Chicago. In 1852 Mr. Dole retired and the firm, which was for a time known as Rumsey Brothers, devoted itself exclusively to the grain commission business. Mr. Rumsey was identified with the history of Chicago for more than half a century. During that period he was mayor, county treasurer, and president of the board of trade. Of the latter institution he was a charter member, and through his efforts the present system of grain inspection and grading was adopted. This achievement gave him the title of the “Father of Grain Inspection.” Mr. Rumsey always took an interest in national and state politics. In 1861, during the period that preceded the civil war, he did much, as mayor, to arouse the enthusiasm of his fellow-citizens in favor of the preservation of the Union, and at the mass-meeting in Metropolitan hall a few days after the firing on Fort Sumter, he delivered a stirring address. He was a member of the first war finance committee, and of the Republican state committee the same year. During the panic of 1873 he was president of the Corn exchange national bank.
RUNDT, Charles Godfrey, missionary, b. in
Königsberg, Germany, 30 May, 1713; d. in Bethlehem,
Pa., 17 Aug., 1764. He entered the army of
Holstein as a musician, but in 1747 united with
the Moravians in Saxony. In 1751 he was sent to
Pennsylvania, and became an itinerant missionary
among the Indians and white settlers. While
residing at Onondaga in 1752 with David Zeisberger
he was adopted into the tribe, receiving the name
of Thaneraquechta.
RUNKLE, John Daniel, mathematician, b. in
Root, Montgomery co., N. Y., 11 Oct., 1822. He
worked on his father's farm until he was of age,
and then studied and taught until he entered
Lawrence scientific school of Harvard, where he
was graduated in 1851. Meanwhile his ability as
a mathematician led in 1849 to his appointment as
assistant in the preparation of the “American
Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac,” in which he
continued to engage until 1884. He was called
to the professorship of mathematics in the
Massachusetts institute of technology, and still (1888)
holds that chair, being also acting president in
1868-'70, and president in 1870-'8. Prof. Runkle
has taken great interest in the subject of manual
training, and that system was introduced in the
Institute of technology largely in consequence of
his efforts. He received the honorary degrees of
A. M. from Harvard in 1851, Ph. D. from Hamilton
in 1869, and LL. D. from Wesleyan in 1871. In
1859 he founded the “Mathematical Monthly,”
which he published until 1861, and he had charge
of the astronomical department of the “Illustrated
Pilgrim's Almanac.” Besides many papers,
including “The Manual Element in Education”
in the “Reports of the Massachusetts Board of
Education” for 1876-'7 and 1880-'1 and “Report
on Industrial Education” (1883), he has published
“New Tables for Determining the Values of the
Coefficients in the Perturbative Function of Planetary
Motion” (Washington, 1856) and “Elements
of Plane and Solid Analytic Geometry” (Boston,
1888). — His brother, Cornelius A., lawyer, b. in
Montgomery county, N. Y., 9 Dec., 1832; d. in New
York city, 19 March, 1888, was graduated at
Harvard law-school in 1855, began practice in New
York city, and was subsequently made deputy
collector and given charge of the law division of
the New York custom-house. This rendered him
familiar with the legal questions involved in tariff
and internal revenue litigation, and resulted in his
devoting himself largely to that class of business.
Mr. Runkle for about twenty-five years acted as
counsel for “The Tribune” association. — Cornelius
A.'s wife, Lucia Isabella, author, b. in North
Brookfield, Worcester co., Mass., 20 Aug., 1844.
Her maiden name was Gilbert, and after receiving
her education in Fall River and Worcester, Mass.,
she removed to New York city. In 1862 she
married Mr. Calhoun, and in 1869 Mr. Runkle. For
many years she was an editorial writer and
contributor to the New York “Tribune,” in which she
published a brilliant series of articles on “Cooking,”
treated from an artistic standpoint, which
attracted much attention. She has also written
frequently for other journals and for magazines.
RUPP, Israel Daniel, author, b. in Cumberland
county, Pa., 10 July, 1803; d. in Philadelphia,
31 May, 1878. He was born upon a farm and had
few educational advantages, but at the age of
twenty he had mastered eight languages, and
became a teacher. In 1830 he translated into and
from the German a large number of religious
works, the principal of which was the “Blutige
Schau-Platz, oder Geschichte der Martyren”
(Cincinnati, 1830), which was originally published in
German by the Ephrata brethren. About 1827 he
began the preparation of the “History of the
Germans of Pennsylvania,” which was not completed
at his death. While gathering materials for
this work he collected a large amount of data
relating to the early history of the different counties
in Pennsylvania. In 1836 his first historical
compilation was issued from the press, while other
volumes of local history followed in rapid succession.
He was an indefatigable worker, an excellent
German scholar, with good conversational powers,
and in his lifetime collected much historical material.
He had the peculiar faculty of obtaining facts
that few possessed, and hence all his local histories
are repositories of zeal and industry. He was not a
polished writer, and lacked method in his historical
arrangement. He translated, wrote, compiled, and
prepared for the press about thirty volumes, but
the great work of his life, “The History of the
Germans of Pennsylvania,” remains unpublished.
Apart from his translations, Mr. Rupp's historical
writings are “Geographical Catechism of Pennsylvania”
(1836); “History of Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania” (1844); “History of Religious
Denominations of the United States” (Philadelphia, 1844);
“History of Berks and Lebanon Counties”
(Lancaster, 1844); “History of York County” (1845);
“Events in Indian History” (1842); “History of
Northampton, Lehigh, Monroe, Carbon, and
Schuylkill Counties” (Harrisburg, 1846); “History
of Western Pennsylvania” (1846); “History of
Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams,
and Perry Counties” (Lancaster, 1848); “History
of Somerset, Cambria, and Indiana Counties”
(1848); “History of Northumberland, Huntingdon,
Mifflin, Centre, Union, Columbia, Juniata, and
Clinton Counties” (1847); “Collection of Names
of Thirty Thousand German and other Immigrants
to Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776” (Harrisburg,
1856); “Genealogy of the Descendants at John
Jonas Rupp” (1874).
RUSCHENBERGER, William S. W., naval surgeon, b. in Cumberland county, N. J., 4 Sept., 1807; d. in Philadelphia, 24 March, 1895. After attending school he entered the navy as surgeon's mate, 10 Aug., 1826, was graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1830, and was commissioned surgeon, 4 April, 1831. He was fleet surgeon of the East India squadron in 1835-'7, attached to the naval rendezvous at Philadelphia in 1840-'2, and at the naval hospital in Brooklyn in 1843-'7, when he organized the laboratory for
