About the Author:

Paul Miller Ruff was born May 26, 1918 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.  His Westmoreland County roots go back well into the 18th Century.  He was baptized in the Old Harrold’s Church on Aug. 18, 1918.
    The farm where PMR was raised, now the site of the Fort Allen subdivision, is in sight of Harrold’s Zion Lutheran Church and the grammar school he attended, Old Harrold School No. 8.  He continued his education at Harrold’s Junior High School, Greensburg High School and St. Vincent College.
    After hearing the call to the ordained ministry of the Lutheran Church, PMR attended and graduated from the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia and was ordained in May 1943.  He did additional graduate work at Chicago Lutheran Seminary, Chicago, IL.
    PMR served Lutheran congregations in Ashtabula, OH (1942-1952) (First English), Jefferson, OH (1950-1952), Aliquippa, PA (1952-1969) (House of Prayer) and Pittsburgh, PA (1970-1980) (Grace, Troy Hill).  During the first 16 years of his retirement, he served as interim pastor at numerous Southwestern  Pennsylvania Lutheran churches, including Nativity in Pittsburgh and St. Mark’s in Hunker, PA.
    In June 1943, PMR and Lydia Zundel were married in the Old Harrold’s Church.  The Zundel home is still standing and is right across the West Newton Road from the new church building.  Like those of the Ruff family, Zundel roots in Westmoreland County and in the Harrold’s congregation go back well into the 18th Century.
    Lydia’s father, Rev. William Arter Zundel, was raised in the Harrold’s congregation and her parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at Harrold’s.
    There are stories that as a young man, WAZ plowed the field where the Fort Allen Elementary School now stands.  For a time the artifacts WAZ discovered were thought to have been the remains of Fort Allen.  More recent discoveries place the fort nearer to Mount Odin.
    WAZ too returned to the congregation upon his retirement and became involved in the community to preserve some of its history.  He was the author of A History of Old Zion, a short history of the congregation that includes a listing of the church records from the Harrold’s community.  The book has recently been republished and is available from the BMHS.
    Much of PMR’s time during his retirement was spent transcribing the records of congregations (mostly Lutheran and Reformed) in Western Pennsylvania from the original – much of which is in German script.  He searched out the original records from attics and dusty shelves and painstakingly transcribed the baptisms, marriages and death records that were the only records of many of the people in this area for many years.
    Church records were frequently used to establish eligibility from Social Security in the early days of the program since the state did not have birth records until more recent times.  He published these volumes for many years, but has recently given them to the BMHS.
    Of special interest to the Harrold’s community are Volumes I-IV of the German Church Records of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and the records of the Harrold’s congregation.  In addition, there are some diaries of John Michael Steck, one of the early pastors in the area that are of general interest to this congregation.
    All of the books are now available from the BMHS.  All of PMR’s publications, as well as his extensive personal genealogy library, are now housed at the BMHS Center in the Paul Miller Ruff Library.
    PMR’s interest in the area goes back to his childhood when he gathered Indian artifacts from the creek on the family farm.  Items of interest include a breast pendant of polished blue stone, a pipe bowl of gray stone in the form of an animal head and a number of hammer stones and polished celts (stone axes).
    PMR founded the BMHS upon his return to the area in 1992, but he had numerous other interests as well.  Several farmer’s markets, not only the one at Harrold’s, but also the one in Greensburg and several in Beaver County has their beginnings under his interest and leadership,  proving once again that you can take the boy away from the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the boy.
    After his wife Lydia died in 1996, PMR became reacquainted with his college sweetheart, Zella Noyes Chanon whose family also has deep roots in this area and congregation.  They were married in April 2001 at Harrold’s, but sadly Zella died a few months later at Thanksgiving.
    PMR had a daughter, Margaret, who resides in Atlanta, GA and is married to James Aldredge, and a son, Jeremy, who is in Chapel Hill, NC and is married to Joyce Rodgers.  He enjoyed his five grandchildren (Adam Ruff, Samuel Ruff, Eric Ayers, Julie Ruff Kron and Rachel Ayers Bartolomei) and 11 great grandchildren (Vincent and Gabriel Bartolomei; Anne and Arthur Ayers; Mary, Will and Elizabeth Ruff; Henry and Hannah Kron and Anna  and Bailey Ruff.
   PMR resided in a house build by his parents on Fosterville Road on property that had belonged to the Ruff family for over 100 years.  The Ruff’s once owned the entire Fort Allen subdivision.  He knew lots of stories of the families in this area and received phone calls and e-mails from all over the world, including such faraway places as Australia, from people seeking their family roots.  Maybe he knew a story about your family!

--By Adam Shaffer
  

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Paul Miller Ruff
1918-2009
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