John Rutledge, Jr.

John Rutledge Jr. (1766 – September 1, 1819) was a United States Representative from South Carolina. Born in Charleston, he was a son of John Rutledge and a nephew of Edward Rutledge, both of whom were Continental Congressmen from South Carolina. The younger John received private instruction and also attended school in Charleston and Philadelphia. He studied law with his father, was admitted to the bar about 1787 and practiced in Charleston; he also engaged as a planter. From 1794 to 1797, he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1794 to the Fourth Congress, and was elected as a Federalist to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Congresses, serving from March 4, 1797 to March 3, 1803. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Thirteenth Congress, and commanded a company of the Twenty-eighth Regiment, South Carolina Militia, in 1799. He was promoted to major and in 1804 succeeded to the command of the regiment and served as its commander in the War of 1812. He commanded the Seventh Brigade from 1816 until his death in Philadelphia.

On December 26, 1792 he married Sarah Motte Smith, daughter of the Right Reverend Robert Smith (1732–1801). Together they had seven children. In 1804 he caught his wife in an illicit affair with Dr. Horace Senter. He mortally wounded Dr. Senter in a duel. He and Sarah Motte signed articles of separation in 1809 and lived apart for the remainder of their lives.