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James Drury Ruffin
Born: about 1817 King William County, VA
Died: 04 28 1886 Como, Panola County, MS
Married:July 5, 1834 in Albemarle, Hardeman Co TN to Rosa Ruffin
(1st Cousin)
Rosa 8 Ruffin
(also known as Rosanna and Rowena)
Born: about 1817 King William County, VA
Died: 09 01 1873 Memphis, TN
DW Ruffin writes, "He moved from Bolivar, TN to De Soto County, Mississippi shortly after 1834 where he purchased 2560 acres of land and farmed it with his own slaves. From 1840 to the close of the Civil War he was a member of the Mississippi Legislature, and general of the State Militia for the Northern District of the State for most of that time."
"He was a large slave owner and a very wealthy man, and so loyal was he to the Confederacy that with his own hand he set fire to and burned up a million dollars worth of cotton when the staple was worth $1.00 a pound."
Panola County, MS pioneer and mayor of the town of Como, MS
There is a dispute about the middle name of this James Ruffin. DW Ruffin, his grandson by his first son William, states that James' middle name was "Dugar" after James D's mother's maiden name. Sallie Ruffin, daughter of James, J.D.'s second son, in a typed history of the Ruffin family, states that his middle name was "Drury" after a "friend of the family" who fought with his father in the War of 1812. My mother, Olie Low Garrett, always referred to his middle name as "Drury" also.
Children of Rosa and James Drury Ruffin:
1. William
5.4.1834 - 4.11.1887 Mar. Sallie White
buried in the McGehee Cemetery (six miles west of Como) (overgrown and tombstones destroyed)
2. James
7.28.1837 - 8.1.1919 Mar. Mary Haywood Brahan
James & Mary H. are buried in the Sardis Rosehill Cemetery
3. Thomas ca 1839/1842 in Memphis TN -1877 Como MS
Married 1864 Margaret Rucker White born in 1842 Elbert Co GA, daughter of David Shelton White and Catherine Rucker
Margaret Rucker White Ruffin died August, 1876 in Como, Panola Co MS.
He was a lieutenant in General Forrest's Cavalry, CSA.
4. Margaret B. 1842-1879 Mar. Julius Taylor
5. Rosa Belle 1846-? Mar. Charles W. Graves
6. Robert 5.19.1849 - 11.19.1933 Mar. Kate Weller
Robt. & Kate are buried in Como's (Fredonia) Friendship Cemetery
He lived most of his life in Como. He was a civil engineer and a mayor of Como for 20 years.
If the other children are buried in Panola or Tate counties they must not
have markers
Notes for JULIUS ALEXANDER TAYLOR:
Goodspeed's "History of Shelby County, Tennessee" has a Biographical Index on Julius A. Taylor. It states: "
Julius A. Taylor, a member of the law firm of Taylor and Carroll, began reading law while acting as deputy clerk
and master, at the age of seventeen years, and when the war broke out was reading in an office. He stopped his
studies and enlisted in the Twenty-first Tennessee Confederate Infantry, with which command he served a year as
lieutanant and was then transferred and held the same rank under Gens. Chalmers and Forrest until the cessation
of hostilities. He then returned to Mamphis and resumed the reading of law, and in 1866 was admitted to the bar.
Except a few months he practiced alone until 1878 when the present firm of which he is a member was formed.
From January, 1876 , to January, 1882, he was attorney for the county of Shelby. HE is one of a family of ten
sons and four daughters, of whom four sons and two daughters survive. In 1866 he was married to Miss Margaret
RUffin, a native of Mississippi ... His wife died in 1878, and in 1881 he married Miss Louise Crawford .... Dr.
Taylor is a member of the following orders: F&AM, K of P, K of H, and AOUW."
More About JULIUS TAYLOR and MARGARET RUFFIN:
Marriage: 1866
Children of MARGARET RUFFIN and JULIUS TAYLOR are:
i. JAMES RUFFIN10 TAYLOR, b. Abt. 1868, Tennessee; m. MARY WILSON.
2. ii. FANNIE H. TAYLOR, b. Abt. 1871, Tennessee.
3. iii. ROSA R. TAYLOR, b. Abt. 1874, Tennessee.
iv. JULIUS ALEXANDER TAYLOR, JR., b. Abt. 1876, Tennessee.
Generation No. 2 2. FANNIE H.10 TAYLOR (MARGARET B.9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) was born Abt. 1871 in Tennessee. She married WILLIAM PERSON BROWN, SR.. Children of FANNIE TAYLOR and WILLIAM BROWN are: 4. i. WILLIAM PERSON11 BROWN, JR.. 5. ii. LOUISE TAYLOR BROWN. 3. ROSA R.10 TAYLOR (MARGARET B.9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) was born Abt. 1874 in Tennessee. She married JEROME PILLOW LONG. Children of ROSA TAYLOR and JEROME LONG are: 6. i. JEROME PILLOW11 LONG, JR.. 7. ii. LOUISE TAYLOR LONG. Generation No. 3 4. WILLIAM PERSON11 BROWN, JR. (FANNIE H.10 TAYLOR, MARGARET B.9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) He married MARION GAINES. Children of WILLIAM BROWN and MARION GAINES are: i. WILLIAM PERSON12 BROWN III. ii. MARION GAINES BROWN. 1 6 5. LOUISE TAYLOR11 BROWN (FANNIE H.10 TAYLOR, MARGARET B.9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B., ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) She married JAMES L. ROSS. Child of LOUISE BROWN and JAMES ROSS is: i. MARGARET BENNETT12 ROSS. 6 6. JEROME PILLOW11 LONG, JR. (ROSA R.10 TAYLOR, MARGARET B.9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B., ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) He married BETTIE BARSTON. Children of JEROME LONG and BETTIE BARSTON are: i. JEROME PILLOW12 LONG III. ii. WILLIAM BARSTON LONG. 6 7. LOUISE TAYLOR11 LONG (ROSA R.10 TAYLOR, MARGARET B.9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B., ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) She married A.M. SINCLAIR. Children of LOUISE LONG and A.M. SINCLAIR are: i. LOUISE12 SINCLAIR. ii. LONG SINCLAIR. 2
Children of ROSA RUFFIN and CHARLES GRAVES are:
2. i. DR. T. C.10 GRAVES.
ii. MARTHA GRAVES, m. FRANK GILCHRIST.
2. DR. T. C.10 GRAVES (ROSA BELLE9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) He married IDA HAROLD. Children of T. GRAVES and IDA HAROLD are: i. ROSA11 GRAVES. Notes for ROSA GRAVES: Died in infancy. 3. ii. MARGARET GRAVES. 4. iii. VIRGINIA GRAVES. 5. iv. THOMAS C. GRAVES. Generation No. 3 3. MARGARET11 GRAVES (T. C.10, ROSA BELLE9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) She married DR. JULIUS DOUGLASS. Children of MARGARET GRAVES and JULIUS DOUGLASS are: i. JULIE12 DOUGLASS. ii. MARTHA DOUGLASS. 4. VIRGINIA11 GRAVES (T. C.10, ROSA BELLE9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) She married L.J. MOORE. Children of VIRGINIA GRAVES and L.J. MOORE are: i. MARJORIE12 MOORE. ii. VIRGINIA MOORE. iii. JEANE MOORE. 5. THOMAS C.11 GRAVES (T. C.10, ROSA BELLE9 RUFFIN, JAMES DRURY8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, ROBERT5, JOHN4, ROBERT3, ROBERT2, WILLIAM1) He married THELMA CLEAVER. Child of THOMAS GRAVES and THELMA CLEAVER is: i. THOMAS C.12 GRAVES, JR.. 1
From 1839 through 1845 he was listed as Probate Judge or appointed Commissioner in settlement of many probate cases in the northern part of the county. He had apparently moved from the county by 1860 since he does not appear in that census. So I do not have evidence that JDR was in the county when the Braswells were there.
He must have moved just north of the Panola Co. line into what was at that time the southern part of Desoto Co. (now Tate Co.) because my g.grandfather, Will E. Terry, mustered into the reorganized Invincibles (Co.D, 4th Regiment MS Cavalry) in May 1862, with Capt. James D. Ruffin as the commander.
References to JDR after the War show him as "General"...I do not know if he actually attained that rank, or if it was bestowed upon him by local citizenry who knew that he had commanded a CSA unit.
JDR's obituary from the Sardis Southern Reporter lists him as "General James D. Ruffin, county pioneer and Mayor of Como, died April 27, 1886, age 69". I have never been able to find a marker for him or his wife, although several of their children, who were prominent citizens in north Panola Co., are buried in the Como and Sardis cemeteries.
The only other Ruffin in Panola Co. as early as 1850, was William D. who was 23, born in TN, and in the same household as Mary Price, 32, who I think was his sister...they might have been siblings of James.
One of Mary's daughters married Shelton McGehee and many of their descendants live in the Como area now. By 1860 DWR had married, three children had died and were buried in Fredonia Cemetery (seven miles east of Como), and his 28 year old wife would die in Dec. of 1860. Some people think that he is also buried with his wife and infant children at Fredonia and that his tombstone was in the cemetery at one time but is now missing. However, there is a CSA marker with no dates on it for David W. Ruffin in Salem Cemetery (in Tate Co. just a mile and a half north of the Panola Co. line in the western part of the county).
Local family members have been told that their Ruffin ancestors were the same Ruffins associated with the Dandridges (through marriages) from whom Martha Washington descends...I have not tried to verify that, however.
So that is about all that I know of the Panola Co. Ruffins
except that my g.grandfather named one of his sons (my grandfather) Crenshaw Ruffin
Terry out of respect for his former CSA commander.
Additional info on-line: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~westxan/
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