The Research of the late Thomas W. Rubottom of Houston, TX
Rubottom & Allied Families

The Research of the late Thomas W. Rubottom
of Houston, TX

According to Sylvia Holland Reuwer, her uncle Tom began his books with the following poem, which shows the love he had for poetry:

What profit pedigree of long decent from fare-fetcht blood, or painted monuments of our great-grandsire's visage:
Tis most sad to trust unto the worth another had for keeping up our fame;
Which else would fall, for him a gentleman whose grace is all in name, but is otherwise is base:
Or who will honour him that's honours shame, noble in nothing but a noble name?
It's better to be meanly born and good than one unworthy of his noble blood,
Though all thy walls shine with thy pedigree yet virtue only makes nobility, then
that his pedigree may useful be search out the virtues of your family and,
To be worth of your father's name, learn the good they did and do the same,
For if you bear their arms, and not their fame, those ensigns or their worth will be your shame.

Hidden from all is the future,
It is mysterious, uncertain, unreal, except that
We sometimes by the aid of our imagination
Project ourselves into it and so fill our lives
With the promise of good or the threat of evil.

The past is not so.
The past is real and lives in us;
In it we were born; from it we have been formed
And out of it we have grown;
Hence to know ourselves and to know others we must know the past.

--Anonymous

Thomas William Rubottom, b. 26-Feb-1904 in Desloge, St. Francois, MO d. 20-May-1991 in Houston, Harris, TX, was the son of William Huston Rubottom and Lena Glanville Rubottom. He was one of the earliest and most thorough Rubottom family researchers.

I did not begin my own research until December 1991. And, although I never met or spoke with Mr. Rubottom, I've often felt as though he has guided my efforts. No, I'm not referring to some kind of supernatural contact. I simply mean that "Tom" left a legacy of books and correspondence that can be found with individuals and in libraries and courthouses all across the United States.

This page is a dedication to his life and his work.

Early on, I knew it would become important to backtrack Mr. Rubottom's research. So, my research plan has been to analyze his materials carefully and retrace his research one courthouse, one library, and one county at a time. For the past nine years, I've gathered a treasure trove of his writings -- from the Wrenn Memorial Library in Siler City, Chatham County, NC to the courthouse in Bedford, Lawrence County, IN -- from Martin Blau, a dear cousin in Idaho to Sylvia Reuwer, another dear cousin in Texas -- from an article sent to a cousin in Illinois to photographs shared with cousins in California. His network was broad . . . and he did it without the Internet.

On this page, you will find links to materials written by or relating to Thomas W. Rubottom. Yes, there are some errors. Be cautious with the information. His works represent a learning progression. Just as you and I do, he began with hypotheses and then worked to prove or disprove those hypotheses. The material found on this page include some of his early works and some later works. If available, I've provided dates of publication. Please enjoy!


Correspondence of T. W. Rubottom

"Bicentennial Series: The Rubottom Family, Early Area Settlers," Wayne County Journal Banner, July 15, 1976 p. 4, Vol. 100, No. 22.

Excerpts from "The Rubottom Family in America. Volume 1"Updated! -- To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Rubottom compiled nine volumes of books that he called, The Rubottom Family in America. This link provides excerpts from Volume 1 as scanned and sent by Sylvia H. Reuwer. More to come!


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