Madison County IA Archives Biographies.....Ruby, Samuel Guiberson 1839 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/iafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 9, 2007, 7:37 pm Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896) HON. SAMUEL GUIBERSON RUBY, attorney at law and formerly United States Consul to Belfast, Ireland, is a resident of Winterset. A native of Holmes county, Ohio, he was born September 22, 1839, the son of William B. and Ann (Guiberson) Ruby. His father, a farmer by occupation, was a native of Maryland and a son of John Ruby, also a native of the same State. His ancestors moved from France to England and thence to America as early as 1690. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Samuel Guiberson, was among the early settlers of New Jersey, and his ancestry is traceable back to England. In 1852 William B. Ruby and family moved from Holmes county, Ohio, to Madison county, Iowa, locating upon a new farm in Union township, in the vicinity of Winterset, where they carried on general farming for a number of years. They then moved into town, where Mr. Ruby finally died, in his eighty-fourth year. His wife had died previously, in 1855. The gentleman whose name honors the introduction to this sketch, the eldest child by his father's second marriage, passed his boyhood on the farm in Holmes county, Ohio, and after his thirteenth year in Madison county, Iowa. On leaving the school-room he entured the law office of Messrs. McPherson & Elliott, in Winterset, as a student of law, but his favorite studies were interrupted by that most horrible spectacle of human experience, civil war, and in April, 1861, on the very first call for troops, he and M. R. Tidrick, W. C. Newlon and B. F. Murray went to Indianola, Warren county, this State, and enlisted in Company G, Third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, commanded by N. G. Williams, and they went to the front from Madison county to tender their services to their country. Mr. Ruby enlisted as a private May 1, 1861, and served in the ranks two years, participating in the battle of Shiloh and in a number of skirmishes, in the early part of the war, and was honorably discharged the next year. Returning to Winterset he resumed his law studies in the office where he had commenced, and in due time, in 1863, he was admitted to the bar, before Judge Gray at Winterset. About this time McPherson & Elliott enlisted in the service of their country, leaving their office and law business in the care of young Ruby, who improved the golden opportunity and by industry and wit succeeded in attaining an enviable position in the legal profession. Entering upon his legal career without means or favors he won his way to the front and in a short time was enjoying a good patronage and a handsome income. By appointment by the Board of Supervisors he served as County Attorney for five years, with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people. For two terms he was Mayor of the city of Winterset, and for a number of years he was an attorney for the Rock Island Railroad Company after its completion to his city. For several years he was interested in farming lands, at one time being the owner of one of the best farms in the county. His residence, which he built in 1878, is one of the finest in the county. In 1889 Mr. Ruby was appointed Consul to Belfast, Ireland, by President Harrison, and served a term of four years, efficiently and satisfactorily representing our Government at that point. His son, Ralph O., was with him and was Vice-Consul, doing a large part of the business. Toward the close of his term Mr. Ruby established a law office in London, England, and while there his son was taken sick with typhoid fever, and died February 22d, 1895, in his twenty-eighth year. This was a severe stroke upon the bereaved parents. Mr. Ruby continued his practice in London until April, following, and, returning to Winterset, has since devoted his attention to his financial interests. He is a member of the Knights Templar and of Pitzer Post, G. A. R. December 25, 1863, is the date of Mr. Ruby's marriage to Miss Sophia Ogden, of Covington, Kentucky, a daughter of William Ogden, an honored and influential family; and Mr. and Mrs. Ruby have had three children: Claude A., Ralph O., deceased, and Blanche, who is a student of music in London, England, and has spent six years in Paris and London in the prosecution of musical studies. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA ILLUSTRATED "A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants."'—MACAULAY. "Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant, of all things."—CARLYLE "History is only biography on a large scale"—LAMARTINE. CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1896 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/madison/bios/ruby107gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/iafiles/ File size: 5.3 Kb