Multnomah-Umatilla County OR Archives Biographies.....Ruppe, Adam January 4, 1852 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 6, 2007, 12:19 am

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     ADAM RUPPE.  Coming to Oregon with no resources save youth, energy and 
determination, Adam Ruppe made the most of these assets and developed that 
strength of character which results from battling with difficulties. In the 
fullness of time he reaped the rich reward of his labors and is spending the 
evening of life in retirement in Portland.  A native of Pennsylvania, he was 
born near Pittsburgh, in Armstrong county, January 4, 1852, and was a child of 
six when his parents, John and Sarah (Uplinger) Ruppe, went to Missouri. They 
settled on a farm in Clark county and in that district he was reared and 
educated. He aided his father in tilling the soil and was well trained in 
agricultural pursuits.
     In 1882, when a young man of thirty, Adam Ruppe came to Oregon with his 
brother John, driving across the country with a team of horses. They located 
in Pendleton and Adam Ruppe at once engaged in teaming, starting with a 
capital of ten dollars. During the first winter he bought wood from the 
Indians and sold it to the residents of the town. The first Indian from whom 
he obtained fuel was Chief Peo, one of the most noted of the old warriors. Mr. 
Ruppe arrived in Pendleton in September, 1882, and on January 3, 1883, married 
Edith Annette Fish. The first winter in their new home was one of the coldest 
ever known in that locality but Mr. Ruppe was able to endure hardships and 
continued hauling wood, spending much of his time out of doors, although many 
of his neighbors considered it unwise to venture forth. During the autumn he 
worked with his team in the harvest fields and in 1883 leased a quarter 
section. At the end of three years he was able to purchase the land, for which 
he paid three thousand dollars, and later sold it at a handsome profit.  
Afterward he became the owner of a tract of three hundred and twenty acres, 
locating six miles northeast of Pendleton, on the Helix road. Later he 
purchased another farm of one hundred sixty acres. His ranch he improved with 
substantial buildings and good fences and his carefully tilled fields yielded 
abundant crops. There Mr. Ruppe engaged in farming until 1908, when he went to 
Canada and purchased eight hundred acres of land in the province of Alberta, 
fifty miles east of Calgary, planting four hundred acres to wheat in 1910. For 
three years in succession his crops were a failure, but his spirit was 
undaunted and at the end of that time his perseverance and tireless efforts 
were rewarded by five years of abundance. His wheat yielded about forty 
bushels to the acre, and at the outbreak of the World war the price rose to 
two dollars and forty cents a bushel. Thus his success was assured and he 
enhanced the value of the ranch by erecting good buildings, also adding other 
improvements. He carefully planned his work and demonstrated the effectiveness 
of science and system as factors in productiveness. In 1911 Mr. Ruppe returned 
to Oregon, leased his ranch, erected a fine home in Portland and has since 
been a resident of the Rose city.
     To Mr. and Mrs. Ruppe were born three children. Carl Ernest, the eldest, 
now engaged in the advertising business and living in Portland, married Miss 
Julia Cooper and they have one child, Edgerton, aged nine years. Herbert 
Augustus, who follows agricultural pursuits and successfully manages the 
Alberta ranch, married Miss Mary Christenson and they became the parents of 
seven children, five of whom survive. Berenice Ethel is the wife of Don C. 
Jaxtheimer, a dealer in stocks and bonds and a prominent business man of 
Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Jaxtheimer have two daughters, Berenice Elizabeth and 
Dona Clair.
     Mr. Ruppe casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party and 
lends the weight of his support to measures of reform, progress and 
improvement. While a resident of Pendleton he was appointed deputy assessor 
for Umatilla county and at one time was identified with the profession of 
journalism, working for the East Oregonian. Mr. Ruppe has demonstrated what 
may be accomplished by diligence and perseverance, when guided by intelligence 
and sound judgment, and is esteemed for the qualities that have made possible 
his success.


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Pages 255-256

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