“A Ride with Ruggles”

This is a family heirloom passed down through my late Uncle Jack that regards a relative with the surname of Ford, the same as my middle name. It was found in a metal lockbox and my sister miracuously found the key amidst a hoarder’s paradise of numerous books and scattered effects. We hope to learn more about this branch of the family tree and maybe even uncover a photograph or two down the road. 

There are many things to love about this note:

1. The calligraphy-style penmanship. Even though this note is rendered less formal by the scratchings out, the flowing cursive is a wonder to behold. The clerk uses three variations on the “F” — in escalating size and ornament — with Ford, Family and Funeral. There are many things we’d do well to rediscover. In the modern era, teachers lament the loss of handwriting skills and with good reason. My own is barely discernible, even to myself. LOL.
2. The thriftiness. Times being what they were, are, and ever will be, the stationary of the prior decade (189_) gets continued into 1901 and likely beyond. Maybe it’s still in use today! I also like the single dot between the minutes and the hour. Time saved, so to speak. The abbreviation of March to Mch is curious, however. IMO.
3. The terms “wagonette” and “private carriage” are wonderfully redolent of that bygone era. This could be “Deadwood” or “The Gilded Age.” Bring your own snuff! But someday people may find quaint the terms “cell phone” and “cable TV.” FWIW.
4. The mystery. Whose funeral?? IDK.
5. The fantabulous name that is General Ruggles (see below). I don’t know why some names sound funny, but I’m so glad that they do. I have a mind to start penning letters again and to close them with the salutation “By order of General Ruggles”… keep an eye on the mail. YW.
6. The flourish under the signature of M. Curtis, Clerk. His name being the largest on the page. John Hancock, eat your heart out! YOLO.

(Per Wikipedia) As it turns out, there were two contemporaries who went by the title of General Ruggles (Generals Ruggles?). The one referenced in the message above was General George D. Ruggles (1833-1904). Born in Newburgh, New York, he attended West Point and fought on the Union side during the Civil War. He saw action at the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Chantilly and then became chief of staff to General John Pope. After the war, he served as Adjutant General from 1865-1888 in several military districts including Department of the Platte and Department of the Dakota before retiring in 1897. In 1898, he was appointed governor of the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, DC where he remained until Jan 1903. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The other is General Daniel Ruggles (1810-1897). He was also a West Point graduate, but, although he was born in Barre, Massachusetts, he fought for the Confederacy. He had married a woman from Virginia, which might help explain his choice. He was a division commander at the Battle of Shiloh. He acted quickly in helping to assemble a long row of cannon with 53 big-guns called “Ruggles’ Battery” that pounded the “Hornet’s Nest” during the furious back-and-forth melee. He later served in Louisiana under General John C. Breckenridge, who had also been the Vice President under Lincoln’s predecessor James Buchanan. This General Ruggles was buried at the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg, VA.

It seems apropos to close here with the opening verse/refrain of Bob Dylan‘s song “Gotta Serve Somebody” from the album Slow Train Coming (1979). These two men named Ruggles, both from abolitionist strongholds in the North, took very different roads during a critical point in our country’s history. And yet, as will all, they both ended up buried in the ground somewhere. One wonders what their respective families should think about them today. They might be venerated or held in contempt; possibly both, at once, by different branches of the same family. Complex are we and all our interwoven histories. Maybe we should ask ourselves, whom or what is it that we serve…

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed,
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody