Scott and Rhonda > Family History > Rutledge
Henry Rutledge was born about 1789. He gave his birthplace as Tennessee. No evidence has yet been found linking him to the famous Rutledges of South Carolina or any other prominent Rutledge family. Henry's wife Sarah was born about 1795 in Kentucky. They most likely married about 1815. Henry is found on a voter list in Jackson County, Tennessee in 1812. He served as a Private in Captain Sutton's Company and Colonel Woodfolk's Battalion of the Tennessee Militia in 1814-15, which guarded Fort Jackson, Alabama during the War of 1812.
Tax records indicate that Henry and Sarah moved to White County, Tennessee about 1820, but never owned any land there. There may be a connection to a John and William Rutledge who were also found in the records of Jackson and White Counties at the time, but more research is needed to determine whether a family relationship exists. The family moved to Carroll County, Arkansas during the 1850s. Henry received about 86 acres of bounty land in Madison County, Arkansas for his service in the War of 1812 (NW1/4 of S6 T16N R24W). In 1860 he purchased 40 acres in Madison County (NE1/4 NE1/4 S8 T17N R24W), but is listed as "of Carroll County" and appeared in Carroll County on the census.
His youngest daughter Lucinda died in 1861. Jacob J. Rutledge, the youngest son, contracted measles in the service and died in 1862, leaving a widow and child. Charles served in the cavalry on the Confederate side. William is listed as having served as a private in a Union unit near the close of the war. Although the exact dates are unknown, it is believed that Henry and Sarah died during the late 1860's, as Henry disappears from Carroll County tax records about 1868, and neither appears in the 1870 census with their children. Several members of the Rutledge family are buried in Lower Campground Cemetery in Madison County, Arkansas.
Henry and Sarah's known children were:
Isabelle (1818-1892) never married
Charles J. "Charley" (1820-1909) married Minerva Moore (3 sons and
3 daughters, see below)
William (1823-1890) never married
Elizabeth (1825-1890) married Stephen Howard, a widower (no children)
Susan Jane (1825-after 1910) married 1. Joshua Fox, 2. Felix Hawkins (unclear
if she is the mother of his youngest son)
Mary A. (1830-after 1920) never married
James H. (1832-before 1900) married Sarah E. Blythe (2 daughters, Jane and Mary)
Lucinda (1836-1861) married William J. Hudson (3 daughters, Margaret, Sarah,
and Lucinda)
Jacob J. (1836-1862) married Alsia Jane Litterell (1 son James Frank Rutledge,
1859-1932)
Charley
married Minerva Moore, daughter of Matthew G. Moore
and Mary Norvell, on November 30, 1843 in White County, Tennessee. Between 1850
and 1853 Charley took Minerva and their children and moved to Madison County,
Arkansas where Minerva's sisters had settled earlier.
Their children were:
William Narval (1847-1900) married 1. Sarah Howard, 2. Amanda Taylor
James (1849-1939) married 1. Anna Merchant, 2. Mirilda
Mary J. (1853-????) married James W. Howard
Sarah Lewis (1854-1935) married Thomas Jefferson Green
Rebecca Ann (1858-1878) married Thomas Howard
Jacob Owen (1860-1922) married 1. Mary Elizabeth Meade, 2. Julia Ann Elliot
In 1857 Charley purchased 40 acres in Madison County (SE1/4 SE1/4 S13 T17N R25W). In 1860 he purchased a further 80 acres (E1/2 NE1/4 S24 T17N R25W) and 66 acres (W1/2 SW1/4 S18 T17N R24W).During the War, he joined the Confederate Cavalry for Arkansas and served under J.W. Cooper in 1864-64. His unit was assigned as bodyguard for Cherokee General Stand Watie. He later applied for a pension for his service. In 1882 he homesteaded a further 69 acres (W1/2 NW1/4 S19 T17N R24W). Minerva died on July 1, 1900. She was 82. Charley Rutledge died on April 21, 1909, at the age of 88.
On August 1, 1889, Jacob Owen "Jake" Rutledge married Mary Elizabeth Meade in Marble, Madison County, Arkansas. Their two oldest daughters, May Lillian, and Cleo Carol were born in Madison County (see photo, right, of Jacob Owen Rutledge, his wife and two daughters with wife's cousin (standing) c. 1897). In 1899 they headed west to Indian Territory with some other Meade family members. They lived in a sod house on the homestead of David G. Meade's brother Joe for a while, later renting a house about a mile away where they grew cotton. Jake also worked drilling water wells. Jake and Mary's daughters Rouie and Emma Lee were born in Indian Territory, In 1907 Jake and Mary separated. They divorced in 1909. Mary and her daughters lived with her parents, David Grimes Meade and Eleanor Jane Patterson in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. According to court records, Jake may have been living in Kansas or Missouri around that time, but he has not yet been found in the 1910 census.
On February 9, 1910. May Lillian Rutledge married Ralph William Gould in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma.
In 1917, Jake remarried to Julia Ann Elliot and lived in Noble, Oklahoma where he died Jul 26, 1922 of typhoid fever. He is buried in Noble Cemetery.
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