Daniel Rutherford
The son of Professor John Rutherford (1695–1779) and his wife, Anne Mackay, Daniel Rutherford was born in Edinburgh on 3 November 1749. He began college at the age of 16 at Mundell's School on the West Bow close to his family home, and then studied medicine under William Cullen and Joseph Black at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a doctorate (MD) in 1772. From 1775 to 1786 he practiced as a physician in Edinburgh.
Griffith Rutherford
Little is known about Griffith Rutherford's early life. Born in Ireland in either 1721 or 1731 to John Rutherford, who was of Ulster Scots descent, and Elizabeth (née Griffin), who was of Welsh descent, he appears clearly in records after his immigration to Philadelphia at the age of eighteen. His parents died during the voyage from Ireland, and for a while he worked on a relative's farm, where he was taught how to survey land. Around 1753, he moved to Rowan County, North Carolina Colony, and bought a tract of land about seven miles (11 km) from Salisbury; this was the first of several land purchases he made during the 1750s. The following year Rutherford married his neighbor's sister, Elizabeth Graham, who eventually bore him ten children. One of their sons, James Rutherford, later became a major during the Revolutionary War, dying at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. Rutherford also became friends with Daniel Boone during this time, with whom he often went on hunting and surveying expeditions. After the French and Indian War, Rutherford became increasingly active in community affairs. He was listed as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1766, a sheriff and justice of the peace of Rowan County from 1767 to 1769, and a tax collector.