AppendixTutwiler Family Chart for Appendix

Tutwiler Connections with the University of Virginia in its early years

Dr. Henry Tutwiler

Our Grandfather Henry Tutwiler (1812-1879) had an accomplished and well-known Tutwiler first cousin, also named Henry (1807-1884), whom we will refer to as “Dr. Henry.”1 (See chart, above.)

Dr. Henry Tutwiler was raised in Harrisonburg, VA. His father, also named Henry, was a glove-maker and served for many years as the Postmaster of Harrisonburg.

Dr. Henry Tutwiler enrolled in the University of Virginia in its opening year of 1825, and he graduated in 1829. Edgar Allan Poe was one of his classmates.

Below: Cousin Dr. Henry Tutwiler and his wife, Julia Ashe Tutwiler.

1 Dr. Henry Tutwiler was also a first cousin to Henry Emmanuel Sipe, whose mother, Catherine Tutwiler Sipe, was a sister to Dr. Henry's father. See “Tutwiler Family Cousins” chart at beginning of Appendix.

He was one of the first two students to earn the degree of master of arts, although owing to the fact that the degree was not established during his student life at the university, it was not formally conferred upon him until July, 1835.2

Tutwiler applied for a professorship at the then being formed University of Alabama in 1830. Several of his professors and acquaintances wrote letters of recommendation for him, excerpts of which follow.3

“Mr. Tutwiler has been a student of this university for five years. He has invariably been among the foremost, and sometimes the very first, in the several classes he has attended, at every examination, and he has obtained the rare (I think singular) distinction of graduating in six departments..” Professor George Tucker, Oct. 11, 1830.

“No student who has left the university has possessed such various qualifications as Mr. Tutwiler, for in addition to his being a graduate in the school of ancient languages, he has obtained similar honors in the schools of mathematics, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, political economy, and law.” Dr. Robley Dunglison, Chairman of the Faculty, Oct. 12, 1830.

“... I have known Mr. Tutwiler form his very boyhood – and during the whole period of his stay at this University I was familiarly acquainted with him – part of this time he lived with me under the same roof.” Prof. Gessner Harrison, Oct. 18, 1830.

Below: Pavilion X on the Lawn of the University of Virginia. Gessner Harrison lived here from 1828 until the 1830's.4 Harrison and Henry Tutwiler were boyhood friends from Harrisonburg, VA. They were roommates when first enrolling in 1825, and Tutwiler likely lived here with Harrison in 1828 and 1829 as noted by Harrison

2 McCorvey, Thomas Chalvers, Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia, January, 1917, page 281.3 Ibid, pages 297-302.4 Patton, John Shelton, Jefferson, Cabell and the University of Virginia, The Neale Publishing Co., 1906; p. 292

“The University of Alabama was opened for enrollment of students on the 18th day of April, 1831. … Henry Tutwiler, as the senior professor, was the acting president at the real opening of the University of Alabama in 1831.”5

Julia Ashe of Alabama and Henry Tutwiler were married in 1835. She was a great granddaughter of Samuel Ashe, governor of North Carolina. The couple produced eleven children.

An early student of Tutwiler's remembered him, stating, “Professor Tutwiler was altogether the most noted and marked of the first corps of professors. He was then a delicate stripling of a youth in appearance as timid and modest as a woman – so gentle in his demeanor and so graceful and apt in his mode of imparting instruction that every boy fell absolutely in love with him. It is not to say too much of Professor Tutwiler that he was a whole faculty within himself, even at that earlier period of his life; and that he was as much at home in the chemical laboratory as he was in his own room with the classics.”6

Henry resigned from the University in 1837, and for the next ten years taught at several schools in Alabama. In the fall of 1847, he founded the Greene Springs School for Boys. He lead this institution for the next thirty-seven years.7

At Greene Springs he was remembered as a man who, “ruled by moral suasion and personal influence alone; no form of corporal punishment was ever used. If he found a student incorrigible, he quietly and kindly sent him home, or advised his parents or guardian, when the term expired not to send him back.”8

Henry Tutwiler's reputation as and educator extended well beyond Alabama. President Franklin Pierce appointed him to the Board of Visitors for the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1853.

The University of Alabama asked Henry to return as its president in 1874, but he declined. It was the second time that he was offered the position.

A tornado swept through the Greene Springs School campus in April, 1878. It blew away a number of cottages that were occupied by students along with the chapel and library. It seriously damaged the main building, occupied by Henry's family. His extensive chemical and physical equipment was to a large extent damaged or destroyed. Books and papers were scattered by the winds or badly damaged by exposure to the torrents of rain that accompanied the storm. Fortunately, there was no loss of life or serious injury. The school reopened in October, 1879.9

Henry Tutwiler died several years later on Sept. 22, 1884 at Greene Springs, Hale County, Alabama.

5 Op cit, McCorvey, p. 287.6 Ibid, p. 278.7 Ibid, p. 290.8 Ibid, p. 292.9 Ibid, p. 294

In 1882, Dr. Henry Tutwiler was invited to address the UVA Alumni Society to discuss the early days of the University.10 Here are several excerpts from his speech:

“I well remember the first time I saw Mr. Jefferson. It was in 1825 in the Proctor's office, whither I had gone with some students on business. A tall, venerable gentleman, in plain but neat attire, entered the room and bowing to the students, took his seat quietly in one corner. One of my friends privately, gave me to understand that it was Mr. Jefferson. … I was struck with his plain appearance and simple, unassuming manners. … We used to see him after wards as he passed our room on the Eastern Range in his almost daily visits to the University. He was now in his eighty-third year, and this ride of eight or ten miles on horseback over a rough mountain-road shows the deep interest with which he watched over this child of his old age,... This is also shown in the frequent intercourse which he kept up with the Faculty and students. Two or three times a week the former, often with their families, dined with him, by invitation, and once a week he had the students. He had a list of these, and through one of his grandsons, then a student in the University, four or five were invited to dine with him on the Sunday following.

“An account of one of these days by one who had the honor of enjoying this privilege may not be without interest. Mr. Jefferson had a wonderful tact in interesting his youthful visitors, and make even the most diffident feel at ease in his company. He knew from what county each student came and being well-acquainted with the most prominent men in every part of the State, he would draw out the student by asking questions concerning them, or about something remarkable in his neighborhood, thus making one feel that he was giving instead of receiving information; or he would ask about the studies of the students, and make remarks about them or the Professors, for all of whom he had a high admiration. He was thus careful to pay attention to each individual student. He sat with us at dinner, where Mrs. Randolph (his daughter) presided, and related anecdotes of distinguished persons whom he knew abroad. I remember one, particularly, of Madame de Stael whose acquaintance he formed in Paris, and whose talents and writings be greatly admired. At table the conversation turned on novels, and Mrs. Randolph spoke of her father's aversion to them. She said that when "Ivanhoe" came out she induced him to read it, with the hope and belief that it would change his opinion. Mr. Jefferson smiled and said, yes, he had tried to read it at her urgent request, but he had found it the dullest and hardest task of the kind he had over undertaken. One of Mrs. Randolph's remarks excited no little surprise in her youthful guests: it was that she had found Blackstone as interesting as a novel. After dinner he pointed out to us, among other paintings, one of Washington on horseback, and said that, though not a handsome man, he presented on horseback the most splendid figure he had ever seen. Such is a brief sketch of one day at Monticello, and every day was like it, only frequently on a more enlarged scale. Dr. Dunglison once asked Mrs. Randolph what was the largest number of persons for whom she had been called upon, unexpectedly, to prepare accommodations for the night, and she replied fifty!

“In July, 1830, just fifty-two years ago, I had the honor of standing on a platform similar to this in the Rotunda in front of us. On the same platform sat the Board of Visitors with their venerable Rector, James Madison11, and the Faculty with their Chairman, Dr. Dunglison. These have all passed away, most of them full of years, and all of them full of honors.”END OF COUSIN HENRY TUTWILER EXCERPT

10 Tutwiler, Henry, Early Years of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville Chronicle Book and Job Office, Charlottesville, VA, 1882.

11 James Madison, fourth President of the United States, succeeded Jefferson as the second Rector of the University.

Below: Title page of Dr. Henry Tutwiler's published address in 1882.

The letter wrapper12 from the 1830's,, shown below, has interesting connections with Dr. Henry Tutwiler, his father (Postmaster Henry Tutwiler) and a good friend, Gessner Harrison, who was also from Harrisonburg and joined Dr. Henry Tutwiler as a student at the University.

“Gessner Harrison was the fifth student to register at the University in the opening session of 1825. At that time he amazed Professor George Long by the knowledge displayed on his entrance examination. Dutiful as well as brilliant, Harrison had promised his father to observe the Sabbath strictly. When Thomas Jefferson invited him to a Sunday dinner for students at Monticello, Harrison politely declined. Upon learning the reason, Jefferson commended such filial piety and extended the invitation for another day.

“Three years later Harrison graduated in Greek and medicine. Long, who wished to return to England, recommended Harrison as his successor pointing out that the Visitors should "not find it necessary to apply to England for that which they already possess." They agreed, and the twenty-two year old was elected Professor of Ancient Languages.

“Harrison remained on the faculty until 1859. In a life devoted to education he taught classical languages for over thirty years, served as chairman of the faculty five times, achieved a high reputation as a classical scholar throughout the South, and in addition, conducted a Sunday school for local slaves.”13

Dr. Henry Tutwiler's father, Henry, noted earlier, was the postmaster in Harrisonburg, Virginia in the 1820's, 30's and until his death in 1841. His home was on the north side of Court Square. The letter wrapper, is likely addressed to Mary Harrison, Gessner's sister, who never married. In addition, the letter was postmarked by Dr. Henry Tutwiler's father.14

12 The “wrapper was folded by the letter writer to resemble an envelope and to contain a letter. Philatelists would define this as a “stampless folded wrapper.” The local postmaster would inscribe postal markings appropriate for the letter's journey. This particular wrapper has a highly desirable “manuscript” town marking. “Manuscript Markings” are collectible because of their scarce nature insomuch as the town postmaster had such a small volume of mail, a hand-stamp device was not practicable.

13 https://explore.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/show/hoos/fabled-faculty/gessner-harrison14 The University of Virginia was an all-male institution until the 1970's, and Mary Harrison would, therefore, not have

been a student at the time of this letter.

Dr. Henry Tutwiler had a daughter, Julia Ashe Tutwiler, who was a well-known educator in Alabama. She wrote the Alabama State Song, still in use, and there is a building named for her on the University of Alabama campus, Tuscaloosa.

“Tutwiler served as co-president of Livingston State Normal School. After decades of expansion, it became the University of West Alabama. With her support, in 1892 ten Livingston-educated students became the first women admitted to the University of Alabama. She was called the "mother of co-education in Alabama"

“She was a key figure in the creation of the Alabama Girls' Industrial School, in October 1896. This institution eventually evolved into the University of Montevallo.

“Known as the "angel of the prisons," Tutwiler pushed for many reforms of the Alabama penal system. Most significantly, she fought to separate female prisoners from male ones and to separate juveniles from hardened adult criminals—resulting in the first Boys' Industrial School. In addition, she demanded better prison sanitation and helped institute educational and religious opportunities for prisoners. As a consequence of her advocacy, the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama was named in her honor. For a period the Wetumpka State Penitentiary had been renamed after Tutwiler, prior to the opening of the current Tutwiler prison.

“Tutwiler was known as a poet and wrote the lyrics for "Alabama", the state song, which was officially adopted in 1931. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, 'The inspiration for writing the poem 'Alabama' came to Julia Tutwiler after she returned to her native state from Germany where she had been studying new educational methods for girls and women.'”15

Another Tutwiler cousin of note was Edward Magruder Tutwiler, 1846-1925. He was the great-grandson of Henry Tutwiler the Harrisonburg postmaster, and he was a cousin to Mary Jane Landes Sipe (1866-1950) and John Howard Sipe (1857-1950) through their Tutwiler ancestry.

Edward Magruder Tutwiler, left, was enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute in 1864, and he took part in the famous charge of the VMI cadets at the Battle of New Market. He graduated from VMI in 1867 and pursued a career in engineering and business, primarily railroads. Later, he became the President of Tutwiler Coal, Coke & Iron Company of Birmingham, AL.

15 Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Tutwiler

There was a second connection to the University through another branch of the Tutwiler family. Catherine Tutwiler Sipe's son, Henry Emmanuel Sipe (1816-1891)16 owned a tailor shop in Charlottesville in the late 1840's and into the 1850's. It was located at the southeast corner of today's Main and 5th Streets on the Downtown Mall.

Henry Emmanuel Sipe's daughter, Molly Sipe Weaver wrote that “he runs was known as Merchants Tailors Clothing Shop – made uniforms for students at University. Mrs. Sipe stitched many silk vests for students.”

Below: Scissors used by Henry Emmanuel Sipe and Mary Elizabeth Dossey Sipe in Charlottesville. Courtesy of Betty Hedrick.

16 See Tutwiler Family Chart at beginning of Appendix.

The sad and stormy life of Sarah Elizabeth Tutwiler Ruebush (1843->1927), younger sister of Grandmother Columbia Jane Tutwiler Landes (1839-1920).

Columbia Jane Tutwiler Landes had two siblings, Jonathan, who died as a young man, and Sarah Elizabeth who was four years younger.

Sarah Tutwiler married James Harvey Ruebush on September 10, 1860. She was seventeen years old, and he was twenty-one. They had two sons, Henry Daniel, born on August 14, 1861, and Schuyler A., born May 11, 1871. Harvey was called into Confederate service in April of 1861. The following spring, Harvey's father offered to pay for a substitute in order that his son could return to look after his wife and young son. Surprisingly, Sarah refused to co-habit with him. Harvey returned to the Confederate Army and remained there until 1864 when he crossed the lines to the North because Sarah still refused to live with him. After the war, Harvey returned to Virginia, but Sarah would not allow him to live in her their home. Harvey attempted to repair the marriage, and Sarah agreed to resume their relationship in 1870 after eight years of separation. Any hope for harmony was apparently short-lived. Sarah refused to do any house work and would not allow Harvey to hire someone to do it for her. Harvey tried to assume the duties of the household in addition to working the farm. It was too much and the place fell to great disrepair.17

Harvey then proposed that Sarah return to live with her father, Henry Tutwiler, but both of them refused this suggestion. In making this offer, Harvey noted that Henry Daniel Ruebush, their son, had lived with his grandfather Henry Tutwiler, for many years and that he provided all of his support.

In 1879, James Harvey Ruebush filed for divorce from his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Tutwiler Ruebush. At the time of the divorce case, the younger son of Harvey and Sarah Tutwiler Ruebush, Schuyler, was living with her. He was about eight years old, having been born, May 27, 1871.

Earlier in the year of 1879, Harvey bought a 400 acre farm in Albemarle County and asked Sarah to move there with him. She declined to do so and stated that she would never again live with Harvey. He, furthermore, accused his wife of adultery and asked that the court award him custody of the couple's younger son, Schulyer.

Harvey proposed a divorce settlement in which Sarah could remain on the 37 acre farm on Middle River until her death, at which time, it would pass to their younger son, Schuyler. There was a Negro man living in a tenant house on the farm who would work the land to provide for Sarah's needs.

The divorce was granted in 1880 because the charge of adultery was proven and custody of Schuyler was given to his father.

Sarah's paramour was Bluford Shifflet, and he visited her once or twice a week for a period of several months in 1879. The Williams family lived about seventy-five yards from Sarah, and these neighbors, becoming suspicious, crept over and listened outside of Sarah's house on several occasions. Mrs. Williams confronted Sarah about her behavior, and Sarah's reply was that, “somebody had to cool her off, and it as well be Shifflet as anybody else.” Sarah later relayed to Mrs. Williams that she and Shifflet planned to “go West.”

Apparently, these plans never materialized.

Sarah's father, Henry Tutwiler, wrote his will in 1875. In it, he bequeathed to Sarah a 150 acre farm that he had recently bought on North River where she was presently living. In addition, he appointed Benjamin Craig as trustee for Sarah's property and share of his estate. Evidently, he had concerns

17 Chancery Court Records, Augusta County, Virginia. This case began in 1879 and the divorce was granted in 1880. See case J. Harvey Ruebush vs. Sarah E. Ruebush, 1879-084 and 1880-032. http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/default.asp#res

about Sarah's ability to handle financial matters as we shall see in subsequent developments for her. In an 1891 court case for non-payment of her debts, an attorney stated that Sarah's father, Henry, provided for his “weak-minded” and “afflicted daughter” in his will.18

Sarah had two more children following her divorce. Effie Signora was born July 2, 1886 and died just over a year later. She is buried at Melancthon Chapel Lutheran Church in Weyers Cave, VA. Her father's name is unknown, and Sarah was forty-three at the time of her birth.

Her tombstone reads: “Infant – Daughter of Sarah Ruebush – Died, Sept. 15, 1887 – Age 1 yr 2 mo 13 days – Sleep my baby sleep, Lie still and slumber, Safe in the arms of Jesus”

Sarah gave birth to her last child, Mary Alice Ruebush, 1880. When Mary Alice married her second cousin, Kenney Tutwiler in 1895, she listed Harvey Ruebush as her father. While possible, it is unlikely that he was her father, given the state of the marital relationship and Harvey's residence in Albemarle County along with Sarah's concurrent trysts with Bluford Shifflet. The divorce case had specifically charged her with seeing Shifflet in the months, August through December, 1879.

Sarah's father Henry Tutwiler died accidentally in 1879, and his estate was settled in 1881. At the time of his death, Henry Tutwiler owned three farms, along with considerable personal property, all valued at $18,000. He left one farm to his daughter, Columbia Jane Landes, where she and husband Daniel had been living since 1859. The “home” farm, at the south end of today's Shenandoah Valley Airport, he left to his grandson, Henry Daniel Ruebush. His wife Diana was to have life rights to live at this same farm with Henry Daniel and be provided for by him. The third farm of 150 acres, adjacent to Columbia Jane's, was left to Sarah and to any children she should have, not yet born. This particular provision for unborn children would generate a subsequent court case for Sarah in 1890.

In addition to the farms, Henry Tutwiler wrote in his 1875 will, that Columbia Jane pay $500 to Sarah for the building of a barn on Sarah's farm. As it turned out, Henry went ahead and paid for the barn to

18 See Augusta County Chancery Court Records for several cases involving Sarah Tutwiler Ruebush. Case numbers 1880-032, 1879-084, 1888-033 and 1901-032. http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/default.asp#res

be built before his death in 1879. Regardless, Sarah's executor sued Columbia Jane for the $500 in 1888. The case, settled in 1889, did not result in Sarah's favor, but Columbia did have to pay her $125 for a horse that Sarah claimed not to have received as a part of their father's estate.

It appears that Sarah's money management problems continued during the 1880's. She was sued for payment of debts in 1888.19 Court testimony indicates that people took advantage of her and, given that she had inherited significant resources from her father, there was money to be claimed.

In addition to financial worries, Sarah's mother died in 1889 and her son Schuyler passed away the following year on May 24th , nineteen years old20, leaving daughter, Mary Alice, living with her. Her creditors tried to force the sale of the valuable farm (much of the land was “river bottom” along North River, near its mouth). Consequently, a Mr. Crawford filed suit on behalf of Sarah's daughter, Mary Alice, as her “next friend”21 The suit alleged that Mary Alice was one-half owner of the farm as willed by her Grandfather Henry Tutwiler and that her interests were not considered by the court in ruling that the farm be sold. Ultimately, Mary Alice's claim was dismissed. The court, however, changed course and decided that her trustee, Benjamin Craig, would oversee the management of the farm such that its produce would provide for Sarah and also pay down the debts and past due taxes, some of which went back a decade. The 1890 dated court statement indicated that she owed $561.21 and that the farm was being rented for $200 per year. It would take years for the debts to be paid.

Sarah and Mary Alice continued to live on the farm. On July 1,1895, Mary Alice, at the age of 15, married her second cousin, Jonathan Kenney Tutwiler, who was the grandson of Jonathan Tutwiler of Rockingham County. It was not a good decision.

Mary Alice filed for a divorce in May, 1900, and the transcript reveals a frightful relationship. Kenney deserted her after four years of marriage in July or August, 1899. She testified that he, “utterly failed to provide for her with the necessaries of life; that she had to rely upon her mother and her own exertions for a support; that he was rude and cruel toward her in speech and actions, at times threatening her life, several times without any cause whatever. He did unmercifully beat her mother in her presence.” She continued, “that she had been in constant fear of being killed or receiving serious bodily injury.”

Mary Alice's mother, Sarah, was deposed for the case. Her responses seem to be very literate for a woman of “weak mind” as earlier alleged.

1. State your name, age, residence and occupation:

Sarah E. Ruebush, 57 years of age and have no occupation except that of a general female housekeeper, and I reside in Augusta County near Mt. Meridian, where I have been living for about 21 years.

2. How old is your said daughter?

She will be 19 years old in August next (1900).

3. Where have your daughter and her said husband made their home since their said marriage?

They have lived at my house.

4. Did your daughter ever give him any cause for desertion or ill treatment?

She did not.

19 Augusta Chancery Court record 1888-033 http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=015-1888-03320 Schuyler is buried at Friedens Church.21 Wikipedia - person who represents another person who is under disability or otherwise unable to maintain a

suit on his or her own behalf and who does not have a legal guardian. Mary Alice would have been ten years old at this time.

5. Please state something about the conduct of her husband towards her during the time they have been living at your house.

I have heard him abuse her and curse her and threaten to kill her. She was afraid to stay at home. He threatened to kill her and me both.

6. Did he do this more than once?

Yes, frequently. She was afraid of him and in fear of her life from him. She has left home for fear of him. She was afraid to stay there. He deserted her, finally, and it was after he left her that she feared personal injury from him. She was afraid he would return and harm her.

7. State when he deserted and abandoned her.

He left August, 1899. He has never been back since, except that he returned to the house once with a pistol in his hand and threatened to kill her. That was about a month after he deserted her. He has not been back, since, and I do not know where he is now.

8. Please state if he ever provided her the necessities of life.

No, he did not. I had to provide for her in that respect, and his, too.

9. Please state what his treatment was towards you a short time before he abandoned or deserted your daughter..

He cursed and abused me, and called me a great many names and beat me till I was blue with bruises. I suppose he would have killed me had it not been for the interferences of my daughter. He beat me with a piece of plank a short time before he left. He struck me on the shoulders and across the head, and my shoulders were bruised until they were discolored considerably.

10. State whether or not your daughter has any children.

She has not. She had a child born, but it did not live.” (End of transcript)

The divorce was granted in 1902. At that time it was noted that Kenney Tutwiler had joined the U.S. Army and then deserted, his present whereabouts unknown.

The many court cases involving Sarah Tutwiler Ruebush from the years 1879 through 1902 include testimony and depositions in her regard that provide a mixed view of her character and mental health.

In 1888, I. B. Kagey, a merchant of Weyers Cave stated that he had known her for twelve to fifteen years. She transacted business in his store, and he saw no mental deficiency on her part.

J. S. Craig, also a local merchant and farmer, deposed that, “when I took control of her business in March, 1886, she was in a rather destitute condition both as to food and clothing. The farm was bare of stock, and farming implements of any kind, the farm very much neglected, and she several hundred dollars in debt. The farm was sold for taxes and bought by me.”

“I believe her to have been imposed on and taken advantage of, not because she was “non compos mentis” (not of sound mind) but because she took the advice of those whom she thought better capable of business affairs than herself.

A local doctor who had occasionally attended Sarah Tutwiler Ruebush related details of her life that were both sad and disturbing.

“I have had occasion to visit her frequently, professionally. The first time I was called to her was at the birth of a child, sometime after her divorce from her husband. After the child was born, she did not have any clothes for it. Mrs. Moore was called in and asked where the clothes were. She pointed to a table and said there is some calico; the lady took it and made the child a dress. I was struck with the

appearance of the house and the bed. I don't think I ever saw slaves during slavery so badly provided for, with bed and bedding. As to her conversation I could not say that there was any thing unusual, as she spoke very little. I said very little to her.

“From what I have seen and have been able to observe I would consider her an imbecile. She is weak both in body and in mind.

“She is the owner of a farm that I consider well worth $6,000. I would be willing to give that myself. I know that she has been going up and down the road begging from house to house this summer, taking her children with her. She has but one of the illegitimate children living, one died a few days ago.22 She is not capable of managing her own business.”

Sarah's uncle, Jonathan Tutwiler23, was deposed in Nov., 1888 regarding the barn/$500 dispute, earlier cited, between Sarah Tutwiler Ruebush and her sister, Columbia Jane Tutwiler Landes.

He stated, “I have known her (Sarah) all her lifetime. I have been with her often enough to know her. My brother and I lived about 8 miles apart after she grew up and since that time his family and mine were closely and intimately associated.”

When asked if he considered Sarah of sound mind, he replied, “That is what I always seen of her and never know anything else better. There always has been a right smart talk about her, but I have been with her and never saw anything wrong with her. I never heard any such talk as that she was ever regarded by her family or her intimate acquaintances as idiotic, a lunatic or so deficient in mind as to be unable to act for herself in ordinary matters.

Upon further questioning, Jonathan Tutwiler stated that, “I was sent to Mrs. Ruebush by Mr. and Mrs. Landes (Daniel and Columbia Jane) to talk to her about this barn business and I met her out in the field and Bob Harnesbarger was with me, and I said to him, 'I will go and talk to her.' I said to her, 'You know that your father intended that barn to be in satisfaction of the five hundred dollars, and she said, 'Yes.' Lum, meaning Mrs. Landes, had received a horse worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and if she would pay her the one hundred twenty-five dollars, she (Mrs. Ruebush) would be satisfied.

“Bob Harnesbarger and I were both present in her house when she told me this. We then went back to Mrs. Landes. The true state of the facts are Bob Harnesbarger and I went to the house of the late Henry Tutwiler for the purpose of meeting Mrs. Landes and and Mrs. Ruebush, there to settle the barn matter. That is what we went there for exactly.

“When we arrived, they told us that Mrs. Ruebush had just left. I looked out and said 'Yonder she goes now!'. Mrs. Landes, or some one of them then said to me, 'Go and bring her back and talk to her.' I went after her, and when I caught up with her the conversation occurred which I have stated above. I then told her to come go back to her mother's house and fix it up with her sister. She agreed to this and accompanied me back to the house and fixed the matter up together in the house in the same room. Mr. Harnesbarger drew up a writing which they signed settling the matter.”

Jonathan Tutwiler was then asked whether he had ever been to Sarah's house and whether he observed the condition in which she kept it. He stated, “I never was there so many times, but when I was there, her house was right smart out of order. She was no housekeeper much. The reason of it was she had the triflingest man for a husband on earth (meaning J. Harvey Ruebush). I cannot say that she has improved her housekeeping since her father's death. I have not been there often as she has turned out bad. She lacks judgment and gives up everything and lets it go as it may. Sorter that way.”

22 This would have been Effie Signora Ruebush who died Sep. 15, 1887. Accordingly, the doctors deposition, which was undated, must have taken place in late September, 1887.

23 It was this Jonathan Tutwiler's grandson who married Sarah's daughter, Mary Alice in 1895.

When asked if her friends and the community generally consider her a very weak minded person, Jonathan replied, “I can't say that. I know she has been looked down on from the way she has acted.”

When brokering the agreement between the two sisters, Jonathan said to niece, Sarah, “Do as you please. You two children ought to settle this matter between you, that they both had plenty and a couple hundred dollars would not make much difference anyway.

“She (Sarah) had a good deal come into her hand, but she don't know how to manage. She is apparently as green as a gourd in business. But I have talked to her sometime when she put every word right and did not seem that there was anything the matter with her.”

Asked whether Sarah had a very peculiar disposition, sometimes taking pretty well and at other times in a very wild and distracted manner, Jonathan replied, “No, sir. I never caught her that way. I only know from what I can hear from her mother (Diana Tutwiler). She has bread enough. The whole trouble with her, she don't manage right. What she gets now is furnished to her the old lady says.

“People have been taking the advantage of her. I suppose my brother (Henry Tutwiler) thought she could not manage it right, and he would get someone to help her. That is my idea – he did not tell me so.

Questioned as to whether Sarah's father considered her to be a woman of little judgment and as “green as a gourd about business', as previously expressed by Jonathan, he replied, “He never hinted such a thing to me in his life.” END OF JONATHAN TUTWILER TRANSCRIPT

Sarah Ruebush sold her farm in the early 1900's. In 1920, she was likely living at Western State Hospital in Staunton.24 She died in Harrisonburg, VA on August 2, 1927 from a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried the next day. Her death was reported by Alice Pavey of Washington, D.C. It is possible that this was her daughter Mary Alice. There was a Ben and M. Alice Pavey listed in the Alexandria, Virginia directory in 1957, and this could have been her. The writer has not, however, been able to find any records of a marriage between Mary Alice Ruebush Tutwiler and Benjamin Pavey, nor are they listed in the US Census for 1930 or 1940.

Sarah's son, Henry Daniel Ruebush was living at Mt. Meridian in 1900 with wife, Sallie Brunner Ruebush, and five children. Sometime later he moved to the Winchester, Virginia area. Daniel corresponded with his Aunt Columbia Jane Landes, and he wrote that his wife died in 1919. Daniel lived to an advanced age, passing away in 1951. He and Sallie are buried at Bethel Church Cemetery in Gore, Frederick County, VA.

The name on their tombstones is spelled “Rubush.” Sometimes, the Ruebush name was also spelled Reubush.

END

24 US Census, 1920 – Sarah Ruebush,, Staunton Virginia, Inmate, Greenville Road, white, widow, 70 years old.