Nancy Ruffin

Biography

“Heslip-Ruffin Family | Amistad Research Center” (dead link) < “Google Arts & Culture” >

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 (b 1834-1886) m Josephine St. Pierre. Barber; later - lawyer, judge, politician.
2. James D Ruffin (b abt 1839 - ) Hairdresser.
3. Emma Ruffin (b abt 1842 - ) Dressmaker.
4. John L. Ruffin (b abt 1844 - ) Hairdresser.
5. O'Connell Ruffin (b abt 1846 - 6 July 1906) Porter on cars; later - artist
6. Lillie Ann Ruffin (b abt 1847-1913) m Richard Gault Leslie Paige, Sr.
7. Powhattan Ruffin (b abt 1851 - ) m Harriet E. Nelson. Printer.
8. Baby Boy Ruffin
9. Louisa M Ruffin (b abt 1856 - )
10. Robert L. Ruffin (b abt 1858 - )

Disambiguation

• Not the same person as Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Deaths and Burials Index, 1853-1917 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. < AncestryImage > Name: Nancy Ruffin Death Date: Nov 1857 Death Place: Prince George, Virginia Gender: Female Father Name: Edmd. Jr. (Slave Owner) Ruffin FHL Film Number: 2046952
• From “The Lee Family Slaves” By: Joe Ryan. “In 1846, R.E. Lee identifies "Nancy and her children" as "property" he owned as of that time. Given the text of a letter R.E. Lee wrote his brother, Charles, in 1835, Nancy's "children" numbered three. How old the children were, at the time of his mother's death, the record does not show. R.E. Lee's Letter to Charles Lee, Feburary 24, 1835 —“

• This Nancy Lewis (who married George Ruffin in 1833) is not that person.

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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.
• Nancy Lewis & George W. Ruffin Marriage: Dec 30 1833 Richmond, Virginia Wife: Nancy Lewis Husband: George W. Ruffin Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00906-4 System Origin: Virginia-EASy GS Film number: 31855. <AncestryImage >
• Will Books, 1810-1901; Author: Virginia. Hustings Court (Richmond (Independent City)); Probate Place: Richmond, Virginia < AncestryImage > Richmond Will Date: 29 Jun 1838 Probate Date: 29 Jun 1838 Probate Place: Richmond, Virginia, USA Inferred Death Year: 1838 Inferred Death Place: Virginia, USA Item Description: Hustings, Book 7-8, 1835-1841 Others Listed Relationship John Lewis [Self] Mary Lewis: Wife John Lewis: Child Nancy Lewis: Child Leonora Lewis: Child Louisa Lewis [former] wife Robinette Harmon [step] daughter
• 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
• Year: 1850; Census Place: 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.
• <“Nancy Ruffin to “my dear husband,”> Boston, Nov. 12th, 1858.
• Year: 1860; Census Place: Boston Ward 6, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M653_521; Page: 856; Family History Library Film: 803521 <AncestryImage> Household Members Age Nancy Buffin 44 George L Buffin 25 James V Buffin 23 Emma Buffin 20 John L Buffin 17 O Connell Buffin Lellie A Buffin 12 Mary L Buffin 6 Robert L Buffin Margaret Haller 36 Josephine Ruffin 18 Hubert Ruffin 2
• Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., State Census, 1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data:Massachusetts. 1855–1865 Massachusetts State Census [microform]. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. <AncestryImage > Name Nancy Ruffin Gender Female Marital Status Widowed Birth Year 1820 Birth Place Virginia Residence Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA Enumeration Year 1865 Age 45 Ward 6 Household Number 1682 Reel Number 29 Volume Number 32 Household Members 5
• Year: 1870; Census Place: Chelsea, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_650; Page: 102A < AncestryImage > Name: Nancy Ruffin Age in 1870: 54 Birth Date: abt 1816 Birthplace: Virginia Dwelling Number: 1571 Home in 1870: Chelsea, Suffolk, Massachusetts Race: Mulatto Gender: Female Post Office: Chelsea Occupation: Keeping House Personal Estate Value: 1800 Real Estate Value: 4500. Household Members Age Nancy Ruffin 54 James D Ruffin 31 Emma Ruffin 28 John L Ruffin 26 O Connell Ruffin 24 Powhatton Ruffin 19 Louisa M Ruffin 14 Robert L Ruffin 12
• Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. < AncestryImage > Name: Harriet E Nelson Event Type: Marriage Birth Date: abt 1856 Marriage Date: 21 Nov 1883 Marriage Place: Boston, Massachusetts Marriage Age: 27 Father Name: Henry Nelson Mother Name: Caroline Nelson Spouse Name: Powhattan Ruffin Spouse Marriage Age: 32 Spouse Father Name: George W Ruffin Spouse Mother Name: Naney Ruffin
• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44603478/the-boston-globe/
• <carte-de-visite of George W. Ruffin> Amistad Research Center on WordPress.com
• <“ 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.”
• <Carte-de-visite of Nancy Lewis Ruffin> Amistad Research Center on WordPress.com
• Deed. Ruffin Family Papers, . Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. https://huaspace.wrlc.org/public/repositories/2/archival_objects/60036 Accessed April 28, 2022
• Genealogical chart and notes. Ruffin Family Papers, . Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. https://huaspace.wrlc.org/public/repositories/2/archival_objects/60025 Accessed April 28, 2022.
• New England Historic Genealogical Society; Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840???1911 <AncestryImage > Name: Nancy Ruffin Gender: Female Age: 58 Birth Date: abt 1816 Birth Place: Richmond VA Death Date: 30 Apr 1874 Death Place: Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA Father: John Mother: Mary. Widow. Paralysis.
• <“My Bondage and My Freedom” -Free Blacks: The Nancy and George W. Ruffin Family.> Google Arts & Culture, retrieved 29 April 2022. “By 1759, one-fifth of the inhabitants of England’s North American colonies were Black slaves. However, even from the early years of slavery in North America, a population of free Blacks existed. One example of such was the Ruffin Family of Richmond, Virginia. Nancy Ruffin (1816-1874) and George W. Ruffin (1800-1863) were free Blacks during the antebellum era. George W. worked as a barber. Both he and Nancy valued education and hired a tutor to teach their children English literature, Latin, and the classics. …”
• <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... Dates: Created: 1822-1946; Other: Date acquired: 08/01/1972 Found in: Amistad Research Center / Heslip-Ruffin Family papers
• 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. …”
• <“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. …
• 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 >
• https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/repositories/2/archival_obj...