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CHRISTIAN RUFFNER of Morgan County, Tennessee

Source:  Personal research by Pauline Halburnt Roberts

Generation No. 1

1. CHRISTIAN RUFFNER, SR. was born 1773 in Maienfeld, Switzerland. He married ANNA JUSTIN. Of these children, only the eldest son, Christian (1807) came to America in 1846.

Children of Christian and Anna 

 

  1. CHRISTIAN RUFFNER, JR., b. 03 Mar 1807, Maienfeld, Switzerland; d. 1880.
  2. MICHEL RUFFNER, b. 19 Jan 1810; d. 29 Nov 1886; m. MENSCH DOROTHEA.
  3. FRENA (VERENA) RUFFNER, b. 03 Nov 1812; m. JOHANN BERNARD.
  4. JACOB RUFFNER, b. 15 Jul 1815; m. ELSBETH BERNARD.
  5. MARGRETH RUFFNER, b. 17 Feb 1818; d. 10 Mar 1854; m. KASPAR MUTZNER.
  6. ANNA RUFFNER, b. 23 Jan 1821; d. 06 Jun 1821; m. UNMARRIED.

Generation No. 2

2. CHRISTIAN RUFFNER, JR. (CHRISTIAN) was born 03 Mar 1807 in Maienfeld, Switzerland, and died 1880. He married CORDULA FALLER Mar 1828, daughter of Peter Faller and Cordula Schoni.

"Morgan County News" 13 Feb 1969 -article by Snyder E. Roberts

Christian Ruffner was one of the early Swiss-German colonizing families of Coalfield, TN. The Christian Ruffner, Jr. descendants are numerous and their activities have made a sizeable impact on the history of Coalfield and the 1st Dist. of Morgan County.

Christian Ruffner, Jr. was born March 1807 in the town of Maienfeld, and Canton (state) of Graubunden, Switzerland. His first 4 children were born in Switzerland, and the youngest one in Morgan County. The data are authenticated by entries on a family sheet in "The Family Book to Community Wartburg" of the German Reformed Church written in German by its Pastor, the Rev. Theodore Etter in 1855.

Christian, Jr., his wife and 4 children left Switzerland in 1846, bound for the Wartburg Colony in Morgan County, TN. Judging from the dates given in Christian, Jr.'s naturalization papers which were filed in Wartburg in 1848, Christian, his family, and other colonizers were aboard the ship that encountered a storm on the high seas and was driven off course to someplace on the GA coast before they made their way to Charleston, SC.

Christian Ruffner, Jr. was a millwright by trade, and probably helped with the establishing of Wartburg before he settled some few miles to the east in present-day 1st District which grew into a community with a Post Office called Rio, and as the Ruffners multiplied, it was latter called "Ruffner's Switch.", and is the present-day Coalfield.

His first mill was located near the water fall slightly west of the Coalfield High School. As time went on, he and his sons located other saw and grist mills powered by water, and later by steam.

Children of Christian and Cordula

  1. ANNA RUFFNER, b. 27 Dec 1829; died young. 
  2. MARGRETH RUFFNER, b. 08 Feb 1832; d. 20 Nov 1841.
  3. CHRISTIAN A. RUFFNER III, b. 17 Sep 1834; d. 31 May 1897.
  4. PETER RUFFNER, b. 11 May 1837; d. 10 Jul 1838; m. UNMARRIED.
  5. PETER A RUFFNER, b. 09 Jun 1839; d. 17 Jun 1892.
  6. MICHAEL RUFFNER, b. 13 Nov 1842; m. MOLLY HALE.
  7. MARGRETH RUFFNER, b. 30 Mar 1846; d. 18 May 1846.
  8. JACOB (JOHN WILLIAM) "SHACK" RUFFNER, b. 12 Mar 1849; d. 04 Feb 1916; m. SUSAN DAVIS.  (pictured below)
Shack Ruffner b 1849 Susan Davis Ruffner

  "Shack" Ruffner wearing of the Odd Fellow Order.  He was nicknamed "Jack", but his parents couldn't pronounce the word "Jack" correctly, and called him "Shack."  This name stuck, and soon everyone called him Shack, until his death.  

When this photo was sent to a Peter Ruffner of Maienfeld, Switzerland, in 1973, he said he thought Shack bore a resemblance to a Ruffner kinsman in Switzerland.  (Did not think Peter A., below, looked familiar) 

Generation 3

3. CHRISTIAN A.3RUFFNER III (CHRISTIAN, CHRISTIAN) was born 17 Sep 1834, and died 31 May 1897. He married NANCY RABY 28 Dec 1856 in Knox Co, TN by Rev. R. W. Hardin.

From "Ruffner Families of Maienfeld, Switzerland & Morgan Co, TN" by Pauline H. Roberts

Christian Ruffner fought with the Union Army, Company F, 5th TN Inf. with the rank of Sgt.

Children of Christian A. and Nancy 

Generation 4

4. PETER A RUFFNER (CHRISTIAN, CHRISTIAN) was born 09 Jun 1839, and died 17 Jun 1892. He married NANCY ELIZABETH CHILES (30 Oct 1845) on 10 Jan 1865 in Coalfield, Tennessee, daughter of Henry Chiles and Nancy Garner. Served in the Union Army in Company K, 1st Reg., TN Inf. He was wounded at Knoxville, TN in 1863.

 

Peter A. Ruffner b. 1839

Peter Ruffner

CHILDREN OF PETER RUFFNER & NANCY CHILES

Photo of Daughters 

  1. JAMES W. RUFFNER, b. 31 Oct 1867; d. 1943; m. TELIA S. HUDSON.
  2. CORDELIA RUFFNER, b. 18 Mar 1870. D 1922; m JOHN FRANKLIN WALLER
  3. MATILDA JOSEPHINE RUFFNER, b. 06 Mar 1873; d. 21 Apr 1945; m. JOHN MCCARTT.
  4. LYDIA L. RUFFNER, b. 14 Nov 1875. D 1946; m RUFUS NIGHBERT
  5. ARLENA  "Lena" HOLDER RUFFNER, b. 28 Jan 1879; d. 12 Apr 1963; m. WALTER D. RUSSELL.
  6. DOCIA PARALEE RUFFNER, b. 31 Jan 1882; d. 24 Apr 1960, Roane County, TN; m. HENRY LANDRUM HALBURNT, SR..
  7. VESTA RUFFNER, b. 10 Sep 1885; d. 14 Apr 1955; m. JOHN C. PARNELL.
  8. PETER (JOHN) RUFFNER, b. 14 Jun 1888. D. 1954; m STELLA KEITH

  9. ELDA RUFFNER, b. 24 Apr 1891; m. JEFFERSON DAVIS CALDWELL.

Photo of Nancy Chiles Ruffner and some of her children and grandchildren

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