JOHN W. RUTLEDGE, SR., one of Bedford County’s farmers, was born January 12, 1823, in Bedford County, being a son of John and Sarah Davenport Rutledge, natives of South Carolina. The parents were married in their native State and came to Bedford County in the very early settlement of the county. John W. was reared on a farm and secured but a common school education, the schools then being in an undeveloped condition. He began farming for himself when grown, and at the age of twenty-seven married. He continued to farm and deal in live-stock extensively. He now owns 108 acres of land, with seventy-five acres under cultivation.
He was married November 22, 1849, to Eunice M. Warner, daughter of John and Eunice (Dixon) Warner, natives of North Carolina. They came to Sumner County, Tenn., when small, and thence to Bedford County, where they lived and died. The father was born in 1783, and the mother in 1792; they were married November 11, 1810. The father was a sheriff of Bedford County for many years; he was a farmer by occupation. He died May 17, 1834, and the mother died October 2. 1852.
Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge are parents of four children, viz.: John G., who died young; Warner G.; Eunice M., the wife of Thomas L. Thompson, and John W. All the family are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and all are Democrats in politics. Warner G. Rutledge was married December 4, 1874, to Miss Julia L. Phillips who died January 16, 1876, after becoming the mother of a child, Julia L., who also died July 16, 1876. He is store-keeper and gauger in the revenue service in the Middle and West Divisions of Tennessee.
Transcribed by Kathryn Hopkins
Goodspeed Publishing Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Reminescences [Sic], Observations, Etc., Etc. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1988.