This is NOT William Hopper Ruffin. It is a different William Ruffin whose parents are unknown. His wife Sara is correct, but he was not married to Frances Ann Gildart.

Frances Ann Gildart married William Hopper Ruffin and their only child was Colonel Francis Frank Gildart Ruffin.

Here is information about the William Ruffin of this memorial, husband of Sara Ann Baggett, and to whose family the plaque in Jasper County, MS is dedicated -- Information from Ryan Ruffin, a descendant of William Ruffin:

William Ruffin and Sara Baggett Ruffin are my 5th Great Grandparents. That generation on to the present generation are all buried in Jasper County, Mississippi. The Ruffin family has been researched there locally starting around 1972 when the first family tree book was researched and printed.

I have a cousin that has a Bible that belonged to William, as well as other family documents.

William was a poor, rural Mississippi farmer. Prior to settling in Mississippi, William, Sara and all of their children are shown on every Census record in Conecuh County, Alabama. Once their sons were of age, they all took advantage of the Mississippi land grants and moved the entire family to MS, where they stayed.

The exact origin of 'my' William Ruffin isn't certain, due to various courthouse records being burned during General Sherman's march. We know that William listed his state of birth as South Carolina and Sara Baggett listed her birth state as North Carolina. Sara showed as having been from Orange, NC We know that they got married around 1814 in Pulaski County, Georgia…and by 1816 they had their first child Nancy Ruffin. Between 1816 and 1822 they settled in Conecuh County, Alabama and had their second child Nicholas Denson Ruffin in 1822.

William's wife (Sara Baggett Ruffin) died in 1865. About 15 years later, William died and was buried on the family farm, right next to Sara.

Lots of people incorrectly identify William Ruffin and William Hopper Ruffin as the same person…and show my ancestor William as having a second wife (Frances A Gildart) who died in 1872 in Petersburg, Virginia. At no point in time was our William ever known as "William HOPPER Ruffin"

Elsewhere in Mississippi, there was a William H. Ruffin who was a partner with another guy who went around getting land grants and then flipping them later for profit. But that guy was not my direct relative either.