In 1860 Harvard conferred upon him the degree of A. M., and in 1863 Lombard University the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1868 he made a second visit to Europe, and brought home many treasures of art which were subsequently destroyed by fire in the two great conflagrations with which Chicago was visited. The fire that destroyed St. Paul's and his own beautiful residence on an adjoining lot imposed great responsibilities upon him, which he assumed and discharged with admirable skill. He visited New England and returned with $40,000 with which to repair the shattered fortunes of St. Paul's Church; and such has been his administrative skill, that, notwithstanding the heavy financial reverses to which the parish was subsequently subjected, their grand church, worth $200,000, is now without an incumbrance. Dr. Ryder himself suffered great loss by the fires, but it is pleasant to record what one who knows says of him, that he is still "in possession of 'enough and to spare.'" Dr. Ryder's life has been crowded with duties. As a preacher and pastor and man of business he has made his mark on public opinion and human life during the forty years just closing. He has thoroughly identified himself with the faith and work of the Universalist Church. As an expositor of its faith he has always been clear and positive, and as an advocate of its work unmistakably emphatic. Organized church work, State work, national work, mission work--home and foreign, he has continually urged. The zealous and faithful women-workers of the church have always found in him a warm, hearty, and outspoken advocate on all occasions when and where his word of good cheer has been asked. As a preacher, another has thus truthfully spoken of him:-- "He has rare power. A model pulpit voice, deep, sonorous; a manner of wonderful impressiveness; a personality behind his words that makes every word tell; and long years of sagacious work without mistakes re-enforcing what he says, so that it is safe to say that no man's word in any Chicago pulpit, on any question before the people, goes as far as his in impressing the public mind."[55]