Many residents of Milford are unaware that Milford City Hall stands on property that was a gift from the Vale family. The building stands on property where Ruby and Elizabeth Williams Vale’s stately mansion stood. In addition to the donation of land, the Vale’s provided funding to construct today’s City Hall.
Ruby Ross Vale was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1874, the son of Joseph Griffith and Sarah Ruby Eyster Vale. Ruby’s father was a distinguished cavalry leader in southern Pennsylvania during the Civil War. He was also an educator and author. He attended public schools in Carlisle before attending Carlisle Preparatory School where he graduated in 1892. After prep school, Ruby moved on to Dickinson College where he graduated with an undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1896.
Just three years after Ruby was born, Maria Elizabeth Williams was born on June 14, the daughter of Colonel Robert Hill and Maria Elizabeth Causey Williams. Elizabeth, as she was known, was the granddaughter of Governor Peter Foster Causey.
Ruby came to Milford in 1896 to teach at the Milford Classical Academy. While there, he and Elizabeth became engaged. Ruby wanted to enter the law and Elizabeth encouraged hm to return to school. In 1898, he left the academy and returned to Dickinson College to study law. He graduated with a law degree in 1899. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar that same year, taking a position with the law firm of Alexander and Magill. When Alexander died, Ruby continued to partner with Magill. Ruby entered private practice when Magill was appointed to the bench. Ruby’s practice focused on corporation, banking and insurance law.
On January 21, 1901, Ruby and Elizabeth married. The couple had two children, Maria Elizabeth, who died at the age of 17, and Grace Ruby. Maria Elizabeth died on August 12, 1918, in Pennsylvania of tuberculosis. The family lived in a beautiful mansion on the corner of Walnut Street and Southeast Front Street, the home where Elizabeth grew up. The Vale’s reconstructed the home into an Italian stucco style.
Ruby continued to practice law in Philadelphia, coming back to Milford on weekends. While in Pennsylvania, he lived at the Union League Club. Milford remained his legal place of residence until he passed away. In 1910, Ruby was awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law by Dickinson College. In 1929, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law by Ursinius College.
The couple’s daughter, Grace, born May 8, 1903, attended the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr and graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She married Frederic Bermingham Asche on June 22, 1927, and the couple moved to Houston, Texas in 1928. The couple had three children, Bettyann Asche Murray who died young; Frederick Bermingham Asche Jr., who married Sarah “Sallie” Patricia O’Neill; and Vale who married John Russell. Vale’s obituary states that she spent the first few years of her life in Paris, France, moving to Houston, Texas with her parents as a toddler.
In addition to practicing law, Ruby was an accomplished author, writing many books on the practice of law. One of his most monumental works was “Vale’s Pennsylvania Digest,” which was 45 volumes. He was most proud of “Some Legal Foundations of Society,” published in 1941.
A lifelong Republican, Ruby attended as a delegate to many national conventions and was suggested twice as a candidate for United States Senator, an honor he declined due to pressures from his law practice. During the Great Depression, Ruby served with Pierre S. du Pont, Jasper E. Crane and John C. Saylor on the Commission for Unemployment Relief.
Ruby was a member of the Law Academy of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He was also a member of the American Judicature, the American Geographical Society, Delaware Historical Society, the American Historical Society, the Royal Economic Society of London, England, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the Pennsylvania University Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Along with those affiliations, Ruby was also a member of the Union League and Racquet Cub of Philadelphia, the Sons of Delaware, the Old Guard Club, the Palm Beach Golf Club of Florida, the Rehoboth Country Club and the U.S. Senior Golf Association. A member of the Temple Lodge, 9, AF and AM of Milford, Ruby also served as a life trustee of Dickinson College and as a member of their finance committee. Ruby and Elizabeth were members of Avenue United Methodist Church.
On December 28, 1952, the Vale mansion burned to the ground. Historical accounts state that the weather was so cold the night of the fire, water froze in the hoses as Carlisle Fire Company attempted to extinguish the blaze.
On November 11, 1958, Ruby wrote a letter to the Mayor and City Council.
“Because of love and affection for the City of Milford, ask the privilege to donate to it a Public Hall for the conducting of its municipal business and the convenience of its citizens dedicated to Robert Hill Williams and Maria Elizabeth Vale and to be called Vale-Williams Memorial City Hall,” the letter read. City Hall was to be dedicated in the name of Elizabeth’s father and the couple’s daughter.
The city accepted the donation and, on Sunday, October 11, 1959, a cornerstone was laid by the Grand Masonic Lodge of Delaware with the newly elected grand Master, james B. Kilvington, presiding. City officials attending the ceremony were Mayor William R. Murphy, two members of city council and the only living former mayors at the time Edward C. Evans and VanNuis Wilkerson. Ruby was the guest speaker, and he was introduced by Kilvington as “the Dean of Corporate Lawyers in the United States.” During his remarks, Ruby made it clear the intended the property to be used for City Hall.
“…those who would occupy it in the future to uphold the honorable traditions of the past and to protect for posterity the present institution of freedoms and justice for all,” Ruby said.
The first meeting at the new City Hall was on December 27, 1960, with Vice-Mayor Clayton Kirby presiding due to the illness of the mayor.
“Members of City Council, after the invocation made by the Rev. Tull, I think he has spoken he words of the Mayor, Council and myself,” Kirby said. “At this first meeting in the new city hall which council and the citizens of Milford should be very proud of and I am sure the donor of this building will be watching and hoping that great good can be achieved for the city of Milford and the surrounding community and that it will be a symbol of his great generosity to the citizens of Milford.”
Ruby died January 2, 1961, at the age of 86. Elizabeth died August 28, 1961. at the age of 84. They were living in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the time of their death. The city paid tribute to the couple by closing City Hall during their funerals, which were held in Milford, and flying the Milford flag at half-mast. They also draped the city charter for 30 days.
City hall was dedicated on Saturday, September 29, 1962, as part of the observance of the 175th anniversary of Milford. The dedication was made by Grace Ruby Vale Asche. Inside the building is a photo of the Vales. Outside, there is a marble monument reminding Milfordians of the generous donation of the Vale family. Under the words “Vale-Williams Memorial City Hall, there is an inscription.
“Here stood the home of Col. Robert Hill Williams,” it reads. “After it was destroyed by fire, his daughter, Maria Elizabeth Williams Vale, and her husband, Ruby Ross Vale, constructed upon the site the present city hall and gave it to the City of Milford, an enduring memorial to Col. Williams and their daughter, Maria Elizabeth Vale. Personally dedicated by Grace Vale Asche, September 29, 1962.”
