1995 Ruffner Family Reunion
Charleston/Malden, West Virginia

Under the able leadership of Reunion Chairman, Shirley Ann Sheets of Denver, Colorado, a full program of activities welcomed many Ruffners to the historic Kanawha Valley in West Virginia.  It was the Bicentennial Celebration of the arrival of Joseph and Ann (Heistand) Ruffner who left the Shenandoah Valley in 1795.  Probably no community in America has been so greatly impacted by the Ruffner Family as the area of Charleston and Malden. Indeed, much of the capital city of West Virginia sits on the original lands of Joseph Ruffner and his children, David, Joseph, Jr., Tobias, Samuel, Eve, Daniel and Abraham.

Our headquarters was the Charleston House - Holiday Inn on Kanawha Blvd. overlooking the  beautiful Kanawha River.  We gathered at 3:00pm on June 2nd for registration and a reception in the Ruffner Hospitality Suite.  Punch and cookies were enjoyed while viewing exhibits and scrap books brought by members  of the family.

The next day, Saturday, June 3rd we all took part in a walking tour of Historic Downtown Charleston, led by the West Virginia Historian, Richard Andre.  We began at the monument marking the site of Fort Clendenin (which became Fort Lee) where the first settlement was established at the confluence of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers.  Here is where Joseph Ruffner first moved his family in 1795 and his son David Ruffner lived with his family for ten years.   Next we visited the old Ruffner Burial Ground which is now Pioneer Park.  After the Ruffners sold this land, the graves were all moved except the tomb of Joseph and Ann (Heistand) Ruffner and that of Elizabeth Painter, wife of Daniel Ruffner.  Following the Civil War a monument to the Kanawha Riflemen was erected which contains some of the Ruffner men who fought for the Confederacy.  We toured Holly Grove Mansion, built in 1815 by Joseph's son Daniel Ruffner.  This magnificent home once was the headquarters for most of the land that is now Charleston.  It sits next door to the Governor's Mansion and is a National Historical Site on the lawn of the West Virginia Capitol Building.  It now houses the State Department of Senior Services who so graciously allowed us to tour the building.  They have plans for its complete restoration.  Our group photograph was taken on the front steps.  On the Capitol Lawn we visited the monuments to Booker T. Washington and Abraham Lincoln before learning from Richard Andre about the beautiful interior of the Capitol.  We also saw on Kanawha Boulevard the sites of the Joseph Ruffner cabin, the Augustus Ruffner home, the Mercer Academy School and some of the churches in downtown Charleston that had their early beginnings with the Ruffner leadership.

Our tour continued by car on the drive up the hill west of Charleston to see the many Ruffner Family graves in the historic and beautiful Spring Hill Cemetery.  The Ruffner plots are extensive and command a dramatic view of the valley.  Richard then led us back to the hotel for a lunch break.  Our afternoon tour began at the reconstructed Joseph Ruffner cabin that is in Daniel Boone Park, two and one half miles north of Malden.  The log cabin walls were found within the old Joel Ruffner home on Kanawha Blvd. when it was torn down in the 1960s.  The cabin reconstruction was a 1976 Bicentennial project for the civic clubs on the area.  Next door we visited the Craik - Patton House which has some Ruffner furniture on display.  We left Boone Park and car caravanned to Malden where we were met by "the Cole Sisters," Martha and Llewellyn who were our guides to this historic Ruffner village and site of the famous Ruffner Salt Works.  We first visited the ancient Ruffner Burial Ground that is just inside the Amherst Coal Company property.  Here were the graves of David Ruffner and his children, the cemetery once being on his Malden property. 

We returned to the Hotel for our Reunion Banquet.  Following a scrumptious feast our master of ceremonies Bob Sheets from Denver introduced our Reunion Chairman Shirley Ann Sheets.  Together they presented a framed certificate of recognition and appreciation to Doris Laver Ruffner for her contribution to the family genealogy and history by co-authoring, with the late Olive Taylor Ruffner, "Peter Ruffner and His Descendants."  Bob told how the past two reunions, Mason, Illinois in 1991 and Prescott, Arizona 1993, led to this reunion in the Kanawha Valley.  Virginia Rigg of Denver, who celebrated her 91st birthday at the banquet, told how much it meant to her to be with her Ruffner cousins in Charleston.  She first knew of the Ruffners here when in 1969 she and her grandnephew, Bob Sheets were driving down Kanawha Boulevard and saw the sign that pointed out the Ruffner Graves.  Melissa (Ruffner) Moore of Prescott, reported on the success of the 93 Reunion her father, the late Budge Ruffner, had organized and what it meant for her and her mother to be in attendance.  Remarks were made by Fred Ruffner, son of Olive Ruffner,  on the importance of what has begun to be a biannual reunion and a brief history of some of the research he has done toward establishing the Ruffner origins in Mainfeld, Switzerland.  Shirley then introduced the author and historian, Richard Andre who gave us a review of the Ruffner history in the Kanawha Valley.  The proceedings closed with the assembly making  Richard an Honorary Member of the Ruffner Family.  As a token of our appreciation to Shirley for her leadership in organizing this reunion we presented to her a copy of Richard's new book, "Kanawha County Images," inscribed by all in attendance.  After the banquet we all posed by family groups who were descended from the children of Peter & Mary Ruffner.  A 24' long genealogical wall chart formed the background for the pictures.  The evening closed in the Hospitality Room where we all exchanged research information and viewed an exhibit of the Ruffner Family Homes.

On Sunday, June 4th we returned to Malden to attend a service in the Kanawha Salines Presbyterian Church, built by David Ruffner in 1840 and pastored by his son Henry.  We were greeted by Harry Gardner of Malden who was so helpful to Shirley in making arrangements for the reunion.  We presented the floral arrangement used at our banquet, to the church as a memorial to Rev. Henry Ruffner.  The service was conducted by Pastor Steven Leonard.  Following the service we walked across to the historic Hale House for the closing picnic.  The Hale House now houses Cabin Creek Quilts.  Our host was Martha Willis, Vista Volunteer who manages the program for the quilt makers in the valley.  Closing ceremonies were in the garden where we voted to take our next reunion to Luray, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  Doug Ruffner of Inola, Oklahoma was elected the Reunion Chairman for Luray.  It was voted to contribute our leftover food from the picnic to one of the homeless shelters in Charleston.  We left West Virginia with new friendships, enriched knowledge of our family history and appreciation for those cousins who have worked so hard to bring us together.

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