On Rutherford Ties
At the opening reception of the Rutherford Photography Exhibit, your president will exhibit a letter; two sheets of Rutherford Drug Store stationery from the 1890s – framed under glass.
The show features photographs by Charles S. Rutherford, M.D.; son of Charles R. Rutherford; grandson of Griffith Rutherford; and great-grandson of John L. Rutherford, who founded the Rutherford Drug Store in Mt. Vernon in 1869 and whose red brick house with tile roof still stands at the end of West Main Street in Mt. Vernon.
I haven’t looked up land titles but I speculate that my Harper ancestors in Sumner County, Tennessee may have lived next to the Rutherford clan. I’ve visited Sumner County, found many family records there and can track their land sale as they start for what was then Red River County, Texas. John L. Rutherford’s grandfather (one of six initial Brigadier Generals in the Colonial forces settled in Sumner County after the Revolution). The next generation starts for Texas and came to Mt. Vernon with the Griffith Rutherford Bible. Our historical association holds that Bible today.
My musings and speculations cover the ties. So, we’ll host a reception to honor Dr. Charles S. Rutherford on the opening of his show. That’s our Rutherford take.
Now – Scott Harvey, Charlie Rutherford and I remain good friends. So Scott learns of the show and he has asked me to advise him of the date so he can be here for the opening.
The letter: written by attorney Hiram Glass (brother of Scott Harvey’s great-grandmother) addressed to Green Hughes (my great-grandfather) written on Charlie Rutherford’s great-grandfather’s stationery, borrowed by Glass from his friend Rutherford when he has stopped off in Mt. Vernon to call on Miss Hanks and to take care of legal business.
We three friends are in the fourth generation after that letter was written over a century ago. It’s a neat letter. Richard Hamrick’s aunt, Bettye Burns Delaney, a good genealogist and historian, and a descendant of a survivor of the Ripley Massacre, is convinced that the families all knew each other as they traveled into this region. Maybe so.
Talk about ties: Hiram Glass was one of the three attorneys in December 1893 who examined and passed on a young applicant to practice law here; that lawyer, Tom Wilkinson’s grandfather, Judge R. T. Wilkinson, Sr. Where does the Judge office? Rutherford Drug Store.
Hiram Glass was the son of Alexander Glass and Elizabeth Jane Blake Glass of the Daphne community. Hiram’s sister Jennie will marry Tom Oliver, double first cousin of Green Hughes (children of brother-sister unions; orphaned as only children during the Civil War; the closest of friends and business partners for their entire lives; both of their homes still stand in Mt. Vernon).
Another sister of Hiram Glass (Louella) will marry Marshall Brown. Marshall Brown is son of Vernetta Aikin and James Brown. Marshall Brown is first cousin of Melody Aikin Hughes, wife of Green Hughes. And, Marshall Brown is the grandfather of Mt. Vernon’s Sam Brown Harvey; get that. Let’s confuse this family line a bit more: Marshall Brown didn’t just get the name “Marshall” and my Marshall ties keep me on the board at the Marshall Springs Cemetery just over the Titus County line but I’m kin there through yet another of the eight great-grandparents we all have.
And the third Glass girl will marry a Gregg and after his death a Prather (ancestors to both Charles Bruce, benefactor for public causes here, and Don Meredith, probably our town’s most famous son).
The ties. Scott and I speculate as to what port of entry the ancestors used in coming to colonial America (apparently both Philadelphia and Charleston). And in checking Rutherford history I find my direct family lines in Sumner County, Tennessee, at the same time the Rutherfords were there. I had always thought our family’s paths only intersected here; I now believe my mother’s ancestors had to have known Rutherfords almost 200 years back.
Charlie had previously given me an elegant letter written by my grandmother Hicks to his family after the death of Charlie’s grandmother (Lillian Rouse Rutherford) in the 1930’s. I had thought that was as far back as ties would extend.
Ties. Ken Greer’s ancestor Allen Urquhart (arriving 1837) is surveying land for these people; or another of Greer’s ancestors (Molly Northern) is starting out first telephone service (1900) or another Greer ancestor is building the Rogers-Drummond House (1852). And in a county with a much much smaller population, these people would have all been somewhat acquainted. And last week I realized I had an 1880 bottle from the Greer Bottling Works of Mt. Vernon, Texas. And then Debbie O’Hara brought in a great bottle from the same time period for the Floyd Bottling Works of Mt. Vernon, Texas. And Debbie makes the mistake of asking me about Floyds; well, after all, my grandmother’s sister married Dr. Virgil Floyd whose office in 1903 was where? The Rutherford Drug Store Building. And they’re all buried in our city cemetery. We’ll point those out during our May cemetery walk. In the meantime, guess I’d better bring bottles to the Rutherford show also.
Come for the opening reception of the exhibit in the Firestation Museum on April 16, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. Come for the reception. I’ll bring the bottles and the letter. And we’ll have good food. You’ve read enough of the ties to be confused; I won’t belabor it. But I will have the documentary evidence of the ties.
The theme this year for the Texas Historical Commission is real people telling real stories. We do have real stories here. If Bill Holmes can come for the reception, he’ll be another tie with all these and more blood lines as would Mike Harper (former superintendent of schools here), Tom Wilkinson, and a host of other locals who work to preserve our natural and cultural heritage in Franklin County. Our community’s brand has been: “Come experience the nature of an earlier Texas.” Aren’t we lucky to have this heritage.
The 1898 letter spans a century of friendship and relationships continuing today. I love that William Humphrey passage where the Clarksville author says (The Ordways) that we southerners live actively in three generations: as long as we live in still-remembered voices. It’s a beautiful passage. In this case in Franklin County, the lives span more than three generations through the written active word from generations passed. It’s great to have the written materials; and even better to know their context. I try to impart this to my nephews; you’ll see an upcoming musing on food and folkways; another effort at imparting knowledge to the next generation. Pull out your family memorabilia and make sure the next generation knows the context. Look forward to seeing all of you on April 16.
