Description
The McKinnon and Ruble Families Papers include records of a
physician and rancher in the California Delta region during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. The papers focus on the life and career of Aloysius John
McKinnon, M.D. (1870-1933), upon the Ruble family of his wife Mary Elizabeth
"Lizzie" Ruble McKinnon (1875-1916), and upon the lives of their children as related
to their Rio Vista, California family home and ranch near the Sacramento River. The
bulk of the material spans the years 1890 to 1984 and includes correspondence,
photographs, ranch records, medical practice records, medical equipment, and a
family library.
Background
Aloysius John McKinnon (1870-1933) was born in San Francisco to Daniel A. and
Catherine MacDonald McKinnon. Aloysius had three older siblings: Louise (Sister Mary
Emerentiana), Augustine (Brother V. Leo), and William Bernard. Circa 1890, Aloysius
joined his family's well-established San Francisco lumber and shipping business,
MacDonald and McKinnon. In 1900, while studying medicine at the University of
California, Medical Department in San Francisco, Aloysius married Mary Elizabeth
"Lizzie" Ruble (1875-1916). The couple had been introduced by Aloysius' cousins, St.
Joseph's parish priests at the Delta farming community of Rio Vista, California,
where the Ruble family resided. Aloysius received his medical degree in 1903 from
the University of California. He and Lizzie maintained an apartment on Sanchez
Street in the Mission District of San Francisco unti 1904 when they permanently
relocated to Rio Vista. Dr. McKinnon practiced medicine from his Front Street office
and later from an office in his Rio Vista home.
Restrictions
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17, of the U.S. Code. All
requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in
writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on
behalf of the Department of Special Collections, University of California, Library,
Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Availability
Collection is open for research under regular reading room rules and copyright
restrictions. Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections,
as many are stored offsite.