The Dictionary of Virginia Biography is published online through a partnership with Encyclopedia Virginia. Biographies that do not also appear in the three print volumes (surnames Aaroe�Daniels) link to lists of sources consulted.
Sources consulted for the biography of:Robert Davis Ruffin (1842–1916)
Biographical Information
- Full name in Catalogue of Howard University, for the Years 1869–1870 (1869), 14.
- Marriage in Arlington County Virginia Marriage Record 1865–1881, p. 128, Library of Virginia.
- Death certificate, Cook County, Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois.
- Biography with some errors in Luther Porter Jackson, Negro Office-Holders in Virginia, 1865–1895 (1945), 36.
Primary Sources
- Birth date ("I was 30 last June" on 16 May 1873) and first quotation in testimony of Robert D. Ruffin, May 16, 1873, Case No. 4519, Barred and Disallowed Case Files, Southern Claims Commission, 1871–1880, in Records of the House of Representatives, Record Group 233, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
- Testimony of R.D. Ruffin, March 23, 1872, Affairs in the District of Columbia, 42d Congress, 2d session, 1872, House Report No. 72, serial 1542, 459–463.
- Commonwealth v. Robert D. Ruffin, Judgments, 1874, Arlington County Court Records, 1843–1944, Accession 43962, Library of Virginia.
- Dinwiddie County Order Book, 1873–1881, pp. 106, 173, 182, 206, Library of Virginia.
- Election results in Election Record no. 10 (1875), Secretary of the Commonwealth, Election Records, 1776–1941, Accession 26041, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
- Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia for the Session of 1875–6 (1875), esp. 307–311.
- City of Richmond Hustings Court Part I, Order Book 7 (1876), pp. 20, 34, 90, 190, Library of Virginia.
Newspapers
- Alexandria Gazette, June 22, 1871; November 5, 1873
- Richmond Daily Dispatch, August 20, 1875 (with erroneous account of service during American Civil War)
- Chicago Defender, February 3, 1912; September 13, 1913 (portrait)
- Chicago Daily Tribune, February 26, 1912
- Nashville Globe, October 17, 1913 (with parents' names)
Obituaries
- Chicago Broad Ax, December 16, 1916 (with variant death date of "last week" and second quotation)
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