Wayne County, NC - Miscellaneous File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Lori Price Cobb . William & Emmet Robinson Collection Johnston County Heritage Center Reference Box, P.C.1.1. George Ragsdale Collection Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774 - 1927 RUFFIN, Thomas, a Representaive from North Carolina; born in Louisburg, Franklin (formerly a part of Edgecombe) County, N.C., September 9, 1820; attended the common schools; was graduated from the law department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1841, was admitted to the bar the same year, and commenced practice in Goldsboro, N.C.; circuit attorney of the seventh judicial district of the State of Missouri 1844 - 1848; returned to Goldsboro, N.C., in 1850; elected as a Democrat to the Thiry-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1853 - March 3, 1861); delegate to the peace convention held in Washington, D.C. in 1861 in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress at Richmond in July, 1861; during the Civil War served in the Confederate Army as colonel of the First North Carolina Cavalry; mortally wounded in action at Bristoe Station, near Alexandria, Va., and died while a priosoner of war at Alexandria on October 13, 1863; interment in the private cemetery on the Ruffin homestead, near Louisburg, N.C. Colonel Thomas Ruffin was born in the northwestern edge of Greene County on Sept. 9, 1820, and died of battle wounds in the Federal Military Hospital at Alexandria on Oct. 18, 1863. Ruffin was a son of Henry John Gray Ruffin and wife, Mary Tartt, descending on his mother's side from the old Thomas and Tartt families, long residents on Toisnot Swamp between the present Wilson and Saratoga. He was reared on a newly bought plantation near Louisburg, attended a private academy and in 1841 received the bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina. After studying law under Sen. George E. Badger at Raleigh, he was admitted to the state bar and began his practice in Goldsboro. For reasons not now known, he decided to try his fortune in the Ozark region of Missouri, where he became circuit attorney for the 7th Judicial District and made a reputation for himself as a fearless upholder of law and order at considerable personal peril. In 1846 the university awarded him the degree of master of arts and on Aug. 31 of the same year he became the first lieutenant of the Ozark Mountain Guards in the First Infantry Regiment, which had been organized for the famous Sante Fe Expedition and continued to campaign in the Southwest during the course of the Mexican War. Returning to North Carolina by 1850, Ruffin resumed the practice of law in Goldsboro and became active in the Democratic affairs of that area of our state. The celebrated and wealthy Dr. Josiah Ogden Watson of Johnston County and Raleigh thought so highly of him that on March 15, 1851, he willed to this nephew of his late wife the Gulley Plantation in Johnston County complete with some 25 slaves, plus an additional 25 and also "Nicey's son Green," who was obviously highly regarded by his late master. Watson's confidence was not unfounded, because his young family connection was elected a representative to the United States Congress March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1861, including the special Peace Congress at Washington Feb. 4-17. At the formal secession of North Carolina on May 20, 1861, Ruffin resigned that position and repre (Paragraph incomplete) On May 16, 1861, Ruffin became captain of Company H, 9th North Carolina State Troops (1st Cavalry) Regiment, CSA. His men were gathered from Wayne, Wilson, Greene, Lenoir and Craven counties. He had declined the rank of colonel of an infantry regiment. During the first year of the war he served alternately in the field and in the Confederate Congress, participating in 28 military engagements. On June 29, 1862, he was captured at Willis Church in Virginia, after which he was confined briefly at Fort Warren near Boston before being exchanged at Aiken's Landing on Aug. 5. In a fierce cavalry charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, Ruffin received a bad saber cut on the head but shot to death the Yankee officer who had inflicted it. On June 29 he had been elevated to major of the First Cavalry Regiment, and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on July 23, the day after he was admitted to a Richmond hospital and there furloughed for one week. It was on Oct. 15, 1863, that Ruffin was "mortally wounded during a successful charge" at Auburn's Mill near Fairfax Courthouse. He fell from his horse with a minie ball in his forehead and was conveyed in a dying condition to the military hospital at Alexandria. Ruffin was "permitted to have the kindest attentions from the Southern ladies there, who, after his death, had his remains placed in a private vault from which they were transferred to the Ruffin homestead. His gold watch, jewelry and other personal effects were preserved by his captors and forwarded to his family," near Louisburg in Franklin County. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS: The reported death of Col. Thos. Ruffin of the 1st N.C. Cavalry is now known to be a fact. He was killed on the 14th ult, in a charge made on the enemy, in which many prisoners captured an entire regiment of infantry, it is said -- most of whom had to be relinquished as our cavlary, had to retreat. The following obituary notice of the gallant soldier appears in the Sentinel: "Died at Grace Church Hospital, Alexandria, Va., on Saturday night 19th inst, Col. Thos. Ruffin, 1st N.C. Cavalry. The letter which conveys this intelligence says he received every attention from the surgeon in charge and his attendants. His remains were deposited in a vault in the burial ground of the Methodist Protestant church subject to the order of his family in N. Carolina." BIBLICAL RECORDER 4 November 1863 TRIBUTE OF RESPECT At a meeting of the noncommissioned officers and privates of Co. H, 1st N.C. Cavalry at the camp near Culpepper Court House, Nov. 3rd, 1863, for the purpose of giving public expression of the sentiment of the company in regard to the death of their former Captain and late lamented Colonel Thomas Ruffin, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, Recognizing in the death of Col. Thos. Ruffin but the dispensation of that Divine Power, without whose knowledge "no sparrow falls to the ground," yet with all due reverence to the Ruler of all, we claim as ours the melancholy duty to pay our last tribute at the shrine of departed worth. Resolved, 1st, That in the death of Col. Ruffin the Confederacy has lost a firm and able defender, North Carolina one of her brightest ornaments, his regiment a gallant and fearless leader. Resolved, 2nd, That in his death, though in its manner reflecting honor both on us and him, we behold with the greatest regret the sundering of those ties which have so long bound him to us as a firm friend and respected officer. Resolved, 3rd, That while memory lasts we will still cherish as sacred the recollection of him who, by his courtesy and kindness no less than by his firmness and bravery won our admiration and commanded our respect. Resolved 4th, That in his last words, "follow me," we but still more clearly recognize the spirit of the hero, who set a noble example at the cost of his life. Resolved 5th, That to his bereaved family, thus suddenly by the cruel fortune of war deprived of an affectionate son and brother, we tender our heartfelt sympathies. Resolved 6th, That a copy of these resolutions to be sent to the family of the deceased, also to the Richmond Sentinel, Raleigh State Journal, Wilmington Journal, Christian Advocate and Biblical Recorder with a request to publish. SAML. W. STANLY J. W. BIDDLE J. H. WIGGS BIBLICAL RECORDER 23 December 1863 _________________________________________________________________________ USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. 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