F. W. Ruef

RUEF, SUTTER, ROBINSON

Posted By: Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 3/10/2011 at 19:23:04

F. W. Ruef, one of the proprietors and the general manager of the Maple Hill Mercantile Company, owning and conducting a general merchandise business, a grain elevator and an extensive lumberyard at Maple Hill, Emmet county, has in his life demonstrated the possibilities for the attainment of success even when one has to start out without the assistance of family or friends. Iowa claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Clermont, Fayette county, on the 2nd of January, his parents being Ferdinand and Margaret (Sutter) Ruef, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Switzerland. In young manhood and young womanhood they came to the new world, settling first in Fayette county, Iowa, where they were married and spent their remaining days. The father was a stone mason by trade and thus provided for the support of his family. He died in 1896, while his wife survived only until 1898.

F. W. Ruef was a lad of but thirteen years at the time of his father's death and was left on orphan when fifteen. Being an only son, at his father's death he became the breadwinner for the family and has not only made his own way in the world from that time forward, but also contributed to the support of his mother during her lifetime. He was first employed in a brickyard at Clermont, where he received a wage of three dollars per week. Following the death of his mother he made his home with an older sister in Armstrong, Iowa, and there found employment in a hardware store. During his three years' service in that connection he learned much of the plumbing business and in 1901 he went to the Pacific coast, where for eight years he was employed in a plumbing establishment, working throughout the state for a firm at Salem, Oregon. In 1910 he returned to Iowa and settled at Maple Hill, where he purchased the interest of Mr. Dows in the Maple Hill Mercantile Company, the present owners of the business being Mr. Ruef, Mrs. Grace Slessor and B. F. Robinson, the last named being also cashier of the First National Bank at Armstrong, Iowa. The firm conducts an extensive mercantile and lumber business and operates the Maple Hill elevator. In fact this firm is one of the most important in the business circles of Emmet county, controlling and directing large interests which contribute much to the commercial upbuilding and consequent prosperity of this section of the state.

In 1908 Mr. Ruef was united in marriage to Miss Edith Robinson, her father being B. F. Robinson, of Armstrong, senior member of the Maple Hill Mercantile Company. Mr. and Mrs. Ruef have two children, Elizabeth Margaret and Benjamin Edward. In his political views, Mr. Ruef is a Republican and has filled the office of postmaster at Maple Hill. He is also the treasurer of the Consolidated School of Maple Hill, one of the important educational institutions of the county, in which are employed five teachers. A new school building has been erected at a cost of twenty-one thousand dollars. Fraternally, Mr. Ruef is connected with Emmet Lodge, No. 565, F. & A. M., of Armstrong, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, guiding their lives according to its teachings. Mr. Ruef is a representative citizen and leading business man, and in the accomplishment of his purposes has followed honorable methods.

Source: History of Emmet County and Dickinson County Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, The Pioneer Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1917