Alexandria, VA – Review: Patriots, Priests and Rebels – A Virginia Family and America’s History
Publisher: Xulon Press
Author: Evelyn “Randy” Ruffin
Reviewed by: Ralph Peluso, Literary Editor
Zebra Rating: 5 Stripes
History fascinates on many levels: curiosity, perspective, or sheer enjoyment. In Ruffin’s work, Patriots, Priests and Rebels, there is another element, and that is a personal connection to history from the touching stories in handwritten family letters dating back to colonial times that continued through the aftermath of the Civil War.
When I asked the author about the inspiration behind her work, she answered, “When I finally had the time and inclination to read the transcriptions of a collection of family letters which my mother had laboriously typed up from the originals, I realized that they told a story—through several generations—of a Virginia family’s relationship to our country’s history. I wanted to make this story, and the letters, accessible to my children and other relatives. … Thus the book, which was also a tribute to my mother’s effort, grew, with historical context and additional facts gleaned from family lore and other sources added.”
Ruffin’s work reads like a well-written novel. The author marvelously weaves the critical elements of historical fiction—characters, dialogues, themes, conflicts, and plot—into Patriots, Priests and Rebels. Unlike Margaret Mitchell or Ken Follett, her work is very personal. “Learning that my four-times great-grandfather knew George Washington and Lafayette quite well and received a laissez-passer from General Cornwallis was quite a revelation to me,” Ruffin said.
Digesting the impact of stories from one’s ancestry is one thing. But reading about their interactions with historical figures and their part in related events is surreal. “It was exciting, and it also humanized the history of the period and brought it somehow closer,” Ruffin commented. “I had heard of ‘the Gallant Pelham’ in Civil War stories, but it was touching to read that one of the young Hoxtons, a great-great uncle, pulled him from a fire after he had been fatally shot. Here was a young man in the prime of his life cut down, as were so many, many young men on both sides in that war.” Some chapters are worth reading twice. The magnitude of the issue in the letter takes time to sink in. For example, the basis for separation of church and state resonates loudly in several colonial-era missives.
These patriots were courageous in their pushback against the crown. They displayed even greater courage in carrying on without the benefit of proper medical diagnoses or treatment. Many died young of tuberculosis, malaria, scarlet fever, etc. David Griffith’s daughter, Elizabeth, died in her 30s, following the early death of her husband. Eliza Hoxton’s father and mother both died early. Her father, a medical doctor, died from health issues after his service as an army doctor in Florida during the Seminole Indian Wars. Women certainly died from issues associated with pregnancy, childbirth, or cancer. When asked about women’s health issues of the day, Ruffin responded, “My sense is that during much of the period covered, inadequate diagnosis and treatment was across the board, but I may be wrong. I feel for all of them.” The rise in public awareness and advances in mammography leading to the early detection and treatment of breast cancer began in the mid-1970s.
Ruffin, a native Alexandrian, grew up on the campus of Episcopal High School. She holds a BA in anthropology from Vassar College and did postgraduate work at the London School of Economics. She worked at Initiative for Change, a nonprofit “building trust across the world’s divides.” In 1970, Ruffin and Dick, her newly wedded husband, lived on Prince Street. “The cobblestones were said to have been brought over as ballast on ships. We loved it!” she added. They now reside in Charlottesville, near their two adult children. Ruffin is active in the local Episcopal Church and on her condo board. She is an avid reader, music lover, teacher, and catalyst for bringing people together.
Patriots, Priests and Rebels is an enlightening look into the formative years of the United States from primary sources. There were plenty of challenges, including when the Revolutionary War seemed ill-fated and when a Civil War nearly shredded our nation. Readers can draw their own conclusions from these unfiltered letters. A solid patriotic–Five Zebra Stripes.
