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Below is a family biography included in The History of Miami County, Ohio published by W. H. Beers & Co. in 1880.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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J. W. RUHL, dealer in stone and lime, Covington. Among the business enterprises of Covington, the quarrying of stone is the most extensive, and Mr. Ruhl is one of the leading men in this line; he was born at Galion, Ohio, in 1837; his parents removed to Springfield in 1848, his father having purchased a tract of land which then adjoined the corporation, but which was soon after taken into the corporation; here J. W. grew to manhood; in 1861, he came to Covington, and engaged at farming until the fall of 1868, when he purchased the stone quarry which he is now operating; his quarry is at the south end of town, along the bluff of the left bank of Stillwater, and has a perpendicular wall of twenty to thirty-five feet solid stone, the upper half being porous limestone, from which a very good article of white lime is made; the lower half is solid stone, in layers from four to thirty inches in thickness, from which all kinds of building stone, from common wall to the neatest caps and sills, are procured; Mr. Ruhl has erected a Pelton patent kiln, with a capacity of 300 bushels per day of twenty-four hours; to quarry, dress and shape the different kinds of stone and burn the lime requires, in the season, from ten to twenty-five workmen, according to the demands of his trade; it will thus be seen that Mr. Ruhl has been identified with one of the important industries of Covington for the past eleven years, and is now prepared, by reason of his experience and improved facilities, to do a still larger business when the new railroad, now being constructed, shall give a new outlet for the riches that here lie in mother earth; Mr. Ruhl’s residence is a neat, commodious frame, situated at the extreme south end of High street, in the rear of which is his quarry and limekiln. He was married, in 1876, to Mrs. Zipporah DeVault, daughter of Charles Lindsay, one of the early settlers of Newberry Township.

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This family biography is one of 964 biographies included in The History of Miami County, Ohio published in 1880 by W. H. Beers & Co.  For the complete description, click here: Miami County, Ohio History and Genealogy

View additional Miami County, Ohio family biographies here: Miami County, Ohio Biographies

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