Individual Details

Of Melissa, Maxine Allen writes, "Melissa was married in New Brunswick to Joseph McCluskey, a cook on a ferry that ran between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They resided in the Saint John area, and all their children were born in New Brunswick.

"Melissa's brothers, Melbourne and Daniel Freeman Ryder were already in California in 1902 or 1903. They wrote glowing letters about California, and as it happened the McCluskey house and furnishings all burned, and it was just after this that they decided to come to California. A collection was taken by neighbors and enough money raised that the family could move west, where her sister Amy had moved. They were said to have been sorely disappointed with California, and would have liked to return to Canada, but had no money to do so."

They lived the rest of their lives in the heart of the agricultural flatlands of the San Joaquin Valley, in Hanford, near Fresno, CA.

References: Maxine Allen Descendancy chart.

Birth	30 Nov 1862
Marriage	17 Oct 1891	JOSEPH A. MCCLUSKEY
Death	2 Feb 1954	Lemoore, King's County, California
Burial		Mountainview Cemetery, Fresno, California

Spouse	JOSEPH A. MCCLUSKEY (1849 - 1924)
Child	WILLIAM MCCLUSKEY (1893 - 1975)
Child	GEORGE MCCLUSKEY (1895 - 1967)
Child	ARCHIBALD MERLE MCCLUSKEY (1897 - )
Child	JOHN MCCLUSKEY (1899 - )
Child	MARY MCCLUSKEY (1901 - )
Child	STEPHEN MCCLUSKEY (1904 - 1996)

Father	WILLIAM B. RYDER (1827 - )
Mother	CAROLINE CURRY (1829 - 1900)
Sibling	Living
Sibling	Living
Sibling	HENRY RYDER (1852 - )
Sibling	JAMES HULET RYDER (1855 - 1937)
Sibling	Living
Sibling	CHARLOTTE HANNAH RYDER (1858 - 1898)
Sibling	OLIVE MARTHA RYDER (1860 - 1901)
Sibling	Living
Sibling	MARY RYDER (1864 - )
Sibling	WILLIAM BRADFORD RYDER (1866 - 1948)
Sibling	MELBOURNE RYDER (1868 - 1923)
Sibling	DANIEL FREEMAN ARON RYDER (1870 - 1905)
Sibling	Living
Sibling	STEVEN RYDER (1871 - )
Sibling	ALICE LAVENIA RYDER (1873 - 1910)