When Peter Anton Ricken was born on 31 August 1879, in Medebach, Brilon, Westphalia, Prussia, Germany, his father, Caspar Joseph Anton Ricken, was 27 and his mother, Anna Maria Reuther, was 23. He married Anna Catharina Kuhnhenne on 15 May 1905, in Medebach, Brilon, Westphalia, Prussia, Germany. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. He died on 5 November 1962, in his hometown, at the age of 83.