Where did Rutherford go to school?

by VM44 26 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  VM44

  The story is that Rutherford was so determined to go off to school that he hired a man to take his place as a worker on his father's farm.

  Eventually Rutherford got a job in a lawyer's office, but I do not recall that the school that Rutherfrod attended has ever been mentioned.

  Shorthand is the only subject by name that it is known that Rutherford studied.

  What this indicates to me is that Rutherford attended some sort of trade school rather than a college.

  If he had attended and graduated from a college, Rutherford would have certainly listed it as one of his accomplishments. He was that type of person.

  --VM44
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  r51785

  I don't believe that Rutherford went to college or law school. If I remember correctly at that time you didn't need to graduate to sit for the bar exam. I am sure that if Rutherford had any education at all that he would have bragged about it on a continuous basis, just like his protege Fred Franz, the supposed Rhodes Scholar who in actuality was a dropout from the University of Cincinnati.
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  VM44

  Hi r51785, good to see you.

  Yes, after working for a few years in a lawyer's office, Rutherford took an oral exam given by a panel of lawyers. He answered their questions and in that way passed the bar!

  Now here is an observation, Rutherford never was the lead lawyer in the courtroom in any of The Watchtower cases I have read about!!! He might have been present in the courtroom, but only as a part of the legal staff. Could this be that he felt he did not have enough training to speak in the courtroom as a trial lawyer?

  --VM44
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  daniel-p

  From the success of his campaign, I'm surprised he didn't go to business school! Advertise!, advertise!, advertise! the King and his Fucking Crazy Followers!
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  greendawn

  In other words Rutherford had always been good at deceiving the world in this case about his professional qualifications, and in the other case about his appointment by God as his FDS, the leader of his one and only selected organisation.
  
  He even made himself a judge, Judge Rutherford, putting himself on a very high pedestal.
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  plmkrzy

  Did he or did he not do some work in the White House?
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  plmkrzy

  I seem to remember, while reading a more detailed bio about him, that he acted as some sort of counsel in the White House in his early years. All of my articles, books etc. are in storage and have been for sometime. I cannot remember where I got that info.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Franklin_Rutherford

  http://www.heraldmag.org/2004_history/04history_6.htm
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  VM44

  Here is Rutherford bio data extracted from the "Proclaimers" book and the 1975 Yearbook.

  "Joseph Rutherford paid his own way through school.. .While still in school, Joseph Rutherford became a court stenographer. This enabled him to finish paying for his course and also gave him practical experience. After completing his academy education, Rutherford spent two years under the tutelage of Judge E.L. Edwards. At twenty years of age, Joseph Rutherford became the official reporter for the courts of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in Missouri. When twenty-two, he was admitted to the Missouri bar. His license to practice law in that state was granted on May 5, 1892, according to the records of the Cooper Circuit Court. Rutherford began practicing law at Boonville, Missouri, as a trial lawyer with the law firm of Draffen and Wright. J.F. Rutherford later served for four years as a public prosecutor in Boonville, Missouri.

  Rutherford attended an Academy, whatever that was.

  At age 20 he became a court reporter.

  At age 22 he was admitted to the Missouri bar.

  I do not see any time period here where Rutherford could have attended college, let alone a regular law school.

  The question also may be asked, "Did Rutherford really serve as a public prosecutor in Boonville?"

  We know that it was a stretch for him to use the title "Judge" for most of his life, so how do we really know if he was the Boonville public prosecutor? Isn't that an elected position?

  --VM44
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  VM44

  Found this:

  "Henry Lee Myers (October 9, 1862 - November 11, 1943) was a United States Senator from Montana. Born near Boonville, Missouri, he attended private schools, Cooper Institute, and Boonville Academy."

  This is the only reference so far I have found about "Boonvill Academy" located in Missouri. But what sort of school was it?

  --VM44
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  blondie

  
  First, instead of concentrating on Rutherford, concentrate on the law schools or schools of his time in that area...and what was required to practice law, regardless of your name and background. So for example if you were Joe Smith, same age, same area, what was required by the Missouri Bar to practice law. Try contacting the Missour Bar Association of today.

  Blondie