Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Ruland, Acker 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 4, 2007, 10:38 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County 

ACKER RULAND. Homer Township is greatly indebted for its present wealth and 
high standing to the intelligent and capable farmers who have been 
instrumental in developing its agricultural resources. As a member of the 
farming community, who has contributed to its material advancement and who has
been especially active in the promotion of its live-stock interests, mention  
belongs to Mr. Ruland, who owns the family homestead of one hundred and 
fourteen acres. Here he was born in 1856, and here his life thus far has been 
spent. He is one of the largest raisers of thoroughbred sheep and cattle in  
the county and owns some valuable  registered stock, having made several
importations from England of Shropshire sheep. Besides his other interests,  
at this writing he holds the office of deputy sheriff. For six years he was 
highway commissioner of Homer Township, to which office he was elected on the 
Republican ticket. For sixteen years he served as a member of the school board 
of his district. He is a director of the Homer Mutual Fire Insurance Company 
and secretary and treasurer of the Will County Highway Commissioners' 
Association.

Our subject's grandfather, Acker Ruland, was born in Rhode Island, and in an  
early day migrated to Ohio, where he conducted a large paper mill near 
Cincinnati for several years. From there he moved to Tippecanoe County, Ind.,  
and purchased six hundred acres of land, which he operated successfully. He  
remained there until his death, when sixty-five years of age. He had a 
brother, John, who served in the continental army during the Revolutionary 
war. His ancestors were French and were early settlers of Rhode Island. He 
married Charlotte Bolster, a native of Rhode Island, and they had seven 
children, but all are dead excepting Manley. In 1848 three of their sons,  
Charles, Manley and Acker, came from Indiana to Will County, Ill., and took up 
adjoining farms in Homer Township, where they energetically began work as 
agriculturists. Soon after their arrival Charles met his death by accident.  
Manley continued to make his home in this locality until 1870, when he removed 
to Butler County, Kans., and there he has since resided. Acker, our subject's 
father and the third of the brothers who came together to Will County, was 
born near Cincinnati, Ohio. In time he became a prosperous farmer of the
township. He was also a physician of the old school and had a large practice 
in this neighborhood. At the time of his death, when forty-two years of age, 
he was well to-do. He married Maria, daughter of Henry Glassford, and a native
of Pennsylvania, her father having come to that state from Ireland when seven 
years of age. By her marriage to Mr. Ruland five children were born, namely: 
Sarah, who is the wife of James Meek, of Chicago; Eliza, who married G. H.
Page; Helen, who married G. H. Paddock; Maria, wife of Dr. S. R. Cowger; and 
Acker, the subject of this sketch.

Having passed his life in this township, our subject is well acquainted with 
the people here; and, as he is a man of the utmost integrity and the highest  
principles of honor, he is respected by all to whom he is known. In fraternal 
relations he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He has a high 
reputation as a man of intelligence, and the township is fortunate to number 
among its citizens a man of his character and ability. In 1878 he was united 
in marriage to Miss Susan Harris, who was born in Lockport, this county, a 
daughter of Benjamin Harris. They have four daughters, Mabel, Ethel and Edna 
(twins), and Mildred.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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