George Lewis Ruffin

George Lewis Ruffin
Ruffin as a municipal judge
Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court
In office 1883–1886
Appointed by	Benjamin Franklin Butler
Member of the Boston Common Council from Ward 9
In office January 3, 1876 – January 7, 1878 Serving with Uriel Crocker, Curis Guild Sr. (1876), and Robert Means Thompson (1877)
Preceded by	Nahum Morrison Cyrus A. Page Francis H. Peabody John Osborne Jr.
Succeeded by	John J. Smith
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 6th Suffolk district
In office January 5, 1870 – January 2, 1872 Serving with Harvey Jewell and Hugh Flood
Preceded by	Linus Child John J. Smith
Succeeded by	Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. Charles R. Codman John J. Smith
Personal details
Born	(1834-12-22)December 22, 1834 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Died	November 19, 1886(1886-11-19) (aged 51) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Josephine St. Pierre ​ ​ (m. 1858)​
Children	5, including Florida
Education	Harvard Law School (1869)

George Lewis Ruffin (December 16, 1834 – November 19, 1886) was an American barber, attorney, politician, and judge. In 1869, he graduated from Harvard Law School, the first African American to do so. He was also the first African American elected to the Boston City Council.^[1] Ruffin was elected in 1870 to the Massachusetts Legislature. In 1883, he was appointed by the governor Benjamin Franklin Butler as a judge to the Municipal Court, Charlestown district in Boston, making him the first African American judge in the United States. He married 16 year-old Josephine St. Pierre in 1858. Florida Ruffin Ridley was one of their children.