If you are researching the Moses Ruth family of Hartford County, Maryland .... a few notes to get you started
There are already several copied family-tree claims that don’t agree with one another. There are also a couple of clues from actual Maryland records,
The basic family is definitely represented online. Multiple genealogical compilations identify Moses Ruth (born about 1697) and Esther/Ester Irwin (born about 1701) as a Maryland couple, apparently marrying about 1729. One compilation gives their children as Jean/Joan, Ruthea, Sarah, and Moses, exactly matching your family group.
There are, however, two things you should consider in your research of this family. .
First, Moses's birthplace. It was originally recorded as “Hartford [Harford] County, Maryland” as his birthplace in 1697 without a qualifier. Harford County did not yet exist in 1697; that area was then part of Baltimore County. So if he really was born in the area that later became Harford County, a historically accurate entry would be something like Baltimore County, Province of Maryland (present-day Harford County). The online trees appear to have retroactively applied the later county name.
More intriguing is his wife Esther Irwin's birthplace. A few online sites indicate "Naughton, Suffolk, England, but I have the following to conside:
Ester Irwin
• born 1701, Rathmelton, Ireland
• died 20 January 1786, Harford County, Maryland
• married first to John Archer, who died in 1727
• subsequently married Moses Ruth
• Moses died 18 September 1781, Harford County, Maryland.
That Irish birthplace caught my attention because there is independent evidence that an Esther Irwin was an immigrant/early Maryland settler. An immigration index cites Martha and Bill Reamy's Immigrant Ancestors of Marylanders and identifies an Esther Irwin in Maryland during the 1700s.
So at this stage I would put a big question mark beside “Naughton, Suffolk, England.” I haven't found evidence supporting that location, while I have found a published genealogical trail pointing to Rathmelton (Ramelton), County Donegal, Ireland. That doesn't prove Ireland yet, but it deserves investigation.
The children are also interesting. One database has Jean Ruth born about 1730, Ruthea Ruth about 1734, and Moses Ruth about 1738, all in Maryland. Another family genealogy specifically shows the line as Moses Ruth + Esther Irwin? Ruthia, Sarah, Moses and Joan. The Jean/Joan/Jane variation doesn't concern me much for an 18th-century family; I'd expect spelling variations.
And we have a particularly nice piece of evidence that this was a real Harford-area Ruth family rather than merely an endlessly copied Internet tree. The Maryland State Archives has a period record from the 1766–1768 General Assembly proceedings that actually names a Moses Ruth among residents/signatories.
Even better, the younger Moses Ruth Jr. appears in Walter W. Preston's 1901 History of Harford County. He was enrolled in Captain Jacob Bond's militia company in December 1775, just before the Revolution. The roster explicitly calls him “Moses Ruth, Jr.” That “Jr.” is valuable because it strongly supports the presence of two adult Moses Ruths in the same Harford County community—very consistent with your father Moses and son Moses.
There's another promising branch through daughter Jane/Jean Ruth. One genealogy identifies her as born about 1739 in the future Harford County area, daughter of Moses Ruth and Ester Irwin. She married Robert McCuistion about 1754, probably in Maryland, and after his death married Major Thomas Blair in 1765. Jane reportedly died about 1823 in Guilford County, North Carolina. That could provide another route for proving her parents through estate, marriage, or land records rather than family trees.
So...what's next?
I'd provisionally reconstruct them as Moses Ruth, b. c.1697, probably in the portion of Baltimore County that later became Harford County; d. 18 Sept. 1781, Harford County, married about 1729 to Ester/Esther Irwin, b. c.1701, birthplace uncertain but possibly Ramelton/Rathmelton, County Donegal, Ireland; d. 20 Jan. 1786, Harford County. Children appear to include Jean/Jane/Joan, Ruthea/Ruthia, Sarah, and Moses Jr.
But I wouldn't recommend to any researcher of this family, to copy any of those exact dates or Esther's Irish birthplace into your permanent genealogy as proven facts yet. Most of what gives those details traces back to secondary genealogies. The militia and Maryland archival appearances are considerably stronger evidence.
Consider your next move for Moses Ruth's Maryland land, probate/will, church and tax records from roughly 1720–1781, and on Esther Irwin/Archer before her marriage to Moses. If ypu can locate Moses's will or estate papers, you just might be able to nail down the children—and perhaps establish Esther's identity at the same time.
There are so many family trees online for this family...let's take it one step at a time before repeating everthing thats already been "assumed."
