Charles Wesley Rue, who went by the name "Wesley" for the majority of his life, was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, possibly in Beaver Falls or Greene Twp, around September of 1837 (although his war records indicate his birth year to be about 1940 or 1941). He was the son of Charles and Margaret (maiden name unknown) Rue, and is believed to be the youngest of six children. He is known to have had an older brother, John (b.November 2, 1822 in Ohio), and is believed to have had four older sisters, Elizabeth (b. 1825 in Ohio), Mary (b. 1833), and the third and fourth, names unknown (b. between 1830 and 1835). Wesley, a farmer by occupation, was discribed in military records as being 5' 11" tall, brown-haired, blue-eyed, and fair complected. It is believed his father, Charles, was born in Delaware, possibly the son of a Michael Rue, and his mother, Margaret, was born in Ohio.
At some time before 1861, the Rue sons apparently relocated to the state of Illinois, possibly before between 1850 and 1855, as there was no sign of John or Wesley found in the 1850 Pennsylvania census, and John had a son born in Merlwil, IL in April of 1855. On September 15, 1861, Wesley was enlisted as a private in Company B of the 45th regiment of the Illinois Infantry Volunteers under Captain Joshua Van Dervint? (last name somewhat illegible) for three years of service. He was discharged on January 3, 1864 at Black River, Mississippi. The reason given was "to enable him to re-enlist as a veteran volunteer." On January 4, 1864, Wesley was re-enlisted at Black River, Mississippi as a private in Company B of the 45th regiment of the Illinois Infantry Veteran Volunteers under the same Captain for what was to be another three years, but was released from service after only 18 months. He had recieved a furlough from July 1st through the 3rd? of 1865 to go to Peoria, IL and was formally discharged on July 12 of that same year at Louisville, KY. The reason for his discharge was fairly illegible to me, but it appears to read, "Distractions from war dept A.G.O. July 1, 1865." He was "paid in full" on July 20th, 1865 in the amount of $234.80. Actual copies of Charles Wesley Rue's war documents can be viewed below.
Wesley married Grizella Margaret McIlhattan in Orion, Richland County, Wisconsin on November 28, 1867. Grizella was born to James and Catharine B. (Bobb) McIlhattan on May 29, 1848 in Huntingdon County, PA. Together, they had six children; James Edwin "Ed" Rue (b. 1870), Dor Rue (b.September 27, 1873), Mary "Mate" Rue (b.November 13, 1874), Charles "Charlie" Rue (b.December 24, 1876), Franklin "Frank" Rue (b.January 29, 1879), and Max Rue (b. April 9, 1883). Grizella died on her 35th birthday, May 29, 1883, in Orion, Richland County, WI and was buried with her parents and two siblings at Indian Creek Cemetery in Orion. A brief newspaper article (shown below) leads one to believe that she died after childbirth and states that the 4-day-old baby had died 2 days prior, however, this leads to some confusion, as her youngest child, Max, was born on April 9, 1883, as indicated on his tombstone, and he lived on another 80+ years, married and raised a family. Another confusing bit of information is that the article also mentions that she left behind only five children, when there were actually six children in the Rue family.
According to census records, at some point before the year 1900, Wesley and his children relocated to Clark County, Wisconsin, where they all lived out the rest of their lives. It is not known why the family settled there, as I don't believe there were any other family members living in that area. I believe Wesley was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as I have in my posession his signed church hymnal. Charles Wesley Rue died in 1928 at the ripe old age of 91, having remained a widower for the last 40 years of his life. He was buried at West Spencer Cemetery outside of Spencer, Clark County, WI.
