Who's Buried in Our Graveyard?
When we made the inventory of the Old Hoopers Island Graveyard in 2003, we had a picture of only one person who is buried there--Rebecca T. Ruark. This year, while scanning some of the photographs of Donna Dean Noble for a book about the boat builder Humes Wallace, I was shown a picture that she called "Tom Ruark's dad." It wasn't until some months later that it occurred to me that Tom Ruark's dad was William T. Ruark who is buried in our Graveyard. Donna has graciously allowed us to use her photograph for this website.
William T. Ruark is one of the many children of Henry and Elizabeth Simmons Ruark. As a young man he was a seaman making his living along the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. After he married Rebecca T. Ruark (the skipjack namesake), they settled in Honga on land given to them by his father-in-law John W. Parker. He farmed the land and owned a general store at the foot of the Fishing Creek bridge. When William T. Ruark died in 1891, his estate was encumbered with great debts. William Applegarth purchased the property. The Ruark home was moved to what is now identified as Applegarth Road. The home was literally split into two houses and both were rented. For many years the house closest to Hoopers Island Road was rented by William T. Ruark's grandson Wallace Ruark and his wife Mildred. That last home was torn down in 2002.
GENEROUS GIFTS THIS PAST YEAR
