Reuben Ruby (1798–1878) was an African-American businessman, hack driver, slavery abolitionist, temperance supporter, and respected community leader.
He lived at 81 Newbury Street in Portland, an address near the Abyssinian Meeting House.
He is credited as the first to spot the Great Fire of 1866 and he worked to keep the fire from burning the Abyssinian Meeting House,[5] George Thompson Ruby, who was the first Black graduate of Portland High School, and a prominent black Republican leader in Reconstruction-era Texas, and[3] Horatio Ruby was part of Naval expedition that led to the creation of the Panama Canal.
[6] His hack stand operated at the Elm Tavern, which was located at the corner of Temple and Federal Streets in Portland's Old Port.
Afterwards, Garrison had dinner at Ruby's Portland home with other leaders of the African-American community.
[3] In 1827, Ruby became a sales agent for Freedom’s Journal, the first African-American owned and operated newspaper in the United States.
[10] Ruby and five other men wrote a letter published in the Eastern Argus newspaper in 1826 that condemned Portland churches for treating Black members as second-class citizens.