Samuel Rutherford

Who was Samuel Rutherford?

Samuel Rutherford was an American politician, businessman, jurist and lawyer.

Rutherford was born near Culloden, Georgia in 1870, attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens in 1881 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began practicing law in Forsyth, Georgia.

After serving as Mayor of Forsyth for three consecutive years, Rutherford served in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1896 and 1897. He then became the solicitor of the city court of Forsyth from 1898 to 1900. He returned to the Georgia General Assembly in 1909 and 1910 as a State Senator.

Rutherford began practicing of law again as well as farming. From 1921 to 1924, he returned to the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1925, he was elected as Democratic representative of Georgia's 6th congressional district in the 69th United States Congress. He was reelected to that seat for three additional terms and served from March 4, 1925, until his death from a heart attack in Washington, D.C., while in office on February 4, 1932. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Forsyth.