Beeks line: Does David Ruble belong here?

 So many genealogists have posted about former President Barack Obana's ancestry, that you would think the folks who are from his mother's side of the family would be well known by now.  And yet, the Hannah who married Samuel Dunham is identified by the best of the genealogists as Hannah (?Ruble).  Those genealogists haven't further identified her, but there are many trees out there identifying her father as David Ruble born anywhere from 1736 to 1743 as her father, and Sarah Malin as her mother.  That is what my tree shows.  

However, I just found the estate papers for David Ruble, who died in East Bethlehem, Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1808.  These can be found on Ancestry.  Unless I missed it, there is no mention of a Hannah Ruble or a Hannah Dunham in those papers, and they are fairly detailed.  Also, the guesstimate date for Hannah's birth is 1753 to 1758.  This would make it highly unlikely that  the David supposedly born in Frederick County, Virginia in 1743 is her father.  So we have at least two negative factors suggesting that if Hannah was indeed a Ruble, David is likely not her father.  

But wait, there's more!  There are land records in Berkeley County, Virginia (formed out of Frederick County) that can be interpreted as meaning that David Ruble was selling land to Samuel Dunham as his son in law, which was right next to another documented Ruble daughter, who was married to an Isaac Chenowith and the deed used the same language of "for other just causes and circumstances".  We do know that Samuel Dunham was in Berkeley County prior to 1791, and he had apparently been there for quite some time prior to that. 

There are some people who believe that Hannah was a Chenowith, which is still a remote possibility but the land record is certainly intriguing.  Still, why would the estate of David not include Hannah?  He died in 1808 and she died in 1826.  

However, in case this is our David Ruble, or in case someone is tracing David through another ancestor, here are a few facts I've found:

David was the son of Ulrich and Jane Jacob Ruble, who lived in Frederick County, Virginia.  Their lives would have been affected by the French and Indian war, and David may have had an unsettled childhood.

He seems to have been in Washington County by 1776 and was an active Baptist there.  He is recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as an ensign in the militia in Washington County from 1781-1783, under Captain Ezekiel Rose. Rose was part of the 5th Battalion, and participated in the Battle of the Upper Sandusky, against several native American villages.  This is not a pretty story, and we don't know for sure that David was there, but it seems likely.  It is almost a certainty that David would have been involved in actions against the British led native Americans, whether or not he was involved in this 1782 expedition and battle.  

We have a couple of tax records about David, the most interesting being from 1798, which tells us that his home was 20 x 22, made of logs, and had two stories, and two windows with a total of 12 lights (sections).  He seems to have lived fairly modestly, but his home is larger than some of the others on that page.  We don't know whether or not he was involved in the Whiskey Rebellion, but many men in Washington County were, so he was at least aware of the tensions.  (This was due to the government imposing a tax on the whiskey many farmers produced.  It was easier to ship whiskey to the east than it was to transport grain.)  

There is reference in the papers to David's will, but the will itself is not included.  The list of items sold at auction  include a silver watch, a pocket compass, several books, a saddle, and various tools and implements.  There is no mention of real estate, but that may have been disposed of in the will, nor of farm animals.  Sarah had died in 1794.  They were likely buried on or near their farm, or possibly in a Baptist churchyard, but records are lacking.    

What do you think?  Does David belong in this line, or are we still searching for Hannah's father?

The proposed line of descent is;

David Ruble-Sarah Malin

Hannah Ruble-Samuel Dunham

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants