James Henry Riddell was born August 9, 1859, and Selina Ady on March 4, 1864, both in the Blyth area of Ontario. In 1880, when Selina was sixteen, the Ady family came to the Pilot Mound area in Manitoba, bringing with them through the states some purebred cattle. Two Riddell brothers, James and Robert, had also come to Manitoba and worked near Pilot Mound. James Riddell left Pilot Mound for Pierson, Manitoba, where he staked out forty acres of land for a homestead, right beside the homestead of his friend Roddy Craven. In order to fulfill the homestead agreement, ten acres had to be ploughed, and they had to live on the land for a year. So he and a friend built a shack on the line between their properties each slept on his half of the property, to fulfill his obligation.

James Riddell then returned to Pilot Mound, where he married Selina Ady on January 3, 1883, their ages being 24 and 18. They came to the Pierson area that spring as a bride and groom, travelling by wagon and oxen, and bringing with them a pony and a cow. They build a sod house that summer, and it has been said that while it was being constructed, they lived in a cave-like hollow in the side of a small hill. Stories are told of how the sod house never leaked during a rain, but leaked a few days later, after the water had soaked through.

Walter, the first of twelve children, was born in January 1884, and Bella in August 1885. At this time, many months often went by when they saw no one but each other. The family then moved to Pilot Mound, where Minnie was born in 1887. When she was a baby, they returned to the Riddell family farm at Blyth, Ontario, where they shared the family home. Their daughter Mabel was born here in 1888 the only one of their children not born I Manitoba. In the summer of 1890, they returned to the Pierson farm. Mamie was born that fall, and when she was still a baby, they moved into the town of Pierson where James operated a livery barn. He used to break and sell wild broncos that had been brought up from Montana. The children used to climb out of the window on to the kitchen roof, to sit and watch the horses being broken in the corrals. During the time that James owned the livery barn, three children were born Edgar in 1893, Violet in 1895 and Harold in 1897. When James sold the livery barn the house was moved from the front street of town to a back street. James became a grain buyer in the neighbouring towns of Lyleton and Nesbitt, while the family stayed in Pierson. During this time, two sons were born Royden in 1900 and Ernie in 1903. Howard and Charlie were born in 1905 and 1909 in the new framed house built on the farm by James, who did a good deal of carpentry work. This home still stands near Pierson, as does the church built by James and one of his neighbours.