Tobias Rudulph, the subject of this sketch, was the third person of that
name and was the grandson of the Tobias Rudulph, who was one of four
brothers who emigrated from Prussia and settled in Cecil county early in
the eighteenth century. For many years the family took a conspicuous
part in public affairs.
Tobias Rudulph's uncle and his uncle's cousin Michael, the son of Jacob,
and the uncle of Mrs. Lucretia Garfield, very early in the Revolutionary
war joined a company of Light Horsemen, which was recruited in this
county and served with great bravery and distinction in Light Horse
Harry Lee's Legion in his Southern campaigns. They were called the Lions
of the Legion.
John Rudulph won the title of "Fighting Jack" by his courage and
audacity, both of which essential requisites of a good soldier he seems
to have possessed in a superabundant degree.
Tobias, the subject of this sketch, was born in Elkton, in the old brick
mansion two doors east of the court house, on December 8, 1787. He was
the oldest of four children, namely: Zebulon, a sketch of whose life
appears in this volume; Anna Maria, who married James Sewell; and
Martha, who married the Reverend William Torbert.
Anna Maria is said to have been a poetess of no mean ability, but owing
to the state of literature in this county at the time she wrote, none of
her poetry, so far as we have been able to learn was published, and
after diligent search we have been unable to find any of her manuscript.
Tobias studied law with his mother's brother, James Milner, who resided
in Philadelphia, where he practiced law,--but who subsequently became a
distinguished Presbyterian minister and Doctor of Divinity--and was
admitted to the Elkton Bar and practiced his profession successfully
until the time of his death which occurred in the Fall of 1828. He was a
man of fine ability and amused himself when he had leisure in courting
the Muses, but owing to his excessive modesty published nothing now
extant except "Tancred, or The Siege of Antioch," a drama in three acts,
which was printed in Philadelphia, in 1827. Owing to the fact that
simultaneously with its publication, a drama of the same name by another
author appeared as a candidate for literary favor, Mr. Rudulph--though
his work was highly commended by Joseph Jefferson the elder, then in
the height of his dramatic career, through the foolish fear that he
might he accused of plagiarism--suppressed his drama and never allowed
it to be introduced upon the stage.
Mr. Rudulph married Maria Hayes. They were the parents of four children,
Amelia, James, Anna Maria and Tobias. The two first mentioned are dead,
the others reside in Elkton. Until a very recent period the family
spelled the name Rudulph, which spelling has been followed in this work,
though the name is now generally spelled Rudolph.