George Washington Ruffin

Not the same as Dr. George Washington Ruffin, (CSA)

Biography

“Heslip-Ruffin Family | Amistad Research Center”

Nancy Ruffin (1816-1874) and George W. Ruffin (1800-1863) were free Blacks during the antebellum era residing in Richmond, Virginia. George W. worked as a barber, and both he and Nancy valued education and hired a tutor to teach their children English literature, Latin and the classics. Following the prohibition by the Virginia legislature against African Americans learning to read, Nancy moved to Boston in 1853 along with their eight children, while George W remained in Virginia and sent funds for the family's support. Following the move to Boston, Nancy sold fish and fruit sent by family in the South.

Children

1. George Lewis Ruffin (1834-1886) m Josephine St. Pierre
2. James D Ruffin (abt 1837 - )
3. Emma Ruffin (abt 1839 - )
4. John L. Ruffin (abt 1843 - )
5. O'Connell Ruffin (abt 1846 - 6 July 1906)
6. Lillie Ann Ruffin (abt 1847-1913) m Richard Gault Leslie Paige, Sr.
7. Powhattan Ruffin
8. Baby Boy Ruffin

Also in household in 1850

1. Maria Lewis Ruffin (abt 1832 - )

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<“George Washington Ruffin, Richmond Free Black Barber”> (2018)

The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Richmond … link has some fantastic photographic images of Richmond's African American community from the antebellum years to the Civil Rights era. One fascinating image showed George Washington Ruffin, one of Richmond's many free black barbers. The photograph is owned by the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, who also owns a collection of the family's correspondence. George Washington and Nancy Ruffin's impressive images can be viewed on the Amistad Research Center's website. …it explained that the Ruffins valued education as the way toward socioeconomic advancement and therefore Nancy and the children moved to Boston where a better education could be attained than in Virginia. Meanwhile, George Washington Ruffin remained in Virginia as financial provider for the family, presumably due to his established barbering business.

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References

• Ancestry.com. Marriage Bonds of Henrico County, Virginia, 1782-1853 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data:Pollack, Michael E. Marriage Bonds of Henrico County, Virginia, 1782-1853. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984 < AncestryImage > RUFFIN, GEORGE W., free black, to NANCY LEWIS, free black. JOHN LEWIS, free black, surety. 30 Dec 1833.
• Year: 1840; Census Place: Richmond Ward 1, Henrico, Virginia; Roll: 561; Page: 142; Family History Library Film: 0029687 <AncestryImage > Name George Ruffin Home in 1840 (City, County, State) Richmond Ward 1, Henrico, Virginia Free Colored Persons - Males - Under 10 2 Free Colored Persons - Males - 36 thru 54 1 Free Colored Persons - Females - Under 10 1 Free Colored Persons - Females - 10 thru 23 1 Free Colored Persons - Females - 24 thru 35 1 Slaves - Males - Under 10 2 Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35 1 Persons Employed in Manufacture and Trade 1 Total Free Colored Persons 6 Total Slaves 3 Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves 9
• 1850 US Federal census, Richmond, Virginia. <MyHeritage> Household headed by George Ruffin (b 1800), barber. Wife (implied) Nancy Ruffin 33 Son (implied) George S Ruffin 15 Son (implied) James Ruffin 13 Daughter (implied) Emma Ruffin 11 Son (implied) John Ruffin 7 Son (implied) O Connell Ruffin 5 Daughter (implied) Silly Ruffin 3. Maria Senis 18.
• <carte-de-visite of George W. Ruffin> Amistad Research Center on WordPress.com
• Heslip-Ruffin Family Papers, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/repositories/2/resources/167 Accessed April 27, 2022.
• <Ruffin, Nancy Lewis >The Heslip-Ruffin Family Papers pertain to several generations of the Ruffin family beginning with Nancy Lewis and George W. Ruffin, who were both ante-bellum free Blacks. The collection includes correspondence between various family members and letters received by members of the Heslip-Ruffin Family, including those by Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Legal documents, biographical data, news clippings, printed ephemera, and photographs document the achievements of various... The earliest correspondence is between Nancy Lewis Ruffin and her husband, George W. Ruffin. The letters of this couple are all holographs, written by Nancy from Boston to her husband in Richmond, Virginia, after Nancy and her children moved to Boston in order that the children might have the advantages of an education, while George W. remained in Virginia and sent funds for the family's support.
• George Lewis Ruffin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia “Ruffin was born to George W. (1800–1863) and Nancy Lewis Ruffin (1816–1874) in Richmond, Virginia as a free person of color, of African and European ancestry. The city had a large free black community. His family moved to Boston in 1853, where he was educated in the public schools. …”
• <“ Ruffin, Nancy Lewis> Amistad Research Center. “Carte-de-visite of Nancy Lewis Ruffin. Verso reads: G. H. Loomis, Carte De Visite, No. 7, Tremont Row, Boston.”
• http://randomthoughtsonhistory.blogspot.com/2018/03/george-washingt... “ Hello all! I am … the great great....grandson of George Washington Ruffin! It is so beautiful and humbling to read that you guys are interested in my great grand’s life. I can say the Edmund Ruffin was too young to be His father. However, I have been researching who his mother or father could be. I have found nothing so far. However, he spoke many languages and most likely was born to a free black mother as I have been unable to find any paperwork regarding the purchase of his freedom. My hypotheses is his mother or parents gained freedom after or during the American Revolution as many free blacks did.” (Posted by Unknown October 26, 2018 at 3:44 PM)
• Schweninger, Loren. “The Roots of Enterprise: Black-Owned Businesses in Virginia, 1830-1880.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 100, no. 4 (1992): 515–42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4249312. Page 522, note 15. Page 523. <PDF>
• “Cutting Along the Color Line: Black Barbers and Barber Shops in America.” By Quincy T. Mills. <GoogleBooks >
• Roy, Jessie H. “COLORED JUDGES: JUDGE GEORGE LEWIS RUFFIN.” Negro History Bulletin, vol. 28, no. 6, 1965, pp. 135–37, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24766711. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.
• Sources: Gates, Henry Louis Jr and Evelyn Brooks-Higginbothom. African American National Biography, Vols. 6-7 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 598-599 (vol. 6) and 28-31 (vol. 7); Cleveland Call and Post (January 12, 1971, p. 4A.
• Note Author: Christopher Harter
• <AncestryTree> shows a 1st wife Caroline Wilkinson