Re: Peter Rumage, 1814 -?1894, His Wife Mary Ann Ruth, and some of their descend
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In reply to:
Peter Rumage, 1814 -?1894, His Wife Mary Ann Ruth, and some of their descendants
Phil Oliver 7/03/04
Since the original post I have clarified some information and found much more. ----
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Peter Rumage, 1814 -?1894
His Wife Mary Ann Ruth, And Some Descendants Including The Ruth Family
Peter Rumage 3[Conrad2, Jacob1] and Mary Ann Ruth
Peter Rumage was the son of Conrad Rumage.
"... Conrad RUMMAGE 2 (Jacob 1) was born in Northampton County about 1790; came to Hanover with his father about 1803; married Katie MINNICH; lived and died in Hanover. They had:
Peter RUMMAGE, b. 1814, m. Sally RUTH,
Mary RUMMAGE, d. 1871, m. Simon Peter VANDERMARK,
Polly RUMMAGE, m. Peter BOWMAN,
Conrad RUMMAGE, m. Kate SAUM,
Eliza RUMMAGE, m. Mahlon VAN NORMAN"1
Peter Rumage:
Birth: 1814, Pennsylvania2, 3, 4
Death: 11 Jan 18945
Father: Conrad [2] Romich (Rumage) (1790-1867)
Mother: Catherine (Katie) Minnich (1794-1875)
Spouse: Mary Ann (Sally) Ruth6,7
Birth: ? 1823
Death: bef 1 Jun 18807
Obituary: "Peter Rumage, aged 79 and a former resident of Ashley died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Nathaniel Mead of Duryea. He is survived by four brothers8, George and Charles of Ashley, S. P. Rumage of Wilkes-Barre and John of Kansas, and sisters Mrs. Frank Mostello of Moosic, Mrs. Nathaniel Meade, Mrs. Thomas Keating and Mrs. William Beadle of Duryea. The body will be taken from Duryea to the Brick Church at Old Forge, where services will be held and where interment will be made."9
Now to clarify a few concerns and questions that have arisen for researchers in this line, primarily the identity of his wife or wives and the names of all his children.
HIS WIFE MARY ANN RUTH , AKA SALLY RUTH
The name of the wife of Peter Rumage has come into question; it has been held that it was SALLY or MARY ANN and some have speculated that he had two wives to account for the difference.This author proposes that Sally is the nickname for Mary Ann Ruth Rumage.
From a great granddaughter of Caroline Rumage Caton:
"My grandmother [wife of Thomas Caton] helped raise me and she
always referred to Carrie's parents as Peter and Sally. But in most records his
wife is listed as Mary Ann. My hunch is that Sally may have been a second wife.
I only ever see five or six children listed for Peter and Mary Ann..."
As noted above, Blackman does refer to the wife of Peter Rumage as SALLY.Since this was published in 1885, we can assume he had contemporary knowledge or informants. Most of her children were in the area; Peter was alive.
Agnes Ruth Oliver, a great-granddaughter of Peter and Mary Ann collated a genealogy based on consultation and family records from her siblings in the 1970's.She had personal recollection of the children of this couple and her own childhood visits to Caroline's home("Aunt Carrie [Caroline Rumage] being my grandmother's [Isabella Rumage Ruth] sister ...") In her work, she lists Peter's wife as MARY ANN RUTH, and a note later shows her to be a cousin to Agnes' grandfather, Isabel Rumage's husband, CHARLES FENNER RUTH ["CFR"].
Conclusions:
Isabella Rumage married Charles Fenner Ruth "cousin of Mary Ann Ruth" - his mother in law was a cousin.While the exact relationship has never been described, this information together with the 1850 census, which lists the family as being headed by Peter Rumage and shows "Mary A." in the household demonstrates that his wife was named Mary Ann.Further, Peter was a widower in 1880 (see below); he would have outlived two wives both of the same family name. Not impossible, of course, but there is really no reason to think Plumb would have missed a second wife, and he was working on this information within a few years of that census; Peter was alive at this time.
And further, as the second wife would also have to be a Ruth family member; it certainly seems likely that fact would have come down to Agnes Ruth Oliver as did the relationship between her great-grandmother, Mary Ann and her grandfather, Charles Fenner Ruth.Finally, the very statement that Peter's wife was always called Sally within the family is likely the cause of Plumb's listing that name.
THEIR CHILDREN:
FamilyTradition:
Agnes Ruth Oliver lists the following parents, grandparents, children, marriages and dates, none of which have been clearly contradicted, and most of which has been substantiated by other sources; the information is reproduced as faithfully as possible10:
Conrad RUMAGE m Catherine MINNICK[Minnich is the usual spelling]
Children
1. PETER m Mary Ann Ruth
Children
ISABEL(2/27/1844-8/26/1907)
Clementine
John W.
Mary m. Meade
Simon
George
Ida
Annetta
Caroline (Carrie) m Thomas Caton
The 1850 Census
Rumage Peter age 35 born 181511in PA
Mary A. age 27 born 1827 in PA
Isabilla age 6 born 1844 in PA
Christiana age 4 born 1846 in PA
John W. age 3 born 1847 in PA
Mary C. age 1 born 1849 in PA
In 1850 Mary Ann would have been 23 if born 1827; the census taker's error is evident, though we don't know if he got the year wrong or the age. It seems more likely that the age 27 was given to him and then he wrote the erroneous date. The 1860 census (below) is consistent with 1823.
The 1860 Census
Rumage Peter, Age 46
Mary Rumage, Age 37
Isabella Rumage, Age 16
Clementine Rumage, Age 14
Jno W. Rumage Age 13
Mary Rumage age 11
Simon Rumage Age 9
George Rumage Age 6
Ida Rumage, Age 4
Minetta Rumage age 1
Sally Arrett, age 53, "pauper"
Wm. Fulton, Age 40, b. Scotland, "Milliner"
The family is so far not located in the 1870 census.
This clears up several little puzzles. This is the last census where we find the older girls, as they married or passed on by 1880.Isabella appears as Isabella Ruth after 1860 and disappears after 1880.
Clementine Rumage is a servant in _____ in the ___ census.
The 1880 Census
Peter Rumage was living in Marcy Township as a farmer in 1880. He is shown as a widower, so Mary Ann
died between 1860 -1880.Living on the farm with him are his children, listed as:
Minnie, age 22;
Ida, age 23;
Ann, age 20;
Charles, age 16 (a laborer);
Caroline, age 12.
All except Minnie and/or Annetta appear in the chart, in order, constructed by Agnes Ruth Oliver.Ann is associated with "Annetta" in her chart.
Clementon, Clementine, Christiana?
The Agnes Ruth Oliver genealogy shows the name Clementine for the second child.Another cousin has advised (information not verified) that "Clementon" [perhaps male] and Isabella were baptized together at St. James Lutheran Church in Newport or Hanover on July 12, 184612.However, the 1850 census shows "Christiana" as the name, which is even less likely.
In researches on the Ruth family many identical names are found in the same corner of Pennsylvania; identical even to middle initial.However, it does seem surpassingly unlikely that an Isabella and a Clementine or Clementon, of the same ages, and the same last name, Rummage, would occur.However, other data, including a different census now are seen to cast doubt on the alleged record as fitting this family.
However, there is no quibbling about the 1860 Census, where the name Clementine is clearly and cleanly written, and the sex specified as female aged 14 (b. ca 1846). This comports with every fact. No matter, we have to think the census taker was having a very bad day when he arrived at the Rumage household in 1850.
Minnie? Minetta? Ann? Annetta?
Agnes Ruth Oliver showed "Annetta" and no Minetta at all, nor any child who could be Minetta.It seems that the names provided came down from memory and oral tradition; she definitely consulted her siblings in preparation of the genealogy.She would not likely have known any of them except Carrie who she has written of knowing, and no doubt relied on her older siblings or cousins who may have known them ... Ralph, the oldest was b. 1895, so they may have been alive in his youth.
It seems probable that Ann and Minetta became mixed together, being close in age, the same sex, and of distant memory.We should rely on the 1860 and 1880 census information in our final list.
The 1860 census shows "Minetta" aged 1 (1858/9); this is obviously the "Minnie" aged 22 in the 1880 Census, the only child Agnes Ruth Oliver seems to have missed.
Conclusion:
This is a correct listing of the children of this couple, with all names appearing on one census or the other and matching (except Minetta) Agnes Ruth Oliver's list; dates are approximated in most cases.
Isabella (1844-1907) m. Charles F. Ruth
Clementine (Female) (1846-)
John W. (1847-)
Mary C. (1849-) m. Nathaniel13 Mead
Simon Peter (1850-)
George Meriot (8 April 1854-)
Ida Ruth (9 Jun 1856-)
Minnetta (1858-)
Ann (Annetta?) (1860-)
Charles Frederick (ca 1864-)
Caroline "Carrie" (1867-1935) m. Thomas Caton
ISABELLA RUMAGE RUTH AND THE RUTH FAMILY
In both the 1860 and the 1880 census, the name given is Isabella; certainly in 1880 she would have seen to the correct spelling, so Agnes Ruth Oliver's spelling of ISABEL is not correct, nor is the 1850 Census 'Isabilla' accepted.
Charles W. Ruth recalled the time he spent on his grandparents' farm as boy fondly and told the story to his children often; from them it has passed down to the next generation and the author. In the 1880 Census, Peter's family has two other members, two children listed as 'grandson', Charles and William Ruth. These last two children are the children of Isabella Rumage Ruth.The census provides clear confirmation of the story.
Charles Wesley Ruth was born 4 December 1869(shown as 10 in the census; this is accurate, his birthday is in December).He is said to have been the posthumous child of Charles Fenner Ruth, Isabella's first husband, who is attributed by family legend to have died in the Avondale disaster, though no conclusive evidence has been found.He died in a mining accident of some sort in late 1869.
Except that he was "Pennsylvania Dutch" origins of Charles Fenner Ruth ["CFR"] are not known.His son Charles Wesley Ruth identified himself as Pennsylvania Dutch14.While the Rumage family was in fact German (Deutsch) German families in the Wyoming Valley did not tend to use that term, it is most often used in counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Monroe, Lehigh, Berks, Bucks, counties among others.Therefore, we make an educated guess that the Pennsylvania Dutch self-identity comes through his father and that his roots will be out of Luzerne County.We do not know if Charles Wesley Ruth had any contact with CFR's family, except the connection that may have existed through Sally Ruth.
That CFR was a cousin of Mary Ann (Sally) Ruth is almost certain, but her origins are at this point as mysterious as his are.There are endless Mary Ruth's and many of the right age, in Pennsylvania.
There is a Charles Ruth son of George Ruth, a weaver, in the1850 Census in Hamilton Twp., Monroe County, perhaps 25-50 miles from the area.This child is shown to be 7 years old (should be 6 if the birth date February 27, 1844, is correct).While the sheet is damaged, and the researcher has been unable to read the name of George's wife or most of the siblings; backtracking with the readable (or guessable) names, the family has been located in other censuses and all but one name is now known.That family has been effectively traced to 1880, and one child to 1910.
This is the only Charles Ruth in Pennsylvania to closely match the known facts.This is not conclusive.Note for example that his son, Charles W. Ruth has a "shadow" counterpart [Charles W. Ruth]of the same age in every census, but clearly from a different family.An 1870 Isabella Ruth is found who is of the right age, but definitely in the wrong family to be the Isabella Rumage Ruth we know.We must presume that Charles, son of George is "possibly" but not conclusively our Charles Fenner Ruth.Most of the family that is traceable remains in Monroe County until 1880 when they move to Bethlehem, PA, but the eldest boy may have moved to Iowa, and most members disappear, especially females, due to marriage no doubt.
Interestingly, they live at one point in "Fenners Ville" and there are many Fenner intermarriages with some Ruth family in the times at question; and distantly related to the Rumage family as well.Online lineages show Fenner-Ruth connections; it is not yet convincing that they link to this family.
The author is researching CFR's Civil War record; there are three Charles Ruth names from Pennsylvania, and no information that allows matching using online sources. NARA will be the next step, though previous research shows that Isabella never applied for a pension.His service is undoubted, there is a photo of their wedding in which he is in uniform, and an in-law relation made an affidavit in 1923 in which he stated "knowing the family history intimately ...[he] was a Civil War Veteran."15
William, aged 5 in 1880, was Isabella's child, born out of wedlock. Family oral tradition says she was raped by her employer, a physician. Tradition further states that later she married one Eugene Bieler (sp?), had three children by him (Arthur and Alice are names given) and he adopted Charles and William, though it may not have been a formal legal adoption.No record to support this has been found; but much searching remains to be done.No Eugene Beeler, Bieler, Biehler nor Isabella Biehler, etc. has been found in any census that could conceivably be them.
Also in this census, Isabella Ruth is shown as a servant in the household of Elisha Atherton, a man in his 80's suffering from "palsy" and living with his elderly wife and the husband and children of a niece who evidently do the actual farming. Isabella was obviously needed to help out with two elderly adults and two small children in the household.Atherton's farm is in Marcy Township, obviously no coincidence.
Isabella has so far not been located on any other census (1870, 1890, 1900, 1910). The death of Isabella is not on record so far as the author can ascertain and Pennsylvania had no record - though it is difficult to know under what name to search, and Pennsylvania Vital Records have proven to be very amusing if not in the least reliable when compared with well-documented facts. The date of death given by Agnes Ruth Oliver is of unknown origin, but the specificity is unusual, and leads the author to assume she had a very specific source for it.
1 Plumb, Henry Blackman, History of Hanover Township and Wyoming Valley, Robert Baur, Printer and Stationer, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 1885 - 498 pp., geocities.com/heartland/hills/1069/hanover/rummage.html, 474-475.
2 Plumb, Henry Blackman, op. Cit.
3 "ARO(i)Genealogy Research," Agnes Rita /Ruth/Genealogy Charts and Notes made by her concerning her aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins including many contemporaries.
4"1850 Census, US."
5 Obituary of Peter Rumage." Wilkes-Barre Record, Jan 12, 1894.
6 "1850 Census, US."
7 Patty Almond ([email protected]), "Rumage Lineage," 8/16/01, Madison WI.
8 Those shown as siblings are in fact his children, as shall be demonstrated.
9 Obituary, Wilkes-Barre Record, Jan 12, 1894:
10 "ARO(i)Genealogy Research," Agnes Rita /Ruth/Genealogy Charts and Notes made by her concerning her aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins including many contemporaries.
11 due to the many errors showing the poor quality of this record entry Plumb's 1814 is retained.
12 Church records of St. James Lutheran Church, Newport Center (Nanticoke), 7/12/1846; FHL 1312467 Item 5 This has not been verified by the author, who presumes the Clementon entry indicates an error in reading or transcribing the original record.
13 A distant cousin who knew the family recalls the name as "George" but the obituary says Nathaniel, and despite its many errors, census records shows a nearby Nathaniel Mead with wife Mary but no George anywhere.
14 "ARO (1980) Recollections of the Childhood of Agnes Ruth," Agnes Ruth Oliver, Typescript, 3 Pages, 28 Nov 1980.
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15 "Affidavit of Edward C. Hope," Edward C. /Hope/, Accompany Passport Application 290634, 12 MAY 1923.
More Replies:
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Re: Peter Rumage, 1814 -?1894, His Wife Mary Ann Ruth, and some of their descend
Edna Nagle 1/04/12
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Re: Peter Rumage, 1814 -?1894, His Wife Mary Ann Ruth, and some of their descend
Phil Oliver 3/23/07