Dr. Thomas Ruston and Mary Fisher

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Husband Dr. Thomas Ruston ¹

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           Born: 1742 - Upper Oxford Twp, Chester Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 1811 - Philadelphia, PA 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: Job Ruston (      -1785) 2 3 4
         Mother: Mary Ruston (Abt 1718-1757) 2

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       Marriage: 

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Wife Mary Fisher ¹

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           Born: 
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           Died: 
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Children

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1 F Charlotte Ruston ⁵

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Richard M. Hannum (      -      ) 5

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2 F Mary Ruston ¹

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           Born: 
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           Died: 
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         Spouse: William Harrison (      -      ) 1

         Spouse: John Wheeler (      -      ) 1

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3 M Thomas Ruston, Jr. ¹

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           Born: 
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           Died:  - Kentucky
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General Notes: Husband - Dr. Thomas Ruston

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He was given the best education that the times afforded, and in 1762 was graduated at Princeton College. The following year he went to Europe, and graduating at the Medical Department of the University of Edinburgh, at once took such high rank in his profession as to be appointed surgeon in charge of the Devon and Exeter Hospital, at Exeter, England, where he remained for more than fifteen years. During this time he married, and in the year 1785 they came to America, and resided in Philadelphia. The doctor was the first American who had graduated at Edinburgh, and only won his way by the severest study. His wife was possessed of an ample fortune, and she brought with her to America forty thousand guineas, equal to two hundred thousand dollars, a large sum for those days. They lived in Philadelphia in style, and entertained lavishly, and had at their board from time to time the wealth and culture of the land. A diary was kept by Mrs. Ruston, later in the possession of one of her descendants, in which she recorded an account of the dinners given by them, and containing diagrams showing the position and names of the dishes on the table, and the names of the guests. Among those with whom they were on friendly terms was Dr. Benjamin Franklin. On Jan. 12, 1786, the year following Dr. Ruston's return to America, he addressed a letter to Dr. Franklin on the subject of "smoky chimneys," and a remedy to cure the evil, which was published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. He wrote several books and pamphlets.
Dr. Ruston, after his return from England, engaged with others in extensive land speculations, which, although promising well, subsequently proved disastrous, and his wife's ample fortune, as well as his own, was dissipated.
His father devised his real estate to him, subject to the payment of legacies to his other children. In the settlement of the estate litigation ensued, which was carried to the Supreme Court of the State. The case will be found reported as Ruston vs. Ruston, in 2 Yeates' Reports, page 54, and 2 Dallas' Reports, page 243.

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General Notes: Wife - Mary Fisher

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from London, England

1 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 718.

2 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 717.

3 Charles A. Hanna, Ohio Valley Genealogies (New York, 1900), Pg 36.

4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1912), Pg 325.

5 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 587, 718.