Ancestor of the Day: Moses Ruyle (1780 - 1864)

Moses Ruyle is Donica's 5th Great Grandfather. Her descent from Moses is as follows: 

Moses Ruyle (1780 - 1864)

Andrew Ruyle (1814 - 1897)

John Ruyle (1852 - 1937)

Della Ruyle (1890 - 1954)

Floyd Davis (1911 - 1992)

Floyd's daughter

Her son

Donica

Moses Ruyle was born April 10, 1780 in Hampshire County, Virginia. He is often cited as the son of Henry Ruyle (1715 -1790), and his mother is identified as Catharine (1735 - 1810). Moses was the tenth of twelve children born to Henry and Catharine, their children are as follows:

Henry (1753 - 1840s)

Andrew (1756 - 1840s)

Mary (1758 - 1840s)

Magdalene (1760 - 1792)

John (1761 - 1842)

Margaret (1764 - 1794)

Elizabeth (1768 - 1851)

Catherine Celia (1770 - 1868)

Solomon (1777 - 1847) 

Moses (1780 - 1864)

Aaron (1781 - 1849)

Peter (1783 -1869)

By the time Moses was born, his elder siblings were in their twenties and the family had lived in Hampshire, Virginia for decades. At the time of his birth, the colony was one of four fighting for Independence during the American Revolutionary War. 

Possibly the only surviving print of Moses Ruyle, ca. 1860

Sometime between 1783 and 1790, the family relocated to Sumner County, Tennessee. Shortly after the move, Moses's father, Henry Ruyle died in 1790, when Moses was just 10 years old. Below are the paragraphs from Henry's Last Will and Testament that pertain to Moses:

"I leave and bequeath unto my sons John Ruyle, Solomon Ruyle, Moses Ruyle, Aaron Ruyle, and Peter Ruyle the plantation and land whereon I now live, with its appurtenances to be equally dividing it in such manner as my son Peter Ruyle, being the youngest may have the cleared the land that now is, to my said sons, their heirs and assigns forever...

Also it is my will and desire that the remainder of Stock of Cattle and Sheep undisposed shall go to the use of raising and Schooling my sons Solomon, Moses, Aaron and Peter they being the youngest, except in the case my som John Ruyle should make a crop or two on the plantation in order to support the family he is to have part of said Stock as a recompense for his labor and care...

I lastly constitute, nominate and appoint my wife Catharine Ruyle and my son John 
Ruyle to be Executrix and Executor to this my last will and Testament. In Testimony whereof I have herewith set my hand and seal this 16th day of Feburary, Anno Domini 1790.

Signed, Sealed, published and delaired by the said Henry Ruyle to be and 
contained his last will and testament.

Wit. N. Phillips, Jno. Cravens, Edward Jones
Proved: 1790 July"

During the decade after his father's death, Moses lost two older sisters, Magdalene (d. 1792) and Margaret (d. 1794). 

Moses married first Mary Goldston (1778 - 1809) in Sumner County, Tennessee in 1804. The couple had at least three children: Mary Jane (b. abt 1805), Catherine (1805 - 1850) and Moses Ruyle, Jr. (1807 - 1808) who died in infancy. Mary died during the winter of 1808 or 1809 and the cause of her death is unclear, though most likely related to childbirth given her age and birth of her last child. 

Marriage bond for Moses Ruyle and Elisabeth Kizer

As was customary in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Moses remarried soon after the death of his first wife, this time to Elisabeth Kizer (1788 - 1851) on May 19, 1809 in Sumner County, Tennessee. Moses's second marriage produced nine children as follows:

Austin (1810 - 1879)

Emily (1811 - 1910)

Elvira Ella (1812 - 1909)

Andrew (1814 - 1897)

Polly (1815 - 1896)

Sarah (1817 -1858)

Washington (1818 - 1907)

Parlee Ann (1820 - 1893)

Henry (1822 - 1913)

Littleton (1824 - 1871)

All of Moses and Elisabeth's children were born in Tennessee. According to family sources, Moses moved to Macoupin County, Illinois in 1829. Near the end of his life, Moses had relocated to Greene County, Illinois and was living with his youngest daughter, Parley Ann and her husband, Washington Hix. Moses Ruyle died in Scottsville, Macoupin, Illinois, USA on April 10, 1864 and is buried on what was his own property, now known as the Ruyle Cemetery in Scottsville, Macoupin, Illinois.

Moses Ruyle's headstone in Scottsville, Macoupin, Illinois

Ancestor of the day: Elsie Alice Walton (1895 - 1933)

Elsie Alice Walton was born in Chicago Heights, Cook County, Illinois on May 22, 1895. She was the daughter of Adolph Robert Walton (1861 - 1925) and Bertha Catherine Borst (1876 - 1906). Both of her parents were first generation Americans and all four of her grandparents were born in Germany. Not much is known about her grandparents before they arrived in the United States, but her maternal grandfather, Wendelin Borst, was born in Baden-Wurttemberg and his wife, Catharina, was originally from Bavaria. Adolph and his family moved from Chicago to Champaign, Illinois in 1903 where Adolph became employed as an Upholsterer for Mittendorf & Kiler. 

Elsie was the eldest of four children: her only brother Frank Julius Walton was born in 1896, her sister Grance Florence Walton was born in 1904 (died 1966), and her youngest sister Helen Rose Walton was born in 1906. Unfortunately, Helen Rose died shortly after her birth and Elsie's mother, Bertha died at their home shortly thereafter due to what her obituary called "puerpereal convulsions." It was also said that Bertha had been a "vigorous and healthy" woman. Elsie was 11 when she lost her mother. 

Aroung 1918 Elsie married William Hugh Guthrie (1886 - 1967) and the couple moved briefly to Raymond, Rice, Kansas, USA. Hugh already had three children from a previous marriage: William Henry b. 1908, Branch b. 1912, and Evert b. 1915. Elsie's first daughter, Goldia "Goldie" Marie Guthrie was born January 15, 1919. Her second daughter, Cleota Elizabeth was born in Kansas as well, in 1921.

The family relocated to Mahomet, Champaign, Illinois, USA sometime between Cleota's birth and the birth of the couple's third daughter, Eunice Alice Guthrie in 1924. Elsie and Hugh's fourth child, and only son, Floyd Jack Guthrie was born in 1926. 

Elsie's life was cut tragically short when she received a scratch from a rusted nail. The wound became infected and Elsie died of blood poisoning ten days later on April 23, 1933. According to a news article that accompanied her obituary, Elsie was not brought to the hospital until April 23 and was in critical condition upon her arrival. I can only imagine what her life could have been if she had arrived at the hospital before her injuries became so critical!

Elsie Alice Walton Guthrie was buried in Mahomet Cemetery in Mahomet, Champaign, Illinois. At the time of her death she was 47 years old.