Yolo County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



 
AMANDAR CARLTON RUGGLES
 
Amandar Carlton Ruggles was born in Erie County, Ohio, January 27, 1831, a son 
of Salmon Ruggles, a native of Connecticut.  His mother's maiden name was 
Rebecca Nyman, and she was a native of New York State and of German descent.  
The tradition is that the Ruggles family in America originated with three 
brothers who came to this country from Scotland, one of whom settled in 
Connecticut, one died shortly after his arrival and one went to the Southern 
States; and the latter is the one from whom nearly all the people by that name 
in the South have descended.  Nearly all of them in former times were slave 
owners and some of them participated in the Rebellion.  The northern branch were 
all anti-slavery and Union men.  Some entered the Union army and some were 
killed in battle.  The father of the subject of this sketch, a master mechanic, 
ship-builder and ship superintendent, had an important position in the Union 
army, in the department of the Mississippi.  He had a ship-yard and dry-dock at 
Milan, Ohio, about eight miles from Lake Erie, where he built a great many 
vessels for the lake trade.
 
Judge Ruggles, the subject of this sketch, was brought up in his native state.  
He was nineteen years of age when he was educating himself at an academy called 
the Huron Institute, at Milan, and the gold fever brought him to this State, 
with the consent of his father.  In company with friends, he purchased and 
completed a large outfit of wagons and horses with provisions to make the long 
journey across plain and mountain.  They also started with a considerable 
quanity of clothing, hats, caps etc., but had to abandon it fifty miles west of 
the Missouri River.  The wagon was taken back to Weston, Missouri, and sold, and 
the party came on with pack horses and mules.  There were nine in the party, 
divided into two messes, and they traveled together until they reached the South 
Pass of the Rocky Mountains, when, as is natural and usual, they disagreed and 
separated.  The party of five, of whom Mr. Ruggles was a member, by a little 
stratagem the night before the separation, said they were going by way of 
Sublette's Cut-Off;  rising early next morning, they started toward Salt Lake 
instead.  The other mess, thinking they had taken the other route, saw none of 
them until they reached California.  Mr. Ruggles' party reached Salt Lake July 4 
and Placerville August 14, 1850, having the usual experiences of the journey, 
spiced with a little trouble with Indians, etc.  The redskins attempted to steal 
their live-stock, and one of them was killed.  In crossing the desert they had 
to kill all of their horses, to put them out of their misery, which was induced 
by want of nourishment and water.
 
During the first five years in California Mr. Ruggles was engaged in gold-mining 
at different points, a part of the time with excellent success;  but he 
afterward lost his little fortune in a fluming operation.  The second year after 
his arrival he was offered $10,000 for his interest, which he refused.  After he 
quit mining he followed farming about four miles south of Woodland, from 1856 to 
1866; he then sold his place and since November 6, that year, he has been a 
resident of Woodland. Here he has been Postmaster six years, -1866-'72;  also at 
the same time he ran a drug store, the first one in the town, also a variety and 
jewelry store, having a partner in his business.  After his term as Postmaster 
expired he continued in his mercantile business three years longer, when he sold 
out.  Next for two years he prospected around the State; then he was appointed 
Public Administrator for Yolo County, by the Board of Supervisors, and he also 
went into the real-estate business and collection agency, in which he has since 
been engaged.   In the fall of 1879 he was elected Justice of the Peace, in 
which position he was ex-officio Police Judge, and in this double capacity he 
served for three years; then for a time he confined himself to the real estate 
business and the duties of a Notary Public.  He has been elected to his judicial 
seat three times.  He is a thorough Republican, and the fact that his district 
is at the same time strongly Democratic shows his popularity.  At the present he 
is secretary of the Republican County Central Committee, taking a lively 
interest in political mattes.  As a Republican, however, he is not radical.  In 
religious matters he has been for many years a member of the Methodist Church.  
As to the liquor traffic he believes in regulation instead of prohibition.
 
Judge Ruggles was married in 1859, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Maddux, a native of 
Illinois, and they have one son and three daughters.
 
Source:  Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis 
Publishing Co., 1891 pages 751 and 752
 
Transcribed by:  Melody Landon Gregory