Ruston, Thomas, approximately 1739-1804

Epithet: monk of Westminster

Physician of Philadelphia.

Thomas Ruston was born in Upper Oxford Township, Chester County, to Job and Mary Ruston. Thomas was the first of twelve children. His parents emigrated from Berwick, England, and settled in Faggs Manor in 1738, on land purchased from Letitia Penn. Job Ruston, a burgess while in Wales, established Faggs Manor Presbyterian Church in Londonderry Township, Chester County. During the French and Indian War, Job commanded a company from Chester County. Thomas Ruston's mother Mary died 19 June 1757, and his father died in Jan. 1785. Thomas was educated at Nottingham Academy and then pursued medical studies at the College of New Jersey (Princeton), graduating in 1762. After a year of medical work with the British Army in Philadelphia, he sailed for England, finishing his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh in 1765, becoming, it is said, the first American to do so. Upon graduation, he remained in England and became Head Surgeon at Devon and Exeter Hospital. He married Mary Fisher of London in 1771. In 1785, he returned to Philadelphia with Mary and their three children, Thomas, Jr., Charlotte and Mary. They entertained guests at their home at 8th and Chestnut Streets and Thomas, Jr., attended the University of Pennsylvania. The daughters enjoyed occasional invitations to balls and Dr. Ruston observed the financial markets of Philadelphia and London and invested money in land purchases. Throughout this time he was also responsible for the running of his father's property and mill business in Oxford, Chester County. Documents in the collection seem to reflect a lackadaisical attitude toward finances as they include the continual pleas of accountant John Parke requesting Ruston to come to Oxford to look at the books and handle a few of the more difficult clients. Eventually, Ruston tried to sell his land purchases, but defaulted on surety payments and ended up in jail. He was eventually released. Later, the Upper Oxford mill and farm were sold by the sheriff to James McDowell in 1798. Dr. Ruston appears to have kept in touch with the medical community in Philadelphia as he wrote A Collection of Facts Interspersed with Observations on the Nature, Causes, and Cure of the Yellow Fever. Part 1 in a series of letters addressed to the inhabitants of the United States in 1804. It is said that he was friends with Dr. Benjamin Rush, but like so many at that time, disagreed over the treatment of yellow fever during Philadelphia's epidemic in 1793.