GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL HISTORY
OF THE
STATE OF NEW JERSEY

A RECORD OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER PEOPLE IN THE
MAKING OF A COMMONWEALTH AND THE
FOUNDING OF A NATION

COMPILED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
FRANCIS BAZLEY LEE

New York
Lewis Historical Publishing Company
- 1910 -
Vol. II, pp. 523-524

RUE - This is an old Pennsylvania name founded in that state early in the eighteenth century, and is presumed to have gone thither from New Jersey. Traditional says it is a Huguenot family, tracing back to France. Franz, Jacques and Abraham LeRoy came to New Amsterdam (now New York) from Manheim, in the Pfalz, prior to 1680, having fled to the Palatinate from France some years earlier. The descendants of Abraham, the youngest of the three brothers, are quite numerous in Bucks county, whither they migrated from New Jersey in the closing years of the seventheenth century. The name was spelled LaRue, Larrew, and in various forms in the early records, but eventually assumed its present spelling. The Bucks county family is not nearly related to or associated in any way with that of Rue, and there appears no points of similarity. The descendants of Jacques (James) LeRoy, who settled in Bergen county, New Jersey, and on Staten Island, spelled the name in various forms, and it may be that the Bucks county family is descended from them. The first record of the name Rue is the grand of two hundred acres of land "above the Falls of Delaware" in New Jersey, in 1609, to John Rue of Staten Island. He may have been the father or grandfather of James.

(I) James Rue purchased the old Vansand farm in Bensalem in 1718, and died there in December, 1759, "advanced in years," leaving a widow Mary, who died in 1769, and children: Richard, Matthew, Samuel, Joseph, Mary (married Timothy Roberts in 1735), Catherine (married James Rankins in 1744), Elizabeth (married Samuel Yerkes in 1743), Sarah (married James Kidd).

(II) Matthew, son of James Rue purchased an interest in the Milford Mills (now Hulmeville), and a large tract of land in Middletown township, Bucks county, in 1730, and lived there until his death. In a conveyance to his son Lewis in 1731, no wife joins, but his will mentions wife, Mary, who was probably a second spouse, and a sister of Benjamin Towne who married his eldest daughter. He died in 1770, leaving an ample estate, dividing several hundred acres of land among his children, and including a large personal property. He had five children: 1. Matthew, the eldest, died before his father leaving two sons, Benjamin and Lewis. 2. Mary, married Thomas Case of Trenton, in 1734. 3. Richard, mentioned below. 4. Katharine, married Benjamin Towne. 5. Lewis, married, in 1736, Rachel Vansant, and died in 1752, leaving six children.

(III) Richard, second son of Matthew Rue, inherited from his father a farm of two hundred and fifty acres in Middletown township and spent his whole life in that township, where he died in 1785 and was buried with his father, where many other members of the family of later generations lie, in the Rue graveyard, on the farm now [1910] occupied by Richard Rue, near Hulmeville. He married January 6, 1765, Jane VanDyck. He seems to have married a second time late in life as he is joined in makeing deeds in 1772 by a wife Elizabeth. No wife seems to have survived him. Children: Anthony, Elizbeth, Lewis, Catherine, (wife of Isaiah VanHorne), Richard and Matthew. The heirs of Richard and Lewis succeeded to the homestead which was purchased by these two in 1786.

(IV) Mathew (2), youngest child of Richard and Jane (VanDyck) Rue, was a minor in 1770, when he was mentioned in the will of his grandfather, Matthew (1). In this will he received a negro boy, Charles, provided he lived to come of age and to be a farmer. At the time of his father's death, he was living on a small farm purchased by his grandfather in 1765, a part of a large plantation once owned by James Rue (I). He married Mary, daughter of Adam and Christiana Weaver, of Bensalem, and lived at different periods in Middletown, Bensalem and Bristol townships. This farm was conveyed to him by his brothers and sisters, and at the death of his father-in-law in 1812, forty acres of land in Bristol was devised to his children, to remain in his possession and care until the youngest of them should arrive of age. He last appears on record in a deed to his son, Adam, for a part of the land conveyed to him by his brothers and sisters in 1786. This deed bears date April 1, 1822, and is joined by his wife, Grace. Their residence was then in Bristol township. No will or letters of administration on his estate appear in the probate records of Bucks county. Adam Weaver, the father of his first wife, was a blacksmith and purchased land in Bensalem in 1760. He subsequently bought land in Middletown of Richard Rue, and owned considerable land in Bristol. His daughter, Mary, wife of Matthew (2) Rue, was not living when his will was made January 12, 1802. Matthew (2) and Mary Rue children: 1. Adam, died in Bristol, 1849, leaving two sons and three dauchters. 2. Richard, died unmarried. 3. Lewis, mentioned below. 4. Barsheba, wife of Joshua Wright. 5. Christiana. 6. Elijah. 7. Jacob.

(V) Lewis, third son of Matthew (2) and Mary (Weaver) Rue, was born January 31, 1788, in Middletown township, died at Newportville in Bristol township, August 9, 1863. He was a harness maker and lived all his life in Bristol. He married Ann, daughter of Stephen Stackhouse, born January 30, 1797, died December 2, 1868. Children: Edmund, Samuel S., Elizabeth (married Charles Walton) of Andalusa, Bucks county), Henry and Mary Ann. The second son was for many years an undertaker in Bristol, where he was succeeded by his son, Harvey.

(VI) Edmund, eldest son of Lewis and Ann (Stackhouse) Rue was born October 23, 1825, in Newportville and died in Burlington, New Jersey, September 26, 1897. He attended the common schools of his native town, and learned the harness-makers' trade with his father, which furnished his occupation during most of his life. He retired from active business about five years previous to his death. In March 1865, he removed to Burlington, New Jersey, and was there engaged in the harness business on his own account until his retirement. He was a Methodist and active in church work, being a member of the official board and treasurer of the Union street Methodist Church in Burlington for a period of thirty years. In politics he was a consistent Republican. He married Roxanna S. Allen, daughter of William and Eliza (Goforth) Allen, born October 16, 1825, died January 6, 1909. William, son of Israel Allen, was born June 24, 1793. Eliza, daughter of William and Isabella Goforth, was born December 31, 1792, died October 28, 1829. Children of Edmund and Roxanna S. (Allen) Rue: William A., died at the age of twenty-five years; Eugene, died in childhood; Caleb Taylor, mentioned below.

(VII) Caleb Taylor, only surviving child of Edmund and Roxanna S. (Allen) Rue, was born June 20, 1859, in Newportville and grew up in Burlington county, New Jersey, whither the family removed when he was about six years old. He received his education in the public schools of that town and Burlington College, a military institution. Early in life, he went to work for the Pennsylvania railroad, on Fourth street, Philadelphia, in the office of auditor of passenger receipts, and remained there two years. He subsequently engaged in the wool business with Edward A. Green & Company of Philadelphia, for the last twelve years he has been engaged in the trade in cotton yarns with a commission house in the same city. For seventeen years he traveled through the country from the east to the middle west and is now city salesman for Muller, Riddle & Company, located at 206 Chestnut street in Philadelphia. He has continued as a resident in Burlington. Mr. Rue has always taken an active interest in political matters, acting with the Republican party, and was president of the common council of Burlington in 1894. He was a member of the convention which nominated John W. Griggs for governor of New Jersey, and of that which chose delegates to the national convention in 1908. In November, 1906, he was elected mayor of Burlington and discharted the duties of that office with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituency. He is a member of Burlington Lodge, No. 32, A.F. and A.M.; of Boudinot Chapter, No. 3, R.A.M.; and Helena Commandery, No. 3, K.T. He has been for twenty years affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and is a member of LuLu Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Philadelphia. He is a member of Burlington Lodge, No. 22, I.O.O.F., of Burlington, and of Lodge No. 996, B.P.O.E., of the same place. The principles of fellowship and charity towards mankind, as maintained by these orders, have been governing principles in the conduct of Mr. Rue's life, and he enjoys the esteem and regard of a large number of people.

He married, in 1893, Mary Collom, daughter of Elias D. and Kate (Love) Collom, of Philadelphia. She is a granddaughter of William Collom, who maintained a boarding school many years ago at Mt. Holly, New Jersey, was a Baptist clergyman, and served a term in the state legislature. He also filled a responsible position under President Lincold during the civil war.

From a volume owned by the Spruance Library
of the Bucks Co. Historical Society, Doylestown, Pa.



THE RUE FAMILY IN THE U.S.A.