George Rutherford
George Rutherford was born around 1841 in Galena, Ohio, to John and Sarah Rutherford. His father was a farmer who owned $500 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Genoa, Ohio. He moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, around 1859 and reportedly worked on “one of the steamers plying the river.”
 
He enlisted in the Union army on July 8, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 2nd Minnesota Infantry. The regiment took part in the siege of Corinth, the Battle of Perryville, the Tullahoma campaign, the Battle of Chickamauga, and the Atlanta campaign. He eventually earned a promotion to sergeant. He remained devoted to the Union. In March 1864, as he prepared for battle, he declared that "we gladly goe forth to fight for the old flag of our country the emblem of a free people." He was severely wounded in the left shoulder in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in June 1864, and he mustered out on June 21, 1865.
 
He returned to St. Anthony after the war. He applied for a federal pension in August 1865 and eventually secured one. He married Elizabeth M. Millen on March 24, 1867, and they had at least four children: Fanny, born around 1868; Harry, born around 1871; W., born around 1875; and George, born around 1880. They moved to Wisconsin and then to Le Claire, Iowa, in the 1870s. By 1880, he was working as a master pilot with the Le Claire Navigation Company. The family returned to Minneapolis in the 1880s. He died there of heart disease on July 4, 1895.
4359
DATABASE CONTENT
(4359)Rutherford, George18411895-07-04
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Sergeant
  • Rank highest: Sergeant
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 10

  • (11969) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 22 April 1862
  • (11970) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford and Emily Rutherford, 9 August 1862
  • (11971) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 28 October 1863
  • (11972) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 13 December 1863
  • (11973) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 21 March 1864
  • (11974) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 11 April 1864
  • (11975) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 22 July 1864
  • (11976) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 1 August 1864
  • (11977) [writer] ~ George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 21 December 1864
  • (11978) [writer] ~ Charles R. Norris to Mary A. Rutherford, 24 June 1864

People - Records: 3

  • (4360) Rutherford, Mary Ann is the [sibling of] (4359) Rutherford, George
  • (4361) Rutherford, Emily is the [sibling of] (4359) Rutherford, George
  • (4363) Norris, Charles R. is the [friend of] (4359) Rutherford, George

Places - Records: 2

  • (2747) [birth] ~ Galena, Delaware County, Ohio
  • (1902) [death] ~ Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (817) [enlisted] [F] ~ 2nd Minnesota Infantry
SOURCES

1850 and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Minnesota Marriages Index, 1849-1950, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com; Minneapolis (MN) Daily Times, 5 July 1895; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), 5 July 1895; George Rutherford to Mary A. Rutherford, 21 March 1864, DL1750.005, Nau Collection