Rufus Estes worked for the Pullman company, as a chef looking after the unimaginably luxurious private Pullman railway cars that travelled across America in the second half of the 1800s. He had worked his way up from a porter. He later became a cookbook author.
His early childhood years were caught up in the American Civil War (1861-1865.) He was born in Murray County, Tennessee, in 1857. He was given the last name of Estes, because that was the last name of the man (D.J. Estes) who owned his family. He had two younger sisters, and six older brothers (two of which died during the American civil war) making for nine children in total.
In 1867, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee to be with his grandmother where he was able to attend one term of school, while being expect to do many chores around the household. In 1873, at the age of 16, he started working in a restaurant in Nashville, and stayed there until he was 21. In 1881, he went to Chicago, where he worked for 2 years (it's presumed he worked in a restaurant.)
In 1883, he began work for Pullman. He travelled between 1894 and 1897, going up to Vancouver and sailing as far as Tokyo. From 1897 to 1907 managed a private car for the United States Steel Corporation.
Over the course of his career, the people he managed a Pullman car for included American Presidents Benjamin Harrison (1889 - 1903) and Grover Cleveland (1884-1888, 1892-1896), Spanish Princess Eulalie (in 1893), Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the British explorer (of "Dr Livingston, I presume" fame), and Ignace Jan Paderewski (1860–1941), the Polish pianist and statesman.
In 1911, he published his recipe book, "Good Things to Eat, as Suggested by Rufus: A Collection Of Practical Recipes For Preparing Meats, Game, Fowl, Fish, Puddings, Pastries, Etc.", containing over 600 recipes.
The book shows the two halves of his personality, varying between his southern rural roots, and the elegant, private, ultra-rich world that he became a part of. He gives recipes to use up unripened tomatoes, grapes and melons that in the late fall would otherwise perish and go to waste when the frosts came. He gives fancy recipes that draw on truffles, clearly aimed at the carriage-trade. And, he gives some simple recipes that would be enjoyed by anyone: corncakes, fritters, steamed breads, crumpets, muffins, fried corn, and fried cauliflower,
He starts the book off with a "Hints to Kitchen Maids" section, in which you can tell he's used to having staff to direct from his Pullman years -- staff who knew the exact order in which Rufus expected things to be done.
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