The Rev. Reuben Washington Landrum was the son of Reuben and Martha "Patsy" (Bibb) Landrum. R.W. was a first cousin of Amanda Landrum Wilson. Patsy's father, William Bibb, served in the American Revolutionary War.

Reuben and Patsy lived in Fluvanna County and Cumberland County, Virginia; in 1810, they came to Kentucky in a wagon train through the Cumberland Gap with four children and a group of extended family. The family spent the winter at Boonesborough; although they arrived later than the time of Daniel Boone, the family is still considered one of the first families of Boonesborough, and Reuben's name is engraved on the marble monument now standing just outside the rebuilt fort. Reuben purchased over 100 acres on the headwaters of Upper Howard's Creek in Clark County, where they lived out their days; Reuben and Patsy are buried there in a private, unmarked family cemetery.

Reuben Washington was the fifth son and first of the family to be born in Kentucky - possibly in or near Fort Boonesborough. Like his older brother, the Rev. William Bibb Landrum, his uncle, the Rev. Francis Landrum Jr., and his grandfather, the Rev. Francis Landrum Sr., R.W. became a Methodist minister. A circuit rider throughout central and eastern Kentucky, he eventually settled in Breathitt County and often preached at the Liberty Church built around 1850 at Lost Creek.

Reuben married Margaret "Maggie" Brashear, daughter of Robert S. and Mary "Polly" (Everidge) Brashear, on August 18, 1836. They had nine children - seven sons and two daughters. Six of the brothers (all except Stephen Washington, who was too young) served in the CSA during the Civil War; two died in Yankee prisons, one's fate is unknown, and three came home (Reuben Samuel, Albert Benton, and Robert Brashear).

R.W. is buried at the "Haddix-Strong" or "Strong Family" Cemetery at Lost Creek (above the old speedway). Said to be the oldest cemetery in Breathitt County, it is located near the confluence of Lost Creek and Troublesome Creek, about ten miles southeast of Jackson, Ky.