| The Highland
Township Historical Society THE RUGGLES FAMILY |
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The Ruggles brothers - Noble, Henry, Stanley, and Elizur - came to Michigan from Colesville, Broome County, New York, in the early 1830's. Stanley and Elizur Ruggles apparently came first; purchasing land in what became the Village of Milford in 1831. Here they settled in 1832 and that same year built the town's first saw mill on the banks of the Huron River. They were soon joined by their brother Henry, who came to Milford in 1833. Brother Noble Ruggles, however, elected to settle in Highland Township; occupying and eventually buying the parcel in Section 22 which yet a fifth brother, Timothy Ruggles, had purchased in 1835 [Note 1]. Noble Ruggles and his wife, Anna (Merchant) Ruggles, were the parents of ten children, i.e. (i) Mary A. Ruggles, born May 1, 1822; (ii) John Murwin Ruggles, born May 8, 1824; (iii) Merchant Edward Ruggles, born June 6, 1826; (iv) Lorenzo Dow Ruggles, born January 3, 1829; (v) Amanda M. Ruggles, born February 6, 1833; (vi) Almon Burdick Ruggles, born September 17, 1833(?); (vii) Susan A. Ruggles, born March 17, 1836; died young? (viii) Oscar O. Ruggles, born November 2, 1839 (ix) Lorena Ruggles, born December __, 1842; and (x) Susan L. Ruggles, born July 14, 1845. The scan below shows the entry for Noble Ruggles (misspelled "Riggles") on the 1840 Federal Census for Highland Township.
[1] - The available evidence suggests Timothy Ruggles never lived in Michigan, despite his purchase of land in Highland in 1835. Records show he was postmaster of Colesville, Broome County, New York, in 1833 and was living there at the time of the 1835 New York State Census. In 1839 he was appointed a delegate from Coleville to the "Ithaca Railroad Convention" and by 1845 had attained the position of state judge. Finally, the 1850 Federal Census for Broome County indicates that all of Timothy Ruggles' children (ages 2 to 18) were born in New York. This suggests his purchase of land in Highland was either an investment and/or made on behalf of his brother Noble, to whom he eventually sold the property in 1838.