Capt. Robert Ruxton, P. O., Miami. Capt. Ruxton was born in Aberdeen county, Scotland, June 20, 1820. He left his native land in 1839, and, crossing the ocean, came to Ross county, Ohio, where he lived until 1843, and then came to Saline county, Missouri, and settled in Miami township. In 1849 he took the gold fever, and went to California, remaining there until 1852, and then returned to Saline, via the Isthmus of Panama, with $6,000 in cash, as the result of his work in the mines. Since then, this county has been his home. Capt. Ruxton spent two years at Kemper’s Academy, in Booneville, after he came to this county, teaching during the vacations. He was married, May 22, 1853, to Miss Mary P. Brown; and to this union have been born, Alvan K. and William R., both living, and one son dead. He is a member of the Methodist Church South, and is also a member of the I. O. G. T. In 1861 he enlisted in the M. S. G., and was commissioned quartermaster, with the rank of captain. Returned to Saline, in the fall of 1861, with orders to recruit, and was returning south with a company of recruits, in Robinson’s regiment of recruits, when the whole were captured by Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, at Blackwater, December 19, 1861. Was in prison in St. Louis, and Alton, Illinois, for nine months, and was then exchanged at Vicksburg, in 1862, and rejoined the confederate army. Was in the quarter-master and commissary departments, most of the time, and was mustered out at the end of the war in 1865. At the August election, in 1860, Capt. Ruxton was the regular democratic candidate for sheriff of Saline, but was defeated by a small majority, by D. R. Durrett, the Bell and Everett candidate. In 1872 after the re-enfranchisement of the southern men in Missouri, Capt. Ruxton ran for the office of collector, as an independent democrat, but was defeated by H. H. Harris, the regularly nominated candidate of the democratic party. In 1876 he was a candidate against the regularly nominated democratic candidate, running against Col. W. S. Jackson, for the office of county clerk, and was again defeated. Before and since the war, Capt. Ruxton has traveled largely in Canada and in all the states of the Union. Since 1855, he has been engaged in the general shipping business, except during the war. In 1857 a fire cost him about $9,000, and then the war almost impoverished him, losing him about $15,000. But by his indomitable pluck and energy, he has once more worked out for himself, a fair competency. Capt. Ruxton, a gentleman of the old school, and a man of hard Scotch sense, and notwithstanding his repeated political defeats, is one of the most popular men in the county.
