Some of the earliest settlers of Benton County include the Wilsons, Coxes, Pratts, Fords, Vandegriffs, Wardlaws, Fosters, Tiners, Lynches and countless others. They came during a time when land was readily available, and times were hard. They traveled by wagon and ox cart. Wives and children walked alongside the wagons for countless miles. Often their journey lasted for weeks, traveling eight to 20 miles a day depending upon the terrain and weather conditions. One such family was the Ruddicks. They settled around what is now known as the Garfield Township. There, they not only made contributions to Benton County, they made contributions as they made their way across America, as well.
I'm standing inside the Elk Horn Tavern posing for pictures with four others. Until just a few hours ago, we were complete strangers to each other. The only thing we have in common is the fact that we share a common grandfather, Andrew Jackson Lynch. Three of us share a Ruddick ancestry that begins with William Ruddock, born in 1689 in Ireland. I see a connection that maybe the others aren't seeing. What I'm seeing is the fact that the Ruddick journey began in the early 1700s with William Ruddock. Here we are, 10 generations later, it's Easter weekend and we're at the Elk Horn Tavern, built by William Ruddick. I begin to think about how the Ruddocks started in Pennsylvania and made their way to Garfield, Ark.
The Ruddock story actually begins in the late 1600s when they settled in Chester County, Penn. It's here that the first of many Ruddick contributions to the making of early America would begin. About 1742, William Ruddock and son, James, were commissioned to build a road between the Marsh Creek settlement (now Gettysburg) and to the towns of Lancaster and York. During the Revolutionary War, William's name is found in Captain Flower Swift's Company of Quakers.
William Rudduck Jr. was born in 1723. It's very possible that he might have read Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette. William married Ann Cox in 1746.
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Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series about the early forefathers of some Benton County residents.
Community on 05/30/2018