Constitution Signer

John Rutledge

John Rutledge was a lawyer, statesman, judge, governor, devote husband, and father.

Did something ever happen to you that made you feel that your life was more than just a random event?  I'm sure John Rutledge felt that way when he, on his 50th birthday, was one of the signers of the foundational law of our nation.

"J.R" (can I call him that?) was born in Charleston, SC on September 17, 1739,  the oldest of 6 siblings - 4 brothers and 2 sisters. His father was an immigrant doctor from Scotland/Ireland. It seems he was home schooled by his father until he was 11 (at which time his father passed.) Then he was taught by an Anglican priest. The law was his passion and he would play lawyer when he was younger.

At age 24, he married Elizabeth Grimke (19) on May 1, 1763. They had 10 children. One died at birth and another very young. It is said that when his beloved Elizabeth died, he began to decline.

One of J.R.'s shining attempts as a SC delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, was telling Parliament, they did not have the right to tax the colonies directly without representation. Not unlike the Boston Tea Party, the people of SC searched for and destroyed stamps so the tax could not be enforced in November 1765. This began fanning the flames of the American Revolution.

He was actually President of SC 1776-78 and was later elected governor.  He staunchly stood with his generals and troops through some harrowing losses and few wins against the British, until finally with the help of Gen. Nathanael Greene they drove out the British out of Charlestown and SC. He had the heart and courage of a warrior.

He served as a judge in an equity court. During that time he was asked to represent SC in the Constitutional Convention. He greatly influenced  the ideas considered and decisions made regarding the Supreme Court's proper role, appropriations bills, votes to all and not just land owners (in agreement with Ben Franklin), and slavery in the U.S.  His opinions on the above were so right, except that he held to the belief in owning slaves and that SC would not be party to the new Constitution if it did not allow it.

He was a staunch Jeffersonian, that rejected and vilified the Jay Treaty. This action later jeopardized his nomination, by President George Washington, to the Supreme Court. He served a recessed appointment until rejection by the Senate, 6 months later in December.

Rutledge withdrew from public life in his last years.  John Adams bemoaned the sad decline of his friend in a letter to his wife, Abigail.

There are conflicting statements as to when he died. It seems it was June/July 1800.  And though his life significantly influenced the future of this land, he was a broken man at his passing. I feel he spent himself to exhaustion for us all.

POI - John's elder brother Edward was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Liberty must have run in Rutledge veins! And Christopher Gadsden, one of Rutledge's fellow delegates to the Stamp Act Congress was the designer of the famous Gadsden flag.