Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/197

 RUCKER

RUCKSTUIIL

in 1856 retired to private life. He was never married. He died in East Berkshire, Vt., Nov. 11, 1S68.

RUCKER, Daniel Henry, soldier, was born at Belleville, N.J., April 28, 1813 ; son of John An- thony and Sarah (Macomb) Rucker ; grandson of John Peter and Janet (Marshall) Rucker. In 1820 he removed with his parents to Grosse Isle, Mich., where he attended school. He entered the U.S. army, being commissioned second lieu- tenant, 1st dragoons, Oct. 13, 1837 ; was promoted 1st lieutenant, Oct. 8, 1844, and captain, Feb. 7, 1847. In the Mexican war he commanded a squadron at Buena Vista and was brevetted major, Feb. 23, 1847, for gallant and meritorious services there. He was transferred to the quartermaster's dejjartment in 1849, and declined the position of major of tlie 6th cavalry. He was married in 1850 to Jane Curtis, On Aujr. 3, 1861, he was pro- moted major in the quartermaster's department, and colonel and aide-de-camp to General McClel- lan, Sept. 28, 1861. He was appointed brigadier- general of volunteers. May 23, 1863, and was stationed at Washington during the war ; was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and briga- dier-general, U.S.A., for diligent and faithful serv- ice during the war, and on March 14, 1865, was brevetted major-general of volunteers and major- general, U.S.A., for faithful and meritorious serv- ices during the war. He was promoted colonel and appointed quartermaster- general, July 28, 1866. He subsequently served at various posts, and Feb. 13, 1882, was promoted brigadier-general and quartermaster-general of the army. Ten days later, February 23, he was retired from the army after forty years of service.

RUCKER, William W., representative, was born near Covington, Va., Feb. 1, 1855; son of William P. and Margaret A. (Scott) Rucker. He removed with his parents to western Virginia, at the outbreak of the civil war, and in 1873 removed to Chariton county. Mo. , where he taught scliool, 1873-75, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. He was married. May 20, 1880, to Fannie Applegate of Keytesville, Mo. He was prosecut- ing attorney of Chariton county, 1880-93 ; circuit judge of the twelfth judicial circuit, 1892-99, and a Democratic representative from the second district of Missouri in the 56th, 57th and 58th congresses, 1899-1905.

RUCKSTUHL, Frederic Wellington, sculptor, was born at Breitenbach, Alsace, May 22, 1853 ; son of John and Louise Ruckstuhl. In 1685 a branch of the Huguenot family by the name of Ruxtiel, driven out of France, settled first in Switzerland and then in Alsace, the name be- coming corrupted to Ruckstuhl. In 1855 Frederic Wellington Ruckstuhl came with his parents to the United States, and the family settled in St.

Louis, Mo. He was engaged in theological prep- aration until 1878, when he determined to de- vote himself to the study of sculpture, and attended a night class in art, winning the prize for the Blair monument at St. Louis in 1883. In the same year he made a brief visit to Paris ; returned to St. Louis to secure enough commission for further study abroad, and was a student in the princi- pal schools of Paris, especially under Mer- , cie and Tholenaar, 1885-88 ; exhibiting in the latter year in the Paris Salon, his

life-size nude female ^^ _.

figure called " Even- /TT^^^^^^^^^^i^^^ ing," which won

" Honorable Mention." He subsequently entered upon a second three years' course of study in Paris, exhibiting his statue of Evening, which he had in the meantime put into marble, and his group called " Mercury Amusing Himself" in the Salon of 1891. The former work was again dis- played at the exhibition of the Society of Amer- ican Artists in 1893 ; in the same year received a grand medal at the Columbian exposition at Chicago, and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The latter group was cast into bronze, became the property of the city of St. Louis, and was placed in Portland Place. In December, 1892, Mr, Ruckstuhl settled in New York city, where he became active in the art movement of the country. He was a member of the Fine Arts jury of the Atlanta International exposition, 1895; served for three years as first secretary of the National Sculpture society, which society he had founded, and in 1898 as secretary of its committee in charge of the erection of the Dewey arch in New York city ; superintended the sculpture decorations of the Court of Appeals of New York city, finished in 1900, and traveled extensively in Europe and in Egypt for the benefit of his health in 1900-01. He was appointed chief of sculpture for the St. Louis World's Fair, but subsequently resigned ; was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Arts club ; second vice-president of the Architectural league, and also of the Munici- pal Art society of New York city in 1903. His principal works of sculpture in addition to those already mentioned, include the heroic bronzes: Victory, on soldiers' and sailors' monument. Jamaica, Long Island ; Solon, Library of Con- gress, Washington, D.C., where his colossal gran-