JAMES RUBEN HAGER was born on January 27, 1845, in Cape Cinque Hommes Township, Perry County, Missouri. He was the son of John Franklin Hager and Mary Elizabeth Sadler. James Ruben (Ruben) was the second of ten children. His father, John Franklin Hager arrived in Perry County, Missouri in approximately 1827 from the Catawba River area  of Lincoln County, North Carolina. 

Ruben's mother, Mary Elizabeth Sadler, born in 1824 in Perry County, was the daughter of Zachariah Sadler of Virginia and Elizabeth Mayberry of North Carolina. In addition to his parents, John Franklin and Mary Elizabeth, Ruben's family included the following:

A record of Ruben's baptism is absent from the baptismal records of the Assumption Catholic church in Perryville. Documentation shows that the first Hager child to be baptized in the Assumption Church was in December, 1850, with the baptism of Mary Jane Hager, the fourth child of John and Mary Elizabeth Hager.

In 1850, when James Reuben was four years old, he lived with his family in the Cape Cinque Hommes Township of Perry County, Missouri. Living in the home at the time were Ruben's parents, John F. Hager and his wife Elizabeth, Ruben's older sister, Mary, and younger sister, Matilda. His father was listed as having been born in North Carolina and his mother was listed as having been born in Missouri.  Ruben's father was a farmer and the value of his real estate was $600. Living adjacent to Ruben's family was the family of his father's brother, Aaron Hager.

In addition to the Hager family, there was also a 14 year old boy living in the household, Patrick Bambrick, who was listed as having been born in Ireland. Patrick's relationship to the family is unknown and he did not appear in the 1860 census. There is a Patrick Bambrick from Ireland listed in the 1880 census who is approximately the correct age living in St. Louis. It is unknown if this is the same individual.

In the 1860 Federal Census, the family was still listed as living in Cinque Hommes Township (no longer called Cape Cinque Hommes). Ruben's father, John, was listed as a farmer with an estate now estimated at $2400. His birthplace on the census document was listed incorrectly as South Carolina instead of North Carolina. In addition to his parents, the family included eight children: Mary, Ruben, Matilda, Jane, Emily , Zachariah, Teresa (twins), and Vincent. At the time, the family employed a farm hand, a 16 year old boy named William Rudicel.

The 47th Regiment was organized at Pilot Knob, Missouri, and were attached to the District of St. Louis. Several companies were assigned to duty in Southeast Missouri, including Company C, which was assigned to Perry County and Cape Girardeau.

On the census, Ruben is listed as having served in the Cavalry, which could be an error as other documents list him as serving in the Infantry.​ In the "Company Descriptive Book" for Company C, 47th Regiment, Missouri Infantry, James R. Hager is described as being 18 years old, with a height of 5 feet 9 inches. His complexion was fair, his eyes hazel and his hair brown. He was born in Perry County, Missouri and his occupation was "farmer." He enlisted for a term of six months.

James R. Hager mustered out of Company C, 47th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry on March 29, 1865. It appears that he was compensated for his service with a one-time payment of $52.39 cents. 

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy, Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War for the United States forces. Founded in 1866, it dissolved in 1956 with the death of its last member. The GAR would be similar to the American Legion or the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) that we have today.

Long after the war was over, James Ruben Hager became a member of the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic), Dafani Chapter, Post 273, Perry County, Missouri. He is listed below as "J.R. Hager, farmer, born in MO." He entered the GAR on November 13, 1886 at age 40. In his obituary, James Ruben Hager's status as a Union soldier and Veteran of the Civil War was noted.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

Difani Chapter - Post 273

Perry County, Missouri

Civil War Pension Documentation 

for James Ruben Hager

Teresa Ann Tucker, daughter of Charles Tucker and Theresa Manning, was born in Perry County, Missouri, on March 13, 1846.  She was baptized into the Catholic Church on July 4, 1846. Her sponsors were Leander Tucker and Teresia Mattingly. 

There is not much information to be found on the Tucker family. According to Theresa's sisters' death records (found in Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois), Charles Tucker, patriarch of the Tucker family, was born in Perryville, Missouri, and married Theresa Manning on January 19, 1841, also in Perry County. In "Maryland Catholics on the Frontier," Charles is recorded as having been buried in Perry County, Missouri, on October 23, 1867. Although Charles' family was Catholic, his name is not listed in the death records for the Assumption Catholic Church for that year.

​On June 18, 1868, James Reuben Hager married Teresa Ann Tucker in the Assumption Church in Perryville, Perry County, Missouri. Reuben was 23 years old and Teresa was 22. The couple made their home in the Cinque Hommes Township of Perry County.

In the 1870 census, the Hager family were enumerated in the Cinque Hommes Township of Perry County, Missouri. Ruben's occupation was listed as a farmer and his wife, who went by her middle name of Ann, was listed as "keeping house." Also living in the house at the time was a girl named Mary Tucker, 15, who was listed as "domestic servant." This could possibly have been one of Teresa's younger sisters, Mary Magdaline, who was 18, or Mary Johanna, who was 13 at the time. The couple had one child, a daughter names Roseline, who was listed as one year old. 

​By the time of the 1880 Federal Census, the Hagers had moved to the Central Township, Perry County, Missouri. There were six children recorded as living in the home: Rosa, Augustus, Mary, Orlando, Joseph and Ida. Ruben's father birthplace was accurately recorded as being from North Carolina. Teresa Ann's parents, as well as Ruben's mother, were listed as being from Missouri.

On September 25, 1884, Teresa Ann Hager gave birth to a little boy, Odis Hager. He was the couple's seventh child. On November 5, 1884, after one month and 10 days, Odis died. The cause of his death was listed as "flux" (diarrhea). Church records from the Catholic church in Perryville, Missouri (likely St. Mary's Assumption Church) show that the baby was baptized by his sister, Rosaline L. Hager, who would have been 15 years old at the time. His name is not found in other baptismal records of the church. The priest who wrote the burial record and blessed the body for burial was Ch. W. Remillion, C.M. The little boy is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Perryville, Missouri.

After the  death of their 8th child, Odis, Teresa gave birth one more child, whom they named Herman Odis, before her own death five months later on December 19, 1889 at the age of 43. She is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.

In 1900, the Hagers were living in Lorance, Bollinger County, Missouri. Also living in the household at that time was Susan C. Pair, Sarah's sister, and Mandy Master, a 27 year old woman listed as "servant." In 1900, Ruben's son, Herman, would have only been 11 years old, yet he is not listed as living in the household of his father and step-mother. He is also not found in any of the households of his siblings. None of Herman's grandparents were alive in 1900.

In 1910, the Hager family was still listed as living in Bollinger County, Missouri. However, Herman, now age 20, was now living with his father and step-mother. Sarah's sister, Susan, was listed also living in the household. However, also included are two children, Gertrude (age 19) and Grover (age 17) from Sarah and Susan's brother, William Pair. Why they were all living with James Ruben Hager is unknown, since William, the children's father, was still living at the time.

Sarah Pair Hager died on April 23, 1912 from appendicitis. She was 65 years old. She is buried in Slaybaugh Cemetery, Lutesville, Bollinger County, Missouri. After the death of his wife, James Reubin stayed with his children, going from one house to another. According to his ​​​​​obituary, at the time of his death, he was staying with his son, Herman, and preparing to travel to St. Louis to visit his other children when he had a heart attack.

James Reuben Hager died on November 18, 1915. At the time of death, he was 70 years, 9 months and 22 days old. In his ​​​​​​obituary, his status as a Union soldier and a veteran of the Civil War was noted. He is buried in ​​​​​Mount Hope Cemetery, Perryville, Missouri