ROBERT RUTHERFORD.
This biography records the chief facts in the life of a man, who, in early manhood, tired of living where populations were large and incomes small, turned his eyes toward America in the hope that he might reach above the general level. There is something almost pathetic in the trustfulness and confidence with which the youth of the Old World look toward the newer civilizations as affording ample opportunity for the prosperity of all who may seek their shores; and the fact that an Iowa foreign-born farmer is able to retire from active business before he becomes aged, is evidence that much of this youthful trust is not misplaced.
Robert Rutherford, now one of the well-known retired farmers of Ross, Iowa, was born on December 24, 1833, in County Down, Ireland, son of Thomas and Fannie (Simpson) Rutherford, farmers and weavers, to whom were born, in the order of their birth, the following children: William, Thomas, Jennie, James, John, Robert, Alexander, Eliza and Adam, of whom Robert, the subject of this sketch, is now the sole survivor. Thomas Rutherford and his wife were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith.
It was when Robert Rutherford was a young man of nineteen that he and his brother, Alexander, started for America in a sailing vessel called "Guiding Star." It seems that the youthful travelers were not guided very rapidly, for it took them seven weeks to go from Liverpool to New Orleans. Landing on the Southern coast, they boarded a river steamer for St. Louis, and somewhere in the vicinity of that city the brothers engaged in farming for one year. Robert Rutherford's next home was Rock Island, Illinois, and there he lived for seventeen years, at the end of which time he removed to Poweshiek county, Iowa.
In June, 1861, Robert Rutherford married May Campbell, an interesting fact concerning the marriage being that although both bride and groom lived in the same county in this country, both were born in the same county in Ireland. At the time of their marriage, May Campbell was living with her parents, John and Margaret (McQuaid) Campbell, who had come to thsi country from County Down, Ireland, and in 1850 had located in Rock Island county, Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their lives. May Campbell was born on April 9, 1840. Her father, John Campbell, was born on February 11, 1806. He was a farmer, and a member of the Presbyterian church. His first wife was a Miss Warnick, and by this marriage there were two children, Ann Jane and Hugh, both of whom are dead. His children by his second wife were May, who married Mr. Rutherford; Margaret, born on December 22, 1844, deceased; Robert, January 17, 1848, deceased, and the Hon. Thomas Campbell, January 9, 1842, who lives in Rock Island county, Illinois, having permanently located there after coming to America with his parents in 1850. He was educated in the schools of that county and was brought up by a man named John Boyer. Before the Civil War, he was a farmer. During his service in the army, he was shot through the right leg, the injured member afterwards being amputated. The Hon. Thomas Campbell, in 1914, was re-elected to the Illinois Legislature on the Republican ticket. He also has been county treaesurer [sic treasurer] of Rock Island county, Illinois. His wife was, before her marriage, May Carson.
After the marriage of Robert Rutherford, he and his wife lived on a farm in Rock Island county for a number of years. Then they purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Poweshiek county, Iowa, where they lived until March, 1881. Then they sold out, came to Audubon county and bought an equal number of acres one mile north and a quarter of a mile east of Ross, in Cameron township. To this farm another hundred and sixty acres presently were added, and still later, forty acres more, so that he now has two hundred and eighty acres of well-improved land, which is valuable in itself as well as because of the improvements made by the owner.
Mr. Rutherford carried on general farming and stock raising from that time until 1901, in which year he retired from business and moved to the village of Ross, building his home there on a piece of land consisting of two and three-fourths acres. Other valuable property is owned by Mr. Rutherford in his home town. Mr. Rutherford was at one time school director in Cameron township. He is a Democrat and has always taken an interest in politics.
The chief joy of Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford during their declining years is the pleasure they derive from the visits of their children and grandchildren. The eldest child born to Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford was Margaret Jane, born on March 24, 1862, who married John McKage, of Brunnell, Iowa. Their children are James, Lizzie, Jane and Sarah. Mary Rutherford, the second child, born on October 27, 1863, now deceased, married Hugh McGill, and by this marriage became the mother of Florence, Robert, Fannie and Thomas. The third child, Fannie, born on April 6, 1866, married Isaac Stewart, of Sanborn county, South Dakota, and their children are Mary, John, James, Stella, Albert, Lulu. Thomas, of Cameron township, this county, born on February 14, 1869, married Belle Hunt, and to them have been born Vera, Clark, Inez and Alice. John Rutherford, born on February 14, 1871, married Nellie Quinby and makes his home in Emmett county, Iowa. Their children are Merrill, Lucile, Jack, Edna, Mary and Emmett. Jane, now Mrs. George Rutherford, was born on February 17, 1873. She and her husband and their three children, Lester, Nellie and Charlie, live in Hastings, Nebraska. Essie, born on April 6, 1875, is now deceased. Of this entire family, Nancy, born on December 24, 1877, who clerks in a store in Ross, is the only child living at home. The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford is Robert J., born on March 19, 1881, who, with his wife and three children, Harold, Glenn and Howard, lives in Cameron township.
The man whose name forms the title of this short biography, is now enjoying the fruits of a life of industry and thrift, his companion, the wife who has shared all the hardships and joys of the larger part of his years, sharing also the peace and quiet of the present years. Both were willing to start life in a small way, and to climb the ladder by degrees, often by very slow degrees. Somewhere among his reminiscences is the memory of a period of eight years during which he worked for fourteen dollars a month, and, not to be surpassed by her husband in the matter of memories, Mrs. Rutherford recalls the time when she worked for a dollar and fifty cents a week. These facts are quoted merely to indicate, in a very imperfect way, the strong will power and almost unlimited capacity for work which this couple possessed. And it is gratifying to know that they are permitted to enjoy together their declining years in the companionship which made their younger days happy. Their presence is an inspiration to their children and friends.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 441-444.
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