Rugeley, Helen

Thomas Moore Harwood, great-grandfather of noted genealogist Helen Rugeley, was born in 1827 in Virginia, where he studied law before moving to Texas in 1850. He worked as a teacher before establishing himself as an attorney in Gonzales in 1853. Until his retirement in 1894, Harwood worked as a partner

in various Gonzales law firms from shortly after his return from the Civil War until his retirement. Harwood enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 and was promoted to major in November 1862. He was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in 1886, served as a regent of the University of Texas from 1881 to 1885, and was a Mason and Knight Templar. Harwood died in 1900. Thomas Franklin Harwood was the oldest son of Thomas Moore. Twice president of the Texas State Historical Association, Thomas Franklin was an attorney in Gonzales. His third child, Cordelia Brown Harwood, was the mother of Helen Rugeley. In the course of researching for her biography of Harwood entitled Thomas Moore Harwood and His Descendants Rugeley collected information and documents pertaining to citizens of Gonzales and other Texas counties, including Reuben Ross who was a Texas Ranger in Gonzales in the 1830s.

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