Early Settlers: Charles E. Ruddock (Town Marshal and OC Sheriff)

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

Charles E. Ruddock was born in New York 1864. When he was three years old, his parents moved to Wisconsin and bought a farm. In 1884, Charles married Lila L. Ruddock. They had two children: Ray and Pearl.

In 1896, the Ruddocks came to Fullerton, purchasing 12 acres on W. Wilshire, which they planted with oranges and walnut trees. He built a home on Commonwealth Avenue.

He was a member and stockholder in the Placentia Orange Growers Association, the Fullerton Walnut Growers Association, and the Anaheim Water Company.

He played the violin and cornet and organized the Fullerton Military Band and was its president.

In 1904, he became Fullerton’s second marshal (police chief).

Prior to incorporation, Fullerton’s top lawman was the town constable, the first of whom was A.A. Pendergrast. Following incorporation in 1904, the title became marshal, an elected position. The first marshal elected was W.A. Barnes.

Unfortunately, Barnes overextended himself, as he also served as the street superintendent. He resigned the position of marshal the same year he was elected. Charles E. Ruddock (who had lost the election) was appointed to succeed Barnes in July 1904.

Ruddock was re-elected in 1906 and 1908.

In those years, a key social and political issue was prohibition. In 1906, Fullerton voted to ban liquor and saloon licenses–an ordinance that remained in effect until the end of Prohibition.

An article entitled “The Story of the Fullerton Police Department,” on the City of Fullerton web site states: “As can be imagined, being marshal of a ‘dry’ town provided an interesting set of challenges, not the least of which was trying to track down the sources of bootleg liquor that seemed to crop up around town. The problem became of such a concern to the city fathers that they sought the assistance of a Los Angeles detective agency – Sam Browne’s Secret Service – to try to ferret out the source of illegal liquor sales. Sadly, though, Browne’s undercover operatives failed to find any illegal sales, blaming the problem on neighboring Anaheim.”

In 1910, Ruddock was elected sheriff of Orange County, defeating Theo Lacy, the sheriff for whom the Orange County Jail is named, serving a four-year term, from 1911 to 1915. 

Ruddock’s term as Sheriff included a sensational manhunt for someone dubbed the “Tomato Springs Bandit,” a drifter who attacked a young Irvine girl, and fled into the hills. 

Sheriff Ruddock assembled a large posse to find the assailant. They finally caught up with him at a place called Tomato Springs. In the shootout that followed, Undersheriff Robert Squires was killed along with the Bandit.

While serving as Sheriff, Ruddock lived in Santa Ana. After his term, he moved back to Fullerton, where he died in 1917.

During World War I, Lila Ruddock was very active in Red Cross work. After her husband’s death, she lived in the family bungalow at 211 West Wilshire. She eventually subdivided the remainder of the twelve acres the family owned on West Wilshire for housing.