Charles Herman Ruggles

Charles Herman Ruggles (February 10, 1789 – June 16, 1865) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as a U.S. representative from New York and later as chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. He was born on February 10, 1789, in New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Ruggles (1757–1834) and Mercy (née Warner) Ruggles (1761–1798). Through his family connections he became linked to prominent New York colonial lineage: his brother David Ruggles married Sarah Colden, a great-granddaughter of Cadwallader Colden, the colonial governor of New York. Ruggles spent his early years in Connecticut before pursuing legal training that would lead him to a long career in New York public life.

Ruggles studied law at the Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut, one of the earliest and most influential formal law schools in the United States. He graduated in 1803, an unusually early date that reflects the period’s different standards of legal education and admission. After completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar and established his law practice in Kingston, New York. His move to Kingston placed him within the growing legal and political networks of the Hudson Valley, where he built a reputation as a capable attorney and gradually entered public affairs.

Ruggles’s political career began in state government. He was elected to the New York State Assembly as a member from Sullivan and Ulster Counties and served in the legislative session of 1820. As an assemblyman, he participated in state legislative deliberations at a time when New York was expanding economically and politically, and when questions of internal improvements, finance, and the evolving party system were increasingly prominent. His service in the Assembly helped establish his standing within the Federalist Party and prepared him for national office.

Ruggles was elected as a Federalist to the Seventeenth United States Congress, representing New York. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from December 3, 1821, to March 3, 1823. As a member of the Federalist Party during a period when that party was in decline nationally, his single term in Congress occurred during a significant transitional era in American politics, often associated with the “Era of Good Feelings” and the realignment of political factions. During his time in the House, he contributed to the legislative process, participated in the democratic governance of the nation, and represented the interests of his New York constituents at the federal level.

After leaving Congress, Ruggles returned to legal practice and soon moved into the judiciary, where he would spend the greater part of his public career. In 1831 he was appointed judge of the Second Circuit Court of New York, a position he held until 1846. As a circuit judge, he presided over a wide range of civil and criminal matters during a period of rapid economic development and legal change in the state. His judicial work contributed to the refinement of New York’s common law and helped establish his reputation as a careful and respected jurist.

Ruggles played a direct role in reshaping New York’s constitutional and judicial framework in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1846 he served as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention, which produced a new state constitution that, among other reforms, reorganized the judiciary and created the New York Court of Appeals as the state’s highest court. On June 7, 1847, following adoption of the new constitution, he was elected one of the first judges of the New York Court of Appeals. On June 22, 1847, he drew a term of six and a half years and took office on July 5, 1847, becoming part of the initial bench that would define the authority and jurisprudence of the new court.

Within the Court of Appeals, Ruggles rose to its highest leadership position. In April 1851, after the resignation of Chief Judge Greene C. Bronson, Ruggles became chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. He served as chief judge until the end of 1853, presiding over a court that was rapidly gaining national influence for its decisions in commercial, property, and constitutional law. In November 1853, he was re-elected to an eight-year term as an associate judge of the Court of Appeals, reflecting continued confidence in his judicial abilities. His later years on the bench were curtailed by ill health: in June 1855 he fell ill and was absent from the court’s June and September terms. On August 20, 1855, he announced his resignation, to take effect on October 20, 1855. In the November 1855 election, George F. Comstock was chosen to fill the vacancy created by his departure.

Ruggles’s personal life intersected with his public service in ways that extended his influence into the next generation. After the early death of his brother David in 1837, he assumed responsibility for raising his nephew, George David Ruggles (1833–1904). Under Charles Herman Ruggles’s care and guidance, George David Ruggles pursued a military career and eventually became an officer in the United States Army, serving as Adjutant General of the U.S. Army from 1893 to 1897. This guardianship reflected Charles Ruggles’s role not only as a public figure but also as a family patriarch whose support helped shape a future national military leader.

In his later years, Ruggles resided in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. He died there on June 16, 1865, shortly after the close of the Civil War, bringing to an end a long life that had spanned the early republic and the nation’s great internal conflict. He was interred at Christ Church (Episcopal) Cemetery in Poughkeepsie. In 1888, all remains from this burial ground, including his, were removed to Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, where he now rests among many of the region’s notable nineteenth-century figures.