Biographies R
Erastus P. Rust
Erastus P. Rust, Muhlenberg County, was born February 1, 1852, in McLean County, Ky., and is the sixth of seven children - six boys and one girl, five now living - born to John J. and Sallie J. (Coffman) Rust, natives respectively of Muhlenberg and McLean Counties, and of German descent. John J. Rust was the son of John Rust, who married a Miss Anthony, both natives of Virginia. He was a farmer and distiller, and one of the first settlers of Kentucky. The mother of our subject was a daughter of Benjamin Coffman, a farmer and distiller, who married A. Noffsinger; they were Virginians.
Erastus P. was reared on a farm and attended the common schools. He lost his father and mother on the same day, of milk sickness, in October, 1858. He lived with Benjamin Pla [sic] until he was seventeen years of age, when he engaged in farming for himself until 1881, when he engaged in the mercantile business in Bremen, which he still continues with success; he was also engaged in the tobacco trade for two years. He owns ninety-five acres of land in McLean County.
He was married February 24, 1873, to Fannie Coffman, of McLean County, daughter of Samuel and Martha (Deever) Coffman, natives of McLean County. By this union six children were born: Sallie J. (deceased), Flora M., Mollie S., Nannie S. (deceased), Lillie M. and J.J. Blocher, born June 16, 1885. Mrs. Rust is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Rust is a Mason and formerly a Granger.
Source: Battle, J.H., W.H. Perrin, and G.C. Kniffen. cite>Kentucky: A History of the State. Louisville, KY: F.A. Battey, 1885. Pages 921-922.
Updated July 9, 2018