The problem with James Ryder or Rider is that he was about the most secretive of the guerrilla leaders--next to "General Crabtree" of Cole and Miller Counties. Crabtree gets the prize, but Jim Ryder is right behind him.
Jim Ryder's guerrilla career covers mostly Carroll, Livingston, and Saline Counties. That being said, Ryder MAY have been in Quantrill's band early in the war, and he was definitely a member of Clifton Holtzclaw's band in Chariton, Randolph, and Howard Counties, too.
His background is mixed with the Ryders or Riders of Jackson County, but I personally think Mart Rider is a cousin and not a brother. If somebody will look up the 1850 census of Saline County, they can solve that part of the mystery for sure, because I didn't copy enough of it to see who James' younger siblings were years ago when I was looking at it. The Saline County 1850 census shows as household 218 with head of household George Ryder age 47, farmer, born Virginia with wife Anna E. age 35 born in North Carolina. The only children I wrote down were Thomas 21 born TN, John age 15 born Tn, and James 13 born Missouri. I noted "many other Ryder children different ages," and now wish I had written them all down. See next two paragraphs.
Yes, Larry Wood in "Other Noted Guerrillas of the Civil War in Missouri" 2007 by Hickory Press in Joplin on page 108 refers to a "Carrollton Democrat" November 1863 article that said several armed men including Jim Ryder made a rural family feed them in Carroll County. Wood wrote "this was probably a reference to Martin Rider's brother James." On page 107 Wood wrote regarding Martin Rider that his parents were George and Alsa Bush Rider married 1824 who moved to MO about 1835 from Sumner County, TN.
Switching to Joseph K Houts, Jr.'s 2002 "Quantrill's Thieves" by Truman Publishing Company of Kansas City on page 192 and 192 talking about J. W. Rider or John Winiard Rider and his dad George who were members of Quantrill's band in 1862 that George W. Rider was born 16 May 1807 in KY and that 3 July 1824 married Alisa Bush and they had eight kids: William E., Eliza Jane, Miley "Milly", Samuel B., John Winiard, Oliver J., and Elizabeth. Author Houts wrote that George in 1860 was a farmer who owned three slaves and lived near Morgan Walker in Jackson County. Notice that neither Mart nor James are mentioned in this account. Both George and a J. W. Rider were on the famous roster that Yanks found in the summer of 1862. Houts seemed to think the J. W. Rider was John Winiard Rider, and that may be perfectly true.
Could the George Rider who in 1860 was in Jackson County be the same man the 1850 census listed in Saline County? Possibly.
Now, for James Rider or Ryder's war record as near as I can figure it.
I first found him in Joseph Kirk's guerrilla band in Livingston County in Williams' 1915 "History of NW Missouri, page 563 and in Eakin and Hale's 1993 "Branded As Rebels" on page 381. Some of Jim Ryder's hi-jenks during summer, 13 September, and November 1862 are mentioned in the 1911 Carroll County history on pages 267-9 since Jim Ryder working with Confederate Captain Logan Ballew had experiences there and leading his own guerrillas there, too.
That same county history and the Jefferson City "MO State Times" of 31 January 1863 and the St. Louis "Daily MO Democrat" of 24 Jan 1863 as well as Joanne Eakin's "Missouri POWs" said on 16 January 1863 in Saline County local militia captured "Captain James William Ryder and another man who also had 29 letters from Carroll County southern families addressed to their male relatives away in the Confederate army. The Federals sent James Ryder to Gratiot Street Prison.
James and six other POWs (including CPT Miles Price, James F. Wilhite) broke out of Gratiot Street by overwhelming he guards with bricks on 23 July 1863.
I'm not sure, but I think James Ryder joined Holtzclaw's Howard County guerrilla band that summer for a while.
In November 1863 Jim Ryder with a few men raided Linneus, Linn County. Locals recognized Jim who lived in town there not long before.
In May 1864 with Charley Turpin or Burton Jim Ryder with 12 men were active in north Carroll County (1911 Carroll County history)
On 10 October 1864 (during Price's raid) Ryder with 100 men (recruits for Price?) briefly occupied Brunswick on the MO River in south Chariton County (O.R.vol. 41, part 1, 530, 921, 923).
On 17 October 1864 Jim Ryder was present when a combined regular Confederate command with guerrillas captured Carrollton and the EMM garrison (O.R., vol. 41, part 4, p. 90).
Later in October 1864 Ryder was supposed to be in Linn County (O.R. vol. 41, part 4, 139, 188.)
During November 1864 Ryder and his own guerrilla band were reported in Howard, Carroll, and Chariton Counties, and then went south and made a base in north Saline County. (O.R., Vol. 41, part 4, p. 566, 607).
For most of the winter Jim Ryder with about a dozen riders (pun not intended) based in an island in the Missouri River near Waverly (History Linn County 1912, p. 75; History Linn County, 1882, 394-6, 470-1) I gather from the Linn County history report that Ryder may have had some Linn County guerrillas with him in fall of 1864 and winter of 64-5.
On 9 January 1865 Ryder's and band raided Linneus again, mortally wounding the circuit judge (History Linn County, 1882 and "Lazear Letters" "Missouri Historical Review" October 1950, page 60.
On 24 May 1865 Bill Jackson, Jim Ryder, and a Finley and four other guerrillas were seen riding near Boonsboro, SW Howard County (O.R. vol.. 48, part 1, p. 290). This means that Ryder was resisting turning himself in at Gen. Dodge's very humane surrender terms open to all MO guerrillas at this time.
ON 27 May 1865 Ryder's band at night at Switzler's Mills east Chariton County fought with local citizen guards and one guerrilla drowned tryting to swim out of the mill pond after his horse died in the water from gunshots. (O.R.vol. 48, part 1, 297).
I have no idea what happened to Jim Ryder after May 1865, and would love to know what became of him.
If Jim Ryder surrendered in May 1865 when so many others did, I have not seen mention of his name in the lists.
The strangest story of Jim Ryder in the war is included in large numbers of Provost Marshal records available online from the MO Secy of State's Office. The "Blue and Grey Chronicle" of Independence ran a fascinating artilce 5 June 2006 written by Wayne Schnetzer "Tribulations of a Bushwhacker's Wife" in the words of Jim's new wife Talitha Alice Rider in a statement to PM office 9 March 1865 in which she complained that this Livingston County woman who married Jim 6 October 1860 during the war was made to move from one dwelling to another and escorted by a dizzying variety of Jim's friends and guerrillas for occasional and rare meetings with her husband. Talitha complained to the PM's office that she was fed up with this secretive always moving life and wehn captured in Chilicothe, Livingston County seat, had just filed for divorce from Jim. I wonder if this was just her way of preventing the PM from sending her to prison. She lists lots of names in her statement.
If anyone gets that 1850 census report of George Ryder's Saline County census report, I would like to know the names, ages, and state of birth of ALL the children to repair my earlier mistake in not recording them before.
Bruce Nichols