in 937, is stated to have granted to the monastery sanctuary, freedom from toll and taxes, and the privilege of holding a court, although both charters attributed to him are known to be spurious. At the same time he is said to have given the manor to Wulfstan, archbishop of York. About 950 the monastery and town were destroyed by King Edred during his expedition against the Danes, but the monastery was rebuilt by the archbishops of York, and about the time of the Conquest' was changed to a collegiate church. In 1318, when the Scots invaded England, Ripon only escaped being burnt a second time by the payment of 1000 marks. ' The custom of blowing the wakeman's horn every night at nine o'clock is said to have originated about A.D. 700. It was probably at first a means of calling the people together in case of a. sudden invasion, but was afterwardsra signal for setting the Watch. A horn with a baldric and the motto “Except the, Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain ” forms the mayor.'s badge. The archbishops of York as lords of theimanor had Various privileges in the town, among which were the right of holding a market and fair, ' and Archbishop John, being, summoned in the reign of Henry I. to answer by what right he claimed these privileges, said that he held them by prescription and by the charter of King /Ethelstan. Henry I. afterwards granted or confirmed to Archbishop Thomas a fair on the feast of St Wilfrid and four following days. The fairs and markets belonged to the archbishops of 'York until they were transferred to the bishop of Ripon in 1837. In 1857 they were transferred to the ecclesiastical commissioners, from whom they were purchased by the corporation of Ripon in 1880. From before the Conquest until the incorporation charter of 1604 Ripon was governed by a Wakeman and 12 elders, or aldermen, but in 1604 the title of Wakeman was changed to mayor, and I2 aldermen and 24 common councilmen were appointed. The manufacture of cloth was at one time carried on in Ripon, but was almost lost in the 16th century when the townwas visited by Leland. The making of spurs succeeded the cloth manufacture and became so noted that the saying “ as true as Ripon rowells ” was a well-known proverb. This manufacture died out in the 18th century. Ripon was summoned to send two members to parliament in 1295, and occasionally from that time until 1328-29. The privilege was revived in 1553, after which the burgesses continued to send two members until 1867, when they were allowed only one. This latter privilege was taken away by the Redistribution Bill of 1885, and it now gives its name to one of the divisions of the county. See Victoria County History, Yorkshire; and W. Harrison, Ripon. Millenary a Record of the Festival and a History of the City, arranged under its Wakemen and Mayors from the year 1400 (1892).
RIPON, a city of Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, U.S.A.,
on Silver Creek, about 22 m. W. of Fond du Lac, and about
75 m. N.W. of Milwaukee. Pop. (1890), 3358; (1900), 3818,
of whom 885 were foreign-born; (1905), 3811; (1910), 3739.
Ripon is served by the Chicago & North-Western, and the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul railways. The city has a
Carnegie library, which also houses the library of the Ripon
Historical Society, and is the seat of Ripon College (non-sectarian,
co-educational), which was founded in 1850 as the
Lyceum of Ripon, and was named Ripon College in 1864;
in 1908 it had 23 instructors and 279 students. There are
grain elevators and various manufactories, among the products
of which are cheese and other creamery products, flour, knit
goods, pickles and canned goods, woodenware, washing machines
and gloves.
The site of Ripon was purchased in 1838 by John Scott Horner (1802-1883), of Virginia, secretary and acting-governor of Michigan Territory in 1835, and the first secretary of Wisconsin Territory in 1836-37, who named the village when it was established in 1849 from the seat of his ancestors in Yorkshire. In May 1844 a settlement, named Ceresco or “the Wisconsin Phalanx,” a Fourierist community,[1] organized in Southport (now Kenosha), had been established in the vicinity. A “Long House,” 400 ft. in length, was erected, which contained tenements, an amusement or lecture hall, and a dining-room where all ate at a common table, and where board was provided at cost, sometimes as low as sixty-three cents per week. The “class of usefulness” was divided into three groups, agricultural, mechanical and educational, with such subdivisions as necessity dictated, and an exact account of labour was kept. The community prospered materially from the start. In the second season it consisted of thirty families with property valued at $27,725; in 1846 there were 180 resident members, and the net profit for the year was $9029. Eventually differences of opinion arose as to the division of labour, and the common dining-hall did not prove popular. Rivalry developed with the village of Ripon, and the community gave up its charter at the close of 1850, dividing property valued at $40,000 among the shareholders. On the whole it was one of the most successful experiments in communism ever tried in America. In 1858 Ripon absorbed the village of Ceresco and was chartered as a city. At Ripon started one of the disconnected movements that resulted in the founding of the Republican party.
See D. P. Mapes, History of Ripon (Milwaukee, Wis., 1873); Consul W. Butterfield, History of Fond du Lac County (1880); W. A. Hinds, American Communities and Co-operative Colonies (3rd ed., Chicago, 1908), and F. A. Flower, History of the Republican Party (1884).
RIPPERDA, JOHN WILLIAM, Baron, and afterwards duke of (1680-1737), political adventurer and Spanish minister, was a native of Groningen in the Netherlands. According to a story which he himself set going during his adventures in Spain, his family was of Spanish origin. But there does not appear to be any foundation for this assertion. The name was not uncommon in Groningen, and was borne by several persons of some note in the 16th and 17th centuries, one of whom was a follower of William the Silent. They were people of some position, possessing “lordships” at Jansinia, Poëlgast, and other places, and some at least of them were Roman Catholics. John William, if he was, as he asserted, born a Roman Catholic, conformed to Dutch Calvinism in order to obtain his election as delegate to the states-general from Groningen. In 1715 he was sent by the Dutch government as ambassador to Madrid. Saint-Simon says that his character for probity was even then considered doubtful. The fortune of Orry, Alberoni and other foreigners in Spain, showed that the court of Philip V. offered a career to adventurers. Ripperda — whose name is commonly spelt Riperda by the Spaniards — devoted himself to the Spanish government, and professed himself a Roman Catholic. He first attached himself to Alberoni, and after the fall of that minister he became the agent of Elizabeth Farnese, the restless and intriguing wife of Philip V. Though perfectly unscrupulous in money matters, and of a singularly vain and blustering disposition, he did understand commercial questions, and he has the merit of having pointed out that the poverty of Spain was mainly due to the neglect of its agriculture. But his fortune was not due to any service of a useful kind he rendered his masters. He rose by undertaking to aid the queen, whose influence over her husband was boundless, in her schemes for securing the succession to Parma, Plasencia and Tuscany for her sons. Ripperda was sent as special envoy to Vienna in 1725. He behaved with ridiculous violence, but the Austrian government, which was under the influence of its own fixed idea, treated him seriously. The result of ten months of very strange diplomacy was a treaty by which the emperor promised very little, but
- ↑ The charter, granted by the legislature in 1845, contained the following features: (1) property to be held in common; and shares to be sold at $25; (2) land to be limited to 40 acres for each member of the corporation; (3) a unanimous vote of the managers necessary for admission; (4) an annual settlement of profits on the basis of one-quarter credit to dividend on stock, and three-quarters credit to labour; (5) free public schools, capital paying three-quarters and labour one-quarter of cost; and (6) complete religious toleration and no involuntary taxation for church support.
