RUTLEGE, W. S., M.D., Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller


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Louisiana:  Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 572-573.  Edited
by Alc e Fortier, Lit.D.  Published in 1914, by Century Historical
Association.

Rutledge, W. S., M. D., of Ruston, La., is numbered among the leading
members of the medical profession in his locality.  He was born in Auburn,
Ala., April 30, 1881, and is a scion of an old and widely known family.
His ancestors took an active part in the Revolutionary war, and he is a
direct descendant of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence.  His paternal grandfather John F. Rutledge, a native of South
Carolina, was a wealthy planter in Alabama, and is known to have owned the
ground on which Auburn college now stands.  The grandmother is still
living, and is the mother of 9 children.  William Jefferson Bickerstaff,
his maternal grandfather, when the dark cloud of the Civil war cast its
gruesome shadow over the country, answered the call of duty, and enlisted
his services in the cause of the Confederacy.  In the field he maintained
the prestige of the name he bore, and proved himself a valiant and intrepid
soldier.  Through his gallant service be was promoted to the rank of a
captain, and fought continually until his untimely death at the battle of
Murfreesboro.  The subject of this review is a son of John F. and Mattie P.
(Bickerstaff) Rutledge, the former being engaged in the coal business at
Auburn, where he still resides with his wife.  He is a graduate of Auburn
college, class of 1877.  Dr. Rutledge acquired his elementary education in
the high school at Columbus, Ga., and after completing the high school
curriculum, entered Auburn college, where he graduated in pharmacy in 1900.
 He began active practice of his profession at Selma, Ala., and later went
into the drug business for himself at Opelika, Ala., which he conducted
very successfully until 1906, when he gave up this work to study medicine.
He entered the University of Alabama, where he remained for 3 years, and
graduated with high honors in 1909.  After his graduation he located in
Ruston, La., where he first began the practice of medicine, and where he
has built up an excellent practice.  He is regarded as a progressive
citizen, and a representative member of his profession.  He is president of
the parish board of health, secretary of the parish medical society, third
vice-president of the Louisiana Medical society, member of the American
Medical association, and the Southern Medical association.  He is
affiliated fraternally with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,
lodge No. 1134, of which he is Leading Knight, and is trustee of the
Knights of Pythias, Commander of Woodmen of the World, Clerk of Columbian
Woodmen, Commander of the Maccabees, at Ruston; also a member of the
Knights of Khorassen, at Mobile.  He is a stockholder in several large
enterprises.  May 20, 1906, he was united in marriage to Miss Esmeralda
O'Bannon, of Ruston, a daughter of B. P. and Theodosia (Hay) O'Bannon, the
former being a planter and a native of Louisiana.  He passed away in 1907,
which was 10 years after the death of his wife.  Mr. And Mrs. Rutledge have
no children.