She played a role in the personal development of Booker T. Washington, who worked in their household as a teenager after Emancipation.
Following other jobs of manual labor including working in the salt mines, he served as the Ruffner family's houseboy.
According to the first of his autobiographies, Up From Slavery, Mrs. Ruffner had a harsh reputation for her rigid and strict manner, was feared by her servants and could only keep temporary employees due to her demands and expectations.
A New England-trained school teacher, she was a conservative and hardworking person who valued education, cleanliness, promptness, and honesty above all else.
[5] In modern times, the Ruffner and Washington families are still good friends, and had a reunion in Charleston, West Virginia in 2002.