George Ruch ancestor of this family was born in Zinzendocf, Alsace in 1664. He emigrated to America with his family in the ship "Samuel," and arrived at Philadelphia, Aug. 17, 1733, accompanied by the ancestors of the Troxell, Flickinger and Lichtenwalner families, who settled in this county. He secured several warrants for land in Whitehall Township, the first of which was dated Aug. 19, 1737, for 100 acres. These tracts, however, he did not patent, and in 1764, he lived on a tract of 400 acres which he rented. He was naturalized about April 10. 1746. He was a member of the Lutheran faith, and attended the Jordan Lutheran church, where he was buried. He died in 1769, at the great age of 104 years and eleven months. George Ruch's first wife having died, he married the second time, and had a number of children.