Biography

I am inclined to think that the date of death given by Ancestry is incorrect. Sibley gets sick and Worden and Lazette go to see him at Ruggles' house in "New York" in 1838. David would have been dead already if the Ancestry date is correct, but from the context of 18380819FMS_WHS, I strongly believe David Ruggles is our guy.

David (DxR) and Charles H. Ruggles were brothers and both prominent men. David lived in Newburgh, NY, which at that time was a hub and would have reasonably been referred to offhandedly by Frances as "New York" (we know she does those sorts of things and likes to be unspecific). A collection of Charles H. Ruggles' materials is housed at the NY Public Library. David Ruggles' Ancestry entry is here: http://trees.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/38472179/person/19241070461. He married Sarah Colden in 1818, who is also referred to as "Mrs. Ruggles" in 18380819FMS_WHS and "has gone to Saratoga" (which is close enough to Newburgh as opposed to NYC). And, also, we know David Ruggles had a pretty sweet house. See the googlebooks citation.