Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/218

 RUTLEDGE

RUTLEDGE

member of the first board of war, and with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin met Lord Howe on SUiten Island, Sept. 11, 1776, in order to effect a reconciliation. He was re-elected to the Conti- nental congress in 1779, but was disabled by sick- ness and could not attend. He was appointed captain of a company of artillery, and took part in skirmishes at Port Royal in 1779; was pro- moted lieutenant-colonel, and was detailed to secure assistance for the army of Benjamin Lincoln, which was cut off from supplies during the investment of Charleston, but was taken prisoner and confined at St. Augustine, 1780-81. He was a representative in the legislature of 1782 that met at Jackson borough to pass a bill con- demning all Tories to punisliment. He returned to Charleston on its evacuation and resumed his professional duties. He was a representative in the state legislature: a member of the state con- stitutional convention of 1790; declined the office of associate justice of the U.S. supreme court in 1794, and was elected governor of South Carolina in 1798. but did not complete his term. He died in Ciiarlestun. S.C, Jan. 23, 1800.

RUTLEDGE, Edward, educator, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1797; son of Hugh Rutledge and grandson of Dr. John Rutledge. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1817, A.M., 1820, and was ordained to the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church, at Christ Church, Middletown, Couu., Nov. 17, 1819. He was assist- ant professor of moral philosophy at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, 1828-3G, and was elected president of Transylvania university in 1836, but died before assuming the office. He is the author of: The Family Altar (1822), and History of the Church of Eiujland ( l825). He died in Savannah, Ga., March 13, 1S3G.

RUTLEDGE, Francis Huger, first bishop of Florida and 53rd in succession in the American episcopate, was born in Charleston, S.C, April 11, 1799; son of Hugh Rutledge, and grand- .son of Dr. John Rutledge. He was graduated from Yale college, A.B., in 1820, and entered the General Theological seminary, New York city, class of 1823, but did not graduate. He was ordered deacon in 1823; advanced to the priest- hood, Nov. 20, 182.J; was rector of a church on Sullivan's Island, S.C, 1827-39; of Trinity ciiurcli, St. Augustine, Fla., 1839-45; and of St. John's, Tallahassee, Fla., 1845-51. He was elected bishop of the newly-created diocese of Florida, and was consecrated Oct. 15, 1851, by Bishops Gadsden, Elliott, and Cobbs. The honorary degree of M.A. was conferred on him by the College of South Carolina, and that of S.T.D. by Hobart college, 1844. He died in Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. fi. 1860.

RUTLEDGE, John, cliief justice, was born in

Ciiarleston, S.C, in 1739; son of Dr. John Rut- ledge, who emigrated from Ireland in 1735, married a Miss Hexe, and died in 1749, at Char- leston. He studied law at the Temple. London, returned to Charles- ton in 1761, estab- lished a practice, and was married in 1763, to Elizabeth Grimke. He was attorney -gen- eral pro tempore, in 1764, a delegate to the Continental con- gress, 1774-77 and 1782-83; a member of the provincial con- vention of 1774; chairman of the com- mittee that framed the constitution of 1776; and on March 27, 1776, was elected president of the provin- cial government and commander-in-chief of the militia. He advocated the fortification of Charleston against the threatened invasion by Sir Henry Clinton and Commodore Parker; held the post on Sullivan's Island, contrary to the advice of Gen. diaries Lee, and planned the suc- cessful defence of Charleston. He resigned his office in JIarch, 1778, as he did not approve of the changes made in the state constitution, but was again chosen governor by the unanimous vote of the legislature in 1779. He commanded the militia against Gen. Augustine Provost, in May, 1779, and wiien Charleston was captured May 12, 1779, by Sir Henry Clinton, he left the city with his council and took refuge in North Carolina, and used every effort to relieve the city by co- operating with Generals Gates and Greene in reorganizing the army. His term of office ended in 1782, and he was succeeded by Governor Matthews. He was elected state chancellor, March 21, 1784; was a delegate to the Philadel- pliia convention that adopted the Federal con- stitution; was a member of the state convention that ratified the constitution; a delegate from South Carolina in the national convention to elect a president and vice-president in 1789, and received six electoral votes. On Sept. 26, 1789, he was apiwinted an associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, serving 1789-91; was chief justice of South Carolina, 1791-95; and was appointed chief justice of the United States supreme court by President Washington in 1795. He presided at the August term of the court, but on Dec. 15, 1795, the senate refused to confirm the nomination. His mind failed in December, 1795, and he died at Charleston, S.C, July 23, 1800.