Ruffini, Frederick E., 1851-1885

F. E. (Frederick Ernst) Ruffini, an architect based in Austin, Texas, was born in 1851 and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents, Ernst Frederick Ruffini and Adelheit (Adelaide) Riehme, immigrated from Kamenz, Germany to Chicago in 1848 and then settled in Cleveland. Ruffini was apprenticed to an architect in Cleveland and worked in Indianapolis, New York, Boston, and Chicago before moving to Austin, Texas in 1877. He entered into a partnership with Jasper N. Preston which lasted two years; he then worked on his own. Ruffini designed courthouses and jails, commercial and public buildings, and residences which were built throughout Texas. Extant examples of Ruffini's designs throughout Texas include the Old Blanco County Courthouse in Blanco, the Collin County Jail in McKinney, and the Millett Opera House (now the Austin Club) in Austin. His best known works in Austin (no longer standing) included the Hancock Building and the Old Main Building at the University of Texas. The west wing was the only portion of the Main Building that was completed before Ruffini died in Austin in November 1885. He was married to Elise (Lizzie) Weitz who died a month before he did. They were survived by three children.

Although the Ruffini brothers are sometimes identified as Italians, culturally they were Germans. Italian ancestors had emigrated to Kamenz, in what is now Germany, about five hundred years before the brothers were born.

Oscar Ruffini, an architect based in San Angelo, Texas, was born on August 10, 1858 in Cleveland, Ohio. Like his brother F. E., Oscar Ruffini was apprenticed to an architect in Cleveland as a teen, and from 1875 to 1877 he apparently worked for architect George W. Rapp in Cincinnati. He spent time in Austin, Texas working for his brother as a draftsman in the late 1870s and may have spent some time between 1878 and 1880 in France. He developed a partnership in Evansville, Indiana with Levi S. Clark, a carpenter, and worked for Francis D. Lee in St. Louis, learning about contemporary engineering techniques. He worked for his brother again in 1883, taking a break to work in Detroit for six months as a draftsman for Elijah E. Myers, designer of the Texas State Capitol. Ruffini returned to Austin and his brother's office, working as a draftsman and supervisor on projects including the main building of the University of Texas. By 1884 he had moved to San Angelo to oversee construction of the Tom Green County courthouse. He designed a variety of buildings in San Angelo and West Texas including courthouses, commercial and public buildings, residences, and churches. Ruffini helped organize the San Angelo Turnverein and the local Sons of Hermann lodge. He never married. Ruffini died in San Angelo on January 18, 1957.

From the guide to the Ruffini Collection, [ca. 1877]-1937, undated, (bulk 1883-1912, undated), (Texas State Archives)

"Frederick Ernst Ruffini [1851-1885], architect, was reared in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his architectural training there and gained considerable architectural experience in Cleveland before he moved to Austin in 1877 as partner to Jasper N. Preston. The partnership lasted two years, after which time Ruffini practiced alone. In his advertisements Ruffini listed as examples of his work many courthouses and jails as well as public and commercial buildings. Most of his courthouses have been replaced by later structures. The mansard roofed courthouse of his design in Blanco was built in 1885; it was still standing in the early 1990s. His outstanding buildings in Austin included the Millett Opera House; Texas School for the Deaf; the Hancock Building on West Pecan Street (now West Sixth Street), where Ruffini had his offices; the Hancock Opera House; and the most important of all, the Old Main Building of the University of Texas. That structure was begun in 1882, but only the west wing was completed when Ruffini died in November 1885. The central tower and last wing were completed according to his plans following his death. The large watercolor that his brother, Oscar Ruffini, painted of the Old Main Building was hanging in the Barker Texas History Center in Sid Richardson Hall at the University of Texas at Austin in 1972. Plans for the erection and completion of the west wing of the Old Main Building are in the university archives. Of all the buildings Ruffini designed in Austin only the Millett Opera House, now much altered, was still standing in 1990. A number of architectural drawings and watercolors of building specifications were on file in the Texas State Archives. Among the collection of drawings were plans for nine courthouses in Georgetown, Franklin, San Marcos, Sulphur Springs (Hopkins County), Quitman, Longview, Corsicana, Blanco, and Henderson. Plans for jails (prisons) included those for New Braunfels, McKinney, Franklin, Groesbeck, and Burnet (with sheriff's residence). Ruffini was married. When his wife Elsie died in October 1885, they had three surviving children; F. E. Ruffini died less than one month later, on November 16, 1885."

Source: "RUFFINI, FREDERICK ERNST." The Handbook of Texas Online.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/RR/fru8.html

[Accessed Wed Sep 11 9:25:59 US/Central 2002]

From the guide to the Frederick E. Ruffini collection 1992004, 2006008., (Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.)