OF A CERTAIN PENNSYLVANIA FAMILY. 35 



VII. LINE D. 



Line D was founded by Darius II-l 1, fourth son of Aaron and Mary 

 Rufer. He was born about 1798, shortly after his parents came to 

 America. Died September 1884. He was a slow, stupid, plodding 

 sort of man, but fairly thorough in his farm work. Could neither read 

 nor write, but was said to have been able to perform simple additions 

 and multiplication. His wife (11-12), who came from "down Pittsburgh 

 way," was a masculine woman who usually wore short skirts and a 

 man's shirt and boots. Her sister was "the very devil of a woman," who 

 had married Isaac Rufer, and she belonged therefore to a strain show- 

 ing alcoholism, bad temper, and lack of sex control. She herself is 

 said to have been fond of strong drink. She was, however, strong, 

 energetic, assertive, and a most excellent housekeeper. She kept the 

 log house and its yard neat as a pin, and in the pursuit of her ideals 

 she was a figure of terror to troublesome children in the neighborhood. 

 In domestic altercations she often got the better of her husband, where- 

 upon he was wont to reflect to his neighbors, "I wish't I hadn't a tuk 

 her." Kept the 70 acres they inherited from Aaron intact, and be- 

 queathed the greater portion of it to their only son. 



Their children were very diverse in capacity. The eldest daughter 

 (III-32) was lacking in sense of number and in practical judgment and 

 aggressiveness, but was fairly persevering. The second child, only 

 son (III-36) was inferior to his elder sister in all these traits. The 

 second daughter (III-38) possessed sense of number and proportion, 

 had fair practical ability, but was very illiterate, since she never went to 

 school. The third daughter (III-40), said to be of low mentaUty, was un- 

 able to count and measure properly, and incapable in practical matters. 

 The fourth daughter (III-43) showed mentality superior to the rest of 

 her fraternity. She was aggressive and fairly persevering, but selfish 

 and grasping. Following the history of each of these, we find con- 

 siderable diversity in the type of matings made and resulting diversity 

 in the trend of succeeding generations. 



The eldest (III-32), a daughter, born about 1827, has always been 

 regarded as very feeble-minded, lacking a sense of number and pro- 

 portion and silly in her mode of talking. She devoted herself to the 

 comfort of her father, but cherished the hope of marriage for many 

 years. On one occasion when her father was extolling her virtues to 

 the neighbors, saying, "I don't know how I would get along mthout 

 her," she retorted, "Ah, but you won't have me always, Pa." She 

 was at this time little short of 60 years of age. At present she lives 

 with her sister's son, who has put up a house near the old log house of 

 her father and in the middle of the small patch of ground left her. 

 She is a shriveled, little old woman, fairly neat in person, sight and 

 hearing still good, but does very crudely the work necessary to their 



