"R" is for Rutledge, John (ca. 1739-1800)

"R" is for Rutledge, John (ca. 1739-1800). Lawyer, jurist, governor. After studying at the Middle Temple in London, Rutledge was admitted to the Charleston bar in 1761 and quickly became one of the colony’s most successful attorneys. He was one of the leaders in the Commons House from 1761 to 1775. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress and the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was elected governor in 1779. When the British overran South Carolina in 1780, he escaped Charleston and functioned as a one-man government in exile. In 1787 he was one of the state’s delegates to the constitutional convention where he played a leading role. John Rutledge was one of the original justices of the United State Supreme Court, but resigned in 1791 to become Chief Justice of South Carolina.