Family history and genealogical information about the descendants of John George Ruth who was born ca. 1715 in Germany. He married Anna Maria (surname unknown) sometime prior to the year 1738 in Germany. They immigrated to America aboard the ship "Marlborough" and landed in Philadelphia 23 September 1741. John and Anna lived in Bucks Co., Pennsylvania and were the parents of three known children. Descendants lived primarily in Pennsylvania.

Robert Woods (d.1811) and two brothers immigrated ca. 1730 from Ireland to Charlotte County, Virginia, married Elizabeth Middleton, and moved to Bedford (later Franklin) County, Virginia. Descendants and relatives lived in Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri and elsewhere.

Edward Small emigrated from England to Maine during or before 1640, and died after 1653. Descendants lived in New England, New York, the rest of the United States, and elsewhere.

This work concentrates upon families with a strong connection to Virginia and Kentucky, most of which are traced forward from the eighteenth, if not the seventeenth, century. The compiler makes ample use of published sources some extent original records, and the recollections of the oldest living members of a number of the families covered. Finally. The essays reflect a balanced mixture of genealogy and biography, which makes for interesting reading and a substantial number of linkages between as many as six generations of family members.