Rutledge family, once prominent now forgotten
Rutledge family, once prominent now forgotten
Written by Karen R. Thompson Saturday, 07 April 2007
In January 1838, the Secretary of the Navy of the Republic of Texas appropriated a set of anvil and bellows from William P. Rutledge for military purposes. In 1840 he filed for payment.
A portion of that request reads: Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in congress assembled that the first action is hereby authorized and requested to audit the claim of Wm. P. Rutledge for an anvil and Smith’s bellows taken by the Secretary of the Navy in January 1838 at Galveston. The document was approved by president Mirabeau B. Lamar for $125.
William Pinkney Rutledge (I815-1890), grandson of Revolutionary War soldiers, came to the Republic of Texas from Tennessee for land and adventure. He soon married, but after only one year, his wife Mary Ann Jackson died, probably from childbirth, leaving him with an infant son.
He served in the Texas Army in 1842 where, as a captain, he commanded a company of troops at San Antonio under the command of General Somerville. Also about this time he was paid $15 for helping affix the Seal of the State to documents and $3 to repair a gun for the Indian Bureau. In 1856 he moved to Pond Springs where he was a fruit grower.
William was nominated as Doorkeeper of the State Senate in 1861, and served as the Confederate postmaster of Pond Springs from 1862 to 1866. His oldest son, W. P. Jr., died in a union prison in 1863. His second wife Susan died during that period, and he married Etta Carter. From 1866 until the post office closed in 1880, Etta was postmaster.
William had three wives, five children and upon his death it was said he was “a well-read, intelligent and respected gentleman.” His tombstone reads: The world was his country; to do good his religion.
Thomas Lafayette Rutledge (1820-1898), younger brother to William, also received a Republic of Texas land grant and settled in Pond Springs. In a few years they were joined by still younger brother, Edward Armstrong Rutledge (1824-1865). In 1848 Tom married seventeen-year-old Helen Mariah Camp and they had eleven children.
Tom built a store, post office and blacksmith shop across the road from the original 1846 Pond Springs log school. He was the first postmaster in 1854, and his store was a stop on the Austin to Lampasas stage line. During the Civil War, he served the Confederacy by transporting freight between Mexico and Texas. Ed married Mary Frances Young, and they had 10 children before his death at age 41. The three brothers fathered 26 children.
When the railroad bypassed Pond Springs in 1882, the store declined, and the Rutledge family moved to Burnet County. After that the only Rutledge name in the community was at the small train stop, known by its founder’s name. As the years passed, few remembered the achievements of these three Rutledge brothers who came from Tennessee to the Republic of Texas for adventure, and stayed for a lifetime.
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