Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/370

344 but Mr. Ruggles's views. which were nmch assailed. vvere amply vindicated by the event. He was a commissioner to determine the route of the Erie railroad. and a director in 1833—9. a director and promoter of the Bank of commerce in 13439. com- missioner of the Croton aqueduct in 15212. dele— gate from the Unit- ed States to the In- ternational statis- tical congresses at Berlin in 1863 and the Hague in 15139. 1'. S. commission- er to the Paris ex- position of 18137. and delegate to the International monetary confer- ence that was held there. Ilelaid out Gramercy park. in the city of New York. in 1831. gave it its name. and presented it to the surrounding property-owners. He also had a considerable inﬂuence upon shaping Union square. where he resided. and he selected the name of Lexington avenue. He was for a long term of years a trustee of the Astor li- brary. and he held the same oﬂice in Columbia col- lege from 1836 till the end of his life. He was also a member of the Chamber of commerce of the state of New York. and of the General convention of the Protestant Episcopal church. Mr. Ruggles's claim to distinction rests chieﬂy upon his canal policy. and the steadfast attention that he con- tinued to give to the Erie canal. both as a private citizen during his life and as canal Commissioner. in which ofﬁce he served from IMO till 1342. and again in the year 1858. Yale gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1859. Among his numerous printed apers are " teport upon Finances and Internal mprovements" (13(38): “ Vindication of Canal Policy" (1349); " Defence of Improvement of Navigable “’aters by the General Government" (1N52): " Law of Burial " (I‘d-ES): "Report on State of t‘anals in 155M" (1859): reports on the Statis- tical congress at Berlin (1863). the Monetary con- ference at Paris (WM). and the Statistical-congre$ at the Hague (1871): " Report to the Chairman of the Committee on Canals" (1575'): and a “Con- solidated Table of National Progress in (‘heapening Food" (moot—His cousin. (‘harics Herman. ju- rist. b. in Litchﬁeld county. ('onn.. 10 Feb.. 1789: d. in Poughkeepsie. N. Y.. 16 J une. 13135. received a good education. studied law. and began practice in Kingston. N. Y. He was a member of the New York legislature in 1520. and was elected immedi- ately afterward to congress. serving in 1521—3. He then served as a judge of the Ilutchess county circuit court. was again in the legislature. and in 1H53 became a judge of the court of appeals of the state of New York. but resigned on 30 Aug.. 1H35.—Charles llerman's nephew. t-‘corgc Dan id. soldier. b. in Newburg. N. Y.. 11 Sept.. 153:}. was graduated at the U. military academy in 15155. and assigned to the mounted riflcmen. He served on frontier duty. including three Indian expedi- tions. till the civil war. and in IHSH was acting ad- jutant-general of the Department of the W st. at St. Louis. In July. 1361. he was made assistant
 * uljutant-general. with the staff rank of captain.

and assigned to special duty in the war department in the organization of volunteer forces. He he- came colonel on the staff on ‘28 June. 1839. was chief of staff of the Army of Virginia in (ten. John I’ope‘s campaign. and continued to serve as an additional aide-de-camp throughout the war. some- times with the Army of the Potomac. of which he was adjutant-general from February till June. 1305. and sometimes in \Yashington. He took part in the battles of Antietam ax I South Mountain. and the assault and capture of etersburg. On 9 April. 1b 5 he was brevetted brigadier—general of volunteers for services during the operations that resulted in the fall of Richmond and surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee. and he was also given brevet commissions in the regular army to (late from 13 March. in- cluding that of brigadier-general. Since the war he had served as adjutant~general of various de- partments. In 1593 he became adjutant-general of the .nrmy and was retired in 1-397.

'''RUGGLES. Timothy'''. lawyer. b. in Rochester. Mass. :30 Hct.. 1711: d. in “'ilmot. Nova Scotia. 4 Aug. 1795. Ile was a son of Rev. Timothy Rug- gles. of Rochester. He was graduated at Harvard in 1732. and began the practice of law in Rochester, hut removed to Sandwich about 1737. and thence to Hardwick in 1753 or 175-1. At Sandwich he opened a tavern. and personally attended the bar and stable. while continuing to practise his pro- fession. He was one of the best lawyers in the pr0vince of Massachusetts. and before his removal to Hardwick the principal antagonist of James Otis. senior. in causes of importance. as at a later period he was the chief opponent of James tis. junior, in contests in the general court. In 1757 he was commissioned a judge of the court of com- mon pleas of Worcester county. and on ‘21 Jan.. 1762. he became its chief justice. The latter otlice he held until the Revolution. He was also ap- pointed. 23 Feb.. 1763. a special justice of the su- perior court of the province. .lr. Ruggles was a representative in the general court from Roches— ter in 1736. from Sandwich for eight years between 1739 aml 1752. and from Hardwick ﬁfteen years between 1754 and 1770. He was speaker of the house in 1762 and 1763. In 1765 he was chosen one of the delegates from Massachusetts to the stamp-act congress of that year in New York. and was elected its president. but refused to sign the addresses and petitions that were sent by that body to Great Britain. and was censured for the refusal by the general court of Massachusetts apd repri- manded in his place from the speaker's chair. Nine years later he accepted an appointment as manda- mus councillor. and took the oath of ofﬁce. 115 Aug. 177-1. Ruggles rendercd service in the French war that began in 17.33 and ended in 176:}. He had the rank of colonel in the expedition of Sir William Johnson against Crown Point in 1755. and in the battle of Lake George. where the French. under Baron Dieskau. met with a signal defeat. he was next in command to Johnson. In 175S—'60 he served as brigadier-general under Lord Amherst. and acemnpanied that general in his expedition against Canada. In recognition of his services a grant was made to him by the general court of Massachusetts in January. 1764. of a farm in Prince- ton. A few years later he was, appointed a surveyor- general of the king's forests in the prmince. and in the northern part of Nova Seotia. Lucius R. Paige. who in his " Ilistory of Hardwick " (Boston. 1883) has given the best and latest account of Gen. Rug- gles. writes that he was " one of the must promi- nent citizens of Massachusetts. and indeed of New England. in both military and ciiil affairs." In the years that immediately preceded the Revolu-