This page was last updated 26 March 2001 -- rak.
In the following we list all the Ruggles and potential Ruggles references we have found in these three states to persons that, so far at least, do not seem to have any connection with the Ruggles who moved into the Mason Co, KY area in 1792-97. They are listed chronologically by locality based on birth year, or, if there is no available hint as to birth year, the year of "first sighting".
Talbot County, Maryland, 1702
Was the man recorded as James Raglass (1) who married Elizabeth in St. Peter's Parish on 5 May 1702 a Ruggles? Increasingly I doubt it ... so far we have found no other Ruggles-like reference in that county.
Prince Georges County, Maryland, 1755
Sometime in May 1755, William Ruggles (10) is recorded as arriving in this county after having been sentenced to transportation in London.
On 31 October 1789, William Ruggles, possible son of (10), married Elizabeth Lowe in Prince Georges County. And his household is listed in the 1790 census for that county with 1 white male, 3 white females, and 1 slave. So far I do not believe we have found any other records regarding this family. It is possible, but highly unlikely I think, that they were related to the Ruggles who settled in the Mason County, KY area.
Virginia, 1764
Sometime about 1764, Julia (nee ??) Rugles (95300) was born in Virginia according to the 1850 Boone County, KY census. Boone County is in north-central Kentucky just south of Cincinnati, down the Ohio River about 60 miles from Lewis County. Julia may have been the widow of an early Mason County Ruggles, but I can't think who it could have been, unless .... There is a very slight possibility that this might be Lucy (20001) widow of William (20000) whose name could have been Lucy Julia or Julia Lucy, she being known by either name???
Mercer County, Kentucky (1799) -- Butler County, Ohio
William Ruglass/Ruguls/Rugless (99100) first appeared in Mercer County tax lists in 1800 which would indicate that he may have arrived there in 1799. If he was at least 21 in 1800 he would have been born in 1779 at the latest which would make him a contemporary of Jonathan (50000) Ruggles of Mason County.
Mercer is deep in central Kentucky. William remained on the tax lists in Mercer County through 1824, picking up 65A of land in 1801 and adding to it over the years. He apparently was well-to-do owing 4-28 horses and 5-11 slaves over the years. His lands were on Harrod's Run.
No other Ruggles ever appears (at least not before 1825 which is as far as I checked) in Mercer County tax lists. William died about 1825 without issue and left an inheritance to his brother James of Butler Co, Ohio.
Elizabeth (99400) Ruggles who witnessed John Fauntleroy and Margaret Harrod's marriage in Mercer County on 1 May 1801, must have been a wife, who died early without issue, or a sister, who died or moved away?
Jacob Rugle (99300) who married Margaret Thompson in July 1803 in Mercer County probably was not a Ruggles and never shows up as such in the tax lists.
Mary "Polly" Rugles (99500) who married Fallen Crain on 5 August 1812 in Mercer County must have been a younger sister of William (98100)'s??
James Rugless (99200), William's brother, is on the 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810 and 1812 Butler Co, OH tax lists. Unfortunately Ohio tax lists are not as complete as those in Ohio, and normally do not include men without land -- evidently there was no poll or personal property tax there in the relevant years. In the administration of his estate in 1826, he is styled "late of Lemon Township" and a bill dated in 1826 is paid by the estate for transporting his brother [unnamed]'s clothing from Kentucky. His widow was the only bidder in the sale of his personal effects. No other Ruggles appear in the record.
So far we have established no connection between these Ruggles and any New England or Mason County Ruggles family.
Virginia, 1803
Sometime about 1803, Solomon Ruggles (95100) was born in Virginia according to the 1850 Knox County, TN census. Solomon is listed in the 1820 and 1830 Washington Co, VA censuses, but so far I have not been able to find any earlier reference to Ruggles there nor any hint as to where he came from.
Tax records show that Solomon surely was not born in the Washington County area. There are no Ruggles there prior to his arrival in about 1820.
Tennessee, 1805
Sometime about 1805, John Ruggles (95200) was born in Tennessee according to the 1850 Greenup Co, Ky census. At present, I am wondering if his birth state was reported in error?? He was at the time listed as a 44-year-old laborer living with the the David Wade family ... David was listed as a 42-year-old collier born in Tennessee. David's wife, children and Moses Gullet, another laborer, were all listed as being born in Kentucky during the years 1820-1843. If the birth state is a mistake, then it is likely that this is James (30000)'s sixth child John (36000) born about 1801 in Kentucky, whom I so far have been unable to locate in the 1850 census. Most of James (30000)'s offspring lived in or near Greenup Co, KY.
Henderson County, Kentucky 1820 (Massachusetts 1790-1800)
The first Henderson Co, KY census listing Nathaniel F. Ruggles (98000) was 1820. The 1830 census showed him to be 30-40 years old. His son, Franklin Caleb (98400) in the 1880 Henderson County census reported that his father was born in Massachusetts and that his mother had been born in Maryland. The mother Rebecca (98001)'s family name evidently was Hughes, at least a woman of her mother's age, named Margaret A. Hughes, was living with her in 1850 ... their property was reported in the census as being in Margaret's name although Rebecca was listed as head-of-household. Nathaniel evidently had died ... he is not listed with the family.
The various censuses indicate that Nathaniel and Rebecca had at least 4 daughters and 1 son. The Louisa Ruggles (98100) who married John Green, likely son of Gabriel Green, in Henderson County on 23 November 1830 (A. Shelby, officiating), surely was one of those daughters although the marriage records do not identify her parents Apparently she was at least 21 by the wedding, which surely would make her their eldest child. Louisa had apparently died by the time John made his will in 1848 naming sons Hector and Robert and a grandson David S. Green.
I was unable to find any other Ruggles marriages in Henderson County.
Son Caleb (98400) at age 57 reported a wife, Henrietta 39, son Cornelius 19, son Loyd R. 17, daughter Hellen 14 and son Stewart (all born in KY) in the 1880 Henderson census.
So far I have been unable to connect Nathaniel with any New England or Mason County Ruggles family. This is the first instance of any pre-1900 documentary evidence of a New England Ruggles who just might have been in Maryland (wife born there) and who did settle in Kentucky.
Unfortunately there does not seem to be a Ruggles-Maryland connection here. Henderson tax records show that the Hughes were in the county well before 1800 and that Nathaniel arrived there about 1817, i.e. before his marriage to Rebecca Hughes. He lived there until his death about 1835.
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