's work, as is the metal work on all the public buildings erected before his death. The tin-covered sphere on the temple remained until October 25, 1994, when it was replaced with a fiberglass model as part of a renovation project.

Christopher was a loyal member of the church although he was never active in public affairs due to the fact that his work kept him away a great deal of the time. He was a great reader, spending every evening in this way.

Monument in St George Cemetery

 He died November 29, 1887, after an illness of only six days. He left eight children by his first wife and fourteen by his second.

Note: Posting on nFS says: "St. George cemetery records indicate he died of Pnenmonia. No birth or burriel date is listed. His grave is located at St. George cemetery,... Posted by TimBooth1"

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Sources:
Personal records
Virtues: Faith
Source: Sons of Utah Pioneers http://suplibrary.org/stories/detail.asp?id=220