McKinnon Family

Biography

Aloysius John McKinnon (1870-1933) was born in San Francisco to Daniel A. and Catherine MacDonald McKinnon. Aloysius had three older siblings: Louise (Sister Mary Emerentiana), Augustine (Brother V. Leo), and William Bernard. Circa 1890, Aloysius joined his family's well-established San Francisco lumber and shipping business, MacDonald and McKinnon. In 1900, while studying medicine at the University of California, Medical Department in San Francisco, Aloysius married Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ruble (1875-1916). The couple had been introduced by Aloysius' cousins, St. Joseph's parish priests at the Delta farming community of Rio Vista, California, where the Ruble family resided. Aloysius received his medical degree in 1903 from the University of California. He and Lizzie maintained an apartment on Sanchez Street in the Mission District of San Francisco unti 1904 when they permanently relocated to Rio Vista. Dr. McKinnon practiced medicine from his Front Street office and later from an office in his Rio Vista home.

At the time of her marriage Lizzie was the oldest of three surviving heirs to the estate of her twice-widowed father Lewis Cass Ruble (1848-1899). Lewis Cass had settled in Rio Vista circa 1870 and married Ellen Doyle (1848-1880) in 1874. They had four children: Mary Elizabeth, William Benjamin (1877-1917), Lewis (1879-1885), and Nellie (1880-1881). Ellen died in 1880 a week after Nellie was born. In 1883, Lewis Cass married Ellen's sister, Elizabeth Doyle (1854-1893). They had one daughter Mabel Josephine (1885-1959). Lizzie and Mabel both attended St. Gertrude's Academy in Rio Vista, and William attended Santa Clara College.

Lewis Cass Ruble's landholdings became the basis for the Ruble-McKinnon Ranch, which was located on the eastern bank of the Sacramento River and across the river from the town of Rio Vista. The Ruble-McKinnon Ranch produced alfalfa, asparagus, potatoes, and other crops but was especially known for its pears. After Lewis' death, his son William maintained the ranch, but circa 1905 upon William's incapacity, Aloysius McKinnon took over management of the ranch for his Wife, Lizzie, and her half-sister, Mabel. In addition to practicing medicine and managing the ranch, Aloysius was active in local organizations including being a founder and officer of the Brannan Island Reclamation District board. He held part ownership of a sailing vessel, the schooner Melrose, and in McKinnon family property located in San Francisco. Mabel Ruble resided as a boarder in the Rio Vista home of her half-sister and brother-in-law starting in 1904. Following Lizzie's death from asthma in 1916, Mabel assumed responsibility for the care and upbringing of the McKinnon children.

Aloysius and Lizzie McKinnon had six children: Lewis Ruble (1901-1956), Louise Isabelle (1903-1991), Ralph A. (1906-1913), Malcolm Bernard (1910-1982), Donald Aloysius (1913-1978), and Kenneth Leo (1915-2003).

Lewis Ruble McKinnon studied agriculture at the University Farm School (now the University of California, Davis) in the early 1920s. In 1934, he married Ruth Church (1906-1985), and they had two children, Mar Jel Ruth (b. 1935) and Alan John (b. 1939). Lewis pursued tobacco planting and production in Haiti for the French firm, Service Technique. He later held sales and management positions in California.

Louise Isabelle McKinnon Craven studied nursing at the University of California, Medical Department in San Francisco. She worked as a nurse at the Univesity of California and as a private nurse. In 1934, she married Isaac "Ike" Craven who managed large-scale agriculture enterprises in the Rio Vista area. They had one daughter, Patricia Craven Sheehan (b. 1936).

Ralph A. McKinnon died at age seven from a ruptured appendix while his physician and surgeon father was in Panama.

Malcolm Bernard McKinnon graduated from Saint Mary's College of California in 1931 before sailing to New York to attend medical school at Columbia University. In 1933 when his father passed away, he returned from medical school to the family home in Rio Vista and managed the Ruble-McKinnon Ranch until its sale in 1980. Like his father, Malcolm maintained meticulous ranch records. In 1937, Malcolm married Irma H. Anderson (1909-2000). They had four children: Richard Leo (b. 1937), Barbara Ann (b. 1938), Ralph William (b. 1945), and Mary Louise (b. 1947).

Donald Aloysius McKinnon served with the United States Navy as a physician during the Second World War, including during Pacific campaigns. In 1942, he married Eleanor Rodgerson, also a physician. They resided in Sacramento, California and had four children: John Robert (b. 1943), Donald Chisholm (b. 1944), Eleanor Jane (b. 1947), and William Rodgerson (b. 1948).

Kenneth Leo McKinnon served as a dentist with the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. He established a dental practice in San Rafael, California. In 1940 he married Mary Story Kilgore (1917-1993), and they had four children: Elizabeth Anne (b. 1944), John Alson (b. 1946), Susan Mary (b. 1949), and Sara Helen (b. 1955).

With the 1980 sale of the Ruble-McKinnon Ranch, the property passed from family hands after nearly one hundred years of continuous family ownership.

Sources:

MacDonald, Wilfred. Melrose Mac Kinnon's: 1772 to 1977. 1977.

McKinnon, Sara Helen. Ruble Family History. 1989.

Walsh, James P. McKinnon-Ruble Collection Catalog. 2004.

From the guide to the McKinnon and Ruble Families Papers, 1859-2002, (1890-1984 bulk), (University of California, Davis. General Library. Department of Special Collections.)