BIOGRAPHY, Rockbridge County, VA- "R" ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************** JAMES HOWARD REED - was born in Walkers Creek district, Rockbridge county, September 3, 1847, a son of John and Elizabeth (Griever) Reed. He married Edmonia Rogers Hull, born at Collierstown, this county, August 20, 1845, a daughter of Wiliam and Mary (Horn) Hull. Their marriage was solemnized in this county, November 10, 1868, and the children which are its blessing were born: Mary Sidney, March 8, 1870; James Ira, March 1, 1872; William Gardiner, August 27, 1874; Zachariah Oscar, December 27, 1878. The parents of Mr. Reed are both deceased; his father departing this life in 1864, and his mother seven years later. Mrs. Reed's father, born June 14, 1806, died August 12, 1878, and her mother, whose birth occurred July 29, 1811, lived to the age of sixty-two years eight months and nine days. William Henry Hull, a brother of Mrs. Reed, died November 16, 1863, in his sixteenth year. She has two surviving brothers, John M. and James B. Hull, both residents of Rockbridge county. In the war between the States, James H. Reed was a member of the Rockbridge Guards, under Captain Marcus. His brother Franklin S. Reed died in the service, at Gordonsville, in 1862. Alexander Reed, another brother, was a soldier fo the famous "Stonewall Brigade", was captured and held at Fort Delaware for thirteen months. James Howard Reed is one of the substantial farming residents of Rockbridge county, owning an estate of 380 acres lying on Walkers creek, and having his postoffice address at Moffats Creek, Augusta county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** WILLIAM A. REED - son of William and Mary Reed, and Maggie A. A. Swisher, daughter of Henry H. and Julia (Dahrerty) Swisher, were united in marriage bands at Lexington, Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 11th of September, 1882. Both were born in this county, and in Walkes Creek district, April 16, 1860 his natal day, and her birth on the 25th of September, 1857. His occupation is farming, and his postoffice address is Brownsburg, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** NATHANIEL B. REES - is a son of William and Letitia (Brooks) Rees, of Pennsylvania, and was born in that State, in Montgomery county, August 10, 1823. He came to Virginia in 1848, and was a contractor on the James river and Kanawha canal, and the North River canal. In Botetourt county, Virginia, in 1855, his wedded life began, and he took up his residence in Rockbridge county in 1859. He now owns two fine farms in this county, which are being cultivated under his direct and careful management. His mother was of the Brooke and Evans families, who, in 1640, settled in Limerick township, Montogomery county, Pennsylvania, and in that vicinity he has still a large circle of relatives honorably connected with the affairs of the county. The wife of Nathaniel B. Rees was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, in October, 1833, Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas R. and Elizabeth (Hogsett) Mays, who are still honored residents of Botetourt county. A grand-uncle of Mr. Rees, Barney Brooke, was killed in the war of the Revolution. Nathaniel B. Rees' postoffice address is Elmeria, Rockbridge county, Virginia. Source: Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (NY, Richmond, and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty and Company Publishers, 1884). p. 411. Transcribed and submitted by: "Valerie F. Crook" ********************************************************************** REID-- Andrew Reid, of Mulberry Hill, married Magdalene, daughter of Samuel McDowell, and had three sons and eight daughters. He was the first clerk of Rockbridge. Samuel McDowell Reid, one of the three sons, was born in 1790, and was an adjutant under his cousin, Colonel James McDowell, in the war of 1812. He succeeded his father as county clerk after serving a time as deputy. He was a founder of the Franklin Society, more than fifty years trustee of Washington College and Ann Smith Academy, a chief organizer of the Rockbridge County Fair, and mainly instrumental in opening the North River to Lexington. He died in 1869. From his marriage to Sarah E. Hare, only two children, Mary L., and Agnes, grew to maturity. The former married Professor James J. White. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** ROBINSON-- John Robinson came from Ireland to Rockbridge in 1770, when seventeen years of age. He learned the trade of weaver, but by turning horse trader and speculating in soldiers' certificates, he became able to purchase Hart's Bottom in 1779. He enlarged his landed property to 800 acres, exclusive of his holdings on the Cowpasture. He was not highly successful as a planter, although he became owner of sixty slaves. It was mainly by the distilling of whiskey that he accumulated his fortune. Mr. Robinson was without an heir, and decided to devote his entire estate to educational uses. In 1820 he rescued the Ann Smith Academy from a sheriff's sale by taking up a judgment against it of about $3,000. His will begins by saying that "John Robinson, a native of the county of Armagh in the north of Ireland, but now a resident of Hart's Bottom, in the county of Rockbridge and the state of Virginia, having migrated to America just in time to participate in its Revolutionary struggle (which I did in various situations) and having since that period by a long, peaceful, and prosperous intercourse with my fellow citizens amassed a considerable estate which I am desirous of rendering back to them, upon terms most likely to conduce to their essential and permanent interests, do therefore will and ordain ---------." He endowed a chair of geology and biology, and a clause in the will provides that two medals shall be given yearly. With the exception of General Washington he was the first considerable benefactor of the college. Mr. Robinson died in 1826, and in 1855 a monument to his memory was erected on the college campus. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 ************************************************************************************** RUFFNER-- Henry Ruffner, son of Colonel David Ruffner of Page county, and grandson of Peter Ruffner, a German immigrant, was born in Page in 1789. He was educated at Washington College from which he graduated in 1817. Two years later he entered the same college as a professor, and also was licensed to the Presbyterian ministry. From 1836 to 1848 he was the college president. He then retired to a farm on the Kanawha and ceased preaching a year before his death, which took place in 1861. Princeton gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Doctor Ruffner was an occasional contributor to the religious press. His wife was Sarah, daughter of William Lyle of "Oakley" on Mill Creek. William Henry Ruffner, son of Henry Ruffner, was born at Lexington in 1824, and was graduated from Washington College in 1842. He likewise entered the Presbyterian ministry, but his only pastorate was in Philadelphia in 1849-51. His leanings were very much in the direction of educational effort and scientific study. He devised the free school system adopted by Virginia in 1870, drafted the organization of the school that became the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and organized the Farmville State Normal School, of which he was president three years. Doctor Ruffner twice declined to be made a college president, and in 1887 retired to "Tribrook'" one mile from Lexington. He now gave his attention to geologic research and reports on mineral properties. Several volumes, inclusive of Charity and Clergy, came from his pen, and he was a contributor to scientific periodicals. He died in 1908. His wife was Harriet G. Gray, of Harrisonburg. Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920. Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" , 1997 **************************************************************************************