RUFFNER ROOTS & RAMBLINGS Published quarterly by the Ruffner Family Association P.O. Box 351, Luray, Virginia 22835 Volume 22, Issue 2, Summer 2019 Go West Ruffner clan! And, that’s what we did for our 2019 Ruffner Family reunion, June 21-23 in Pres- cott, Arizona! Ruffner cousins gathered from all over the United States to attend the southwestern re- union. Smoki Museum was our headquarters where each Ruffner was greeted at a welcome reception and received a tote bag with schedules and maps. On Saturday, we met at the Ruffner Wakelin Funeral Home where Melissa Ruffner dressed in 19th century clothing, led us on an interesting downtown Pres- cott historic sites tour. Ruffner presence could be felt with every corner we turned as George Ruffner and others that followed had a great influence on the development of the Prescott area. After the tour, lunch was provided by the Wakelin Funeral Services and we greatly appreciated their hospitality and generosity. Vice-Mayor Billie Orr brought greetings and read a city proclamation followed by Chief Dep- uty Sheriff David Rhodes demonstrating a historic rifle while giving an account of Yavapai history. Local author and historian, Parker Anderson, presented the Story of a Hanged Man which included a detailed history about Flemming Parker and Sheriff George Ruffner—a "must read" for all! Our RFA Board met after lunch and members from different parts of the U.S. were able to participate via conference call. That night we enjoyed a banquet dinner, silent auction, quilt raffle and music by Spider Ranch and local cowboy poet Gail Steiger. A beautiful memorial service honoring our beloved cousins Elisabeth Ruff- ner, Bob & Shirley Sheets, Dorotha Russell and Phil Johnson took place overlooking the historic Granite Dells at the Watson Lake Ramada on Sunday morning. We are so grateful to Becky Ruffner, Melissa Ruffner and the rest of the 2019 Reunion Committee for all the time and planning they invested in this exciting, well-organized reunion celebrating our southwestern Ruffner heritage! Photo courtesy of Marria Blinn. 1 RUFFNER FAMILY ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP Sam McNeely PRESIDENT P.O. Box 351, Luray, VA 22835 Marria Blinn, Illinois [email protected] TREASURER & COO FACEBOOK POSTMASTER Samuel H. McNeely, Virginia Charlotte Ruffner ASSISTANT TREASURER [email protected] Bryan Wallace, Indiana NEWSLETTER EDITOR SECRETARY Kimberly McCue Rebecca Ruffner, Arizona 162 Kendallwood Ct. , Aiken, SC 29803 HISTORIAN Betty Lou Gaeng, Alaska MISSION STATEMENT Betty [email protected] Chartered and incorporated in 1999 to support an LIBRARIAN association of members who will research and pre- Judy Henderson, Virginia serve their common heritage through the collection of artifacts and documents which form the basis for BOARD OF DIRECTORS knowledge and appreciation of the historic role Betty Ann Axline, Virginia played by the Ruffner descendants and their collec- tive lines in the settlement and development of the Robert Brown, Virginia American Frontier. Marilyn Courtade, Washington www/ruffnerfamily.org Leila Garcia, Virginia ___________________________________________ Phyllis Hershock, Pennsylvania Angela Hinzey, Virginia Jim Johnson, Ohio Charlotte Ruffner, California K. Daniel Ruffner, Ohio Douglas Ruffner, Oklahoma RFA Board Position Additions and Changes Gary Ruffner, Illinois During our June RFA Board meeting, we reviewed the re- Melissa Ruffner, Arizona sponsibilities of our Board positions. The Board agreed that the responsibilities of the president and secretary Nancy Lee Ruffner Shifflett, Virginia were manageable. However, for many years, our treasurer DIRECTORS EMERITI has been doing the work of three people! We appreciate Betty Lou Gaeng, AK (active) the time and effort Sam has invested into the RFA, but no one would ever be able to fill his shoes in the future. The Samuel H. McNeely, VA (active) time had come to restructure and add some additional Joan Ruffner Reid, OH (active) positions to make the office of Treasurer more managea- Elisabeth Ruffner, AZ (deceased) ble for future volunteers. With that being said, we added an Assistant Treasurer position to maintain the member- Shirley Ann Sheets, CO (deceased) ship spreadsheet and to help with the computer work. We Rev. Dorotha Russell, TX (deceased) also added a Librarian position to handle the donations Robert Newman Sheets, CO (deceased) and sales for our genealogical books as well as the news- letter distribution list for libraries. We moved the position Lester Ward Ruffner, AZ (deceased) of Historian to the Executive Board which brings the num- Doris Laver Ruffner, OH (deceased) ber of our current positions to six. All board positions are Olive Taylor Ruffner, OH (deceased) currently filled, but in the future, please consider serving at least for one term as a director or officer. We are very George E. Ruffner, IL (deceased) fortunate to have the Ruffner Family Association and need to share in the responsibility of ensuring its existence! 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE HELLO, RFA MEMBERS— For the past few years, you have known me as the RFA Secretary and cousin from the Chicago, Illinois area. At the RFA board meeting in Prescott, Arizona, I was honored to be elected RFA President and am looking forward to serving our great organization. President Phyllis Hershock did an outstand- ing job for the last 10+ years and will be a very hard act to follow. We are in- debted to her for her dedicated and devoted service and to her husband, Craig, for supporting her along the way. Phyllis went up and beyond the call of duty and served multiple consecutive terms for which we will always ap- preciate and remember with great fondness. When you have an opportunity, please consider sending Phyllis and Craig a thank you card—2575 Sandy Lane, York, PA 17406. I am sure they will be happy to hear from you! June 21-23, our Ruffner Clan went southwest for a family reunion in Prescott, Arizona. The Smoki Mu- seum in Prescott served as headquarters for Ruffner cousins from all over the United States. On Saturday morning, we met at the Ruffner-Wakelin Funeral Home where Melissa Ruffner, dressed in historical clothing, led us on a most interesting downtown Prescott historic sites tour. Additional activities that generated more fun at the reunion included a quilt raffle (winners listed on p. 4), banquet dinner and silent auction. A beauti- ful memorial service honoring our beloved cousins Elisabeth Ruffner, Bob & Shirley Sheets, Phil Johnson and Rev. Dorotha Russell took place on Sunday morning. A great BIG thank you goes out to Becky & Melissa Ruff- ner for the time and effort they invested to host this well-orchestrated event as well as other reunion con- tributors Betty Gaeng, Joan Ruffner Reid, Marilyn Courtade and Sam McNeely. Read more about the reunion later in this newsletter and see photos related to this spectacular event on page 5 of this newsletter plus our Facebook and Website pages. It is very exciting to announce that Joan Ruffner Reid, Sam McNeely and Elisabeth Ruffner (posthumously) have been awarded the title of Director Emeritus for their many years of dedicated service. Congrats to all and their families, too, on this great honor! In addition, I am pleased to announce that a couple of positions have been added to the RFA Exectu- tive Board to reduce the workload for some individuals and to make the positions more manageable for our volunteers. Please read about these changes and the many exciting projects and events that are in store for the Ruffner Family Association in this issue of the Ruffner Roots & Ramblings. Wishing you health, happiness and restful summer days…. MARRIA BLINN RFA President (708) 269-7101 * [email protected] 3 CONGRATULATIONS QUILT RAFFLE WINNERS! Thanks to our two junior Ruffner members, Chloe May and Liam, a bundle of tickets were sold for the Ruffner Reunion quilt raffle! Congratulations to Steve and Marria Blinn (IL) and Joan Ruffner Reid (OH) on being the lucky winners! About the quilts…… This quilt pattern was made from a quilt found in a concealed wall cupboard in the Ruffner-Rowles House in Fairfield County, Ohio. The exact age and maker of the original quilt are undetermined. The late Roberta Ruffner Kirwin copied the pattern on paper for the 1999 Ruffner Reunion in Lancaster, Ohio. The baby quilts (shown above) in the rare old Love Apple design were graciously made for the 2019 RFA Reunion raffle by ladies of the Mountain Top Quilters Guild in Prescott. Thank you, Becky Ruffner for providing the quilts! ______________________________________________________________________________________ FROM THE DESK OF….. 2021 Reunion Committee Chairman Gary Ruffner and his reunion team which consists of his adult children, have been busy working on the 2021 Mason, Illinois reunion. They are checking into some historical activities, possibly a tour or two, and are planning an old-fashioned family reunion with lots of fun, fellowship and food! Gary recently retired and is planning to devote more time to family research to increase the wealth of knowledge of the Ruffners who came to Illinois in the early to mid-1800s. 4 SATURDAY BOARD MEETING PICNICERS ON SUNDAY DEPUTY SHERIFF RHODES BEAUTIFUL GRANITE DELLS 5 2019 REUNION VIEWS 2019 Photos courtesy of Marilyn Courtade and Marria Blinn andCourtade PhotosMarilyn Marria courtesy of AT THE YAVAPAI COUNTY COURTHOUSE SATURDAY TOUR START VIOLA KNAPP RUFFNER — 1812-1903 By Betty Lou Gaeng The lithograph print pictured here was sold at auction a few years ago by Heritage Auctions, an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. The company is considered to be the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer, What is of vital interest in our Ruffner family is that this lithograph print by Arthur Lidor is said to be the image of Viola Knapp Ruffner, the second wife and widow of Lewis Ruffner4 (David Ruffner3, Joseph Ruffner2, Peter Ruffner1).