Daniel Rutherford
Daniel Rutherford (3 November 1749 – 15 December 1819) was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is most famous for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772.
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.