Capt. Matthew Ruttan, Esq. (1802-187?)

Matthew Ruttan, Esq. was my 5th great-grandfather.  He was born in Adolphustown, Ontario about 1803, the 6th child of William Ruttan and Margaret Steele.  The Ruttans were one of the large and well known families in the and the area ever since the first settlement of the Province by the U.E. Loyalists.  

Kingston Chronicle & Gazette May 19, 1841 

 I found several notices of Matthew in the local paper, the Kingston Chronicle and Gazette.  He was active in the local militia and served for a time as a local magistrate and jury member in Adolphustown.

Kingston Chronicle & Gazette, Feb 19th, 1845

On Jan 28th, 1845, he married Eliza Ann McConkey, daughter of Baron McConkey of Mount Venus, Ireland.  The excerpt is from the Kingston Chronicle & Gazette dated Feb 19th, 1845, it reads, "At Cape Vincent, on 28th ult.(=preceding month), Matthew Ruttan, Adolphustown, Captain, First Lenox Militia, to Eliza, youngest daughter of Baron McConkey, of Mount Venus, Ireland."




I'm still looking for their marriage record.

Matthew shows up in the Canada Censuses with Eliza and their four children, Margaret Elizabeth Victoria (1845), Joseph Albert (1846), Bertal(1851), and Amanda Jane(1855).

1851 Census of Canada, Adolphustown

1861 Census of Canada, Adolphustown

As you can see in the 1871 Census of Ernesttown, Ontario, Eliza and Matthew are living with their grandson Frederick Mitchell, son of their daughter Margaret Elizabeth Victoria, and Dr. Archibald Mitchell.

1871 Census of Canada, Fredericksburgh South

I'm still looking for the exact date of Matthew's death and burial location.  He dies sometime between the 1871 and 1881 census.