Although Robert left school after the 8th grade to work in the coal mines in Tennessee and Kentucky, he was extremely bright and was able to make or fix anything with his hands.
He would put in a full day's work in the mines and then come home to work in the garden until dark. When harvest season came around, he and his family worked to can many products (tomatoes, tomato juice, soup mix, green beans, dried shuck beans, chow chow, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, creamed corn, peaches, crab apple jelly and preserves, black berry jam, and polk greens). He would stay up at night until 1-2 AM making sure the fire under the #2 washtub was hot enough to boil and seal the mason jars.
In the mid-50s Robert and Orene did not have vehicle and Robert could not drive. Otto Buell, his brother-in-law, picked-up Robert at Insull and drove a little ways up the hollow to Blue Diamond, just outside of Pathfork, Harlan County, KY. It was the mid-night shift and only he and Otto were working in a coal mine less than three feet high. Air was provided to the back of the mine by a pump system in a wooden shed outside. The shed caught fired and the mine began to fill with smoke. Crawling out as quickly as they could, Otto collapsed. Robert moved Otto onto his own back and crawled both outside with Otto still unresponsive. Since Robert could not drive he ran and walked one mile to get help. Otto lived. Such was the life of a miner.
He loved his family and the Lord dearly.
In 2019 a conference room on the first floor of the Adron Doran University Center at Morehead State University was named the Robert and Orene Wright Rutherford Conference Room.
......................................................
Children not listed below: Jeffrey Brent Rutherford.
He would put in a full day's work in the mines and then come home to work in the garden until dark. When harvest season came around, he and his family worked to can many products (tomatoes, tomato juice, soup mix, green beans, dried shuck beans, chow chow, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, creamed corn, peaches, crab apple jelly and preserves, black berry jam, and polk greens). He would stay up at night until 1-2 AM making sure the fire under the #2 washtub was hot enough to boil and seal the mason jars.
In the mid-50s Robert and Orene did not have vehicle and Robert could not drive. Otto Buell, his brother-in-law, picked-up Robert at Insull and drove a little ways up the hollow to Blue Diamond, just outside of Pathfork, Harlan County, KY. It was the mid-night shift and only he and Otto were working in a coal mine less than three feet high. Air was provided to the back of the mine by a pump system in a wooden shed outside. The shed caught fired and the mine began to fill with smoke. Crawling out as quickly as they could, Otto collapsed. Robert moved Otto onto his own back and crawled both outside with Otto still unresponsive. Since Robert could not drive he ran and walked one mile to get help. Otto lived. Such was the life of a miner.
He loved his family and the Lord dearly.
In 2019 a conference room on the first floor of the Adron Doran University Center at Morehead State University was named the Robert and Orene Wright Rutherford Conference Room.
......................................................
Children not listed below: Jeffrey Brent Rutherford.
Although Robert left school after the 8th grade to work in the coal mines in Tennessee and Kentucky, he was extremely bright and was able to make or fix anything with his hands.
He would put in a full day's work in the mines and then come home to work in the garden until dark. When harvest season came around, he and his family worked to can many products (tomatoes, tomato juice, soup mix, green beans, dried shuck beans, chow chow, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, creamed corn, peaches, crab apple jelly and preserves, black berry jam, and polk greens). He would stay up at night until 1-2 AM making sure the fire under the #2 washtub was hot enough to boil and seal the mason jars.
In the mid-50s Robert and Orene did not have vehicle and Robert could not drive. Otto Buell, his brother-in-law, picked-up Robert at Insull and drove a little ways up the hollow to Blue Diamond, just outside of Pathfork, Harlan County, KY. It was the mid-night shift and only he and Otto were working in a coal mine less than three feet high. Air was provided to the back of the mine by a pump system in a wooden shed outside. The shed caught fired and the mine began to fill with smoke. Crawling out as quickly as they could, Otto collapsed. Robert moved Otto onto his own back and crawled both outside with Otto still unresponsive. Since Robert could not drive he ran and walked one mile to get help. Otto lived. Such was the life of a miner.
He loved his family and the Lord dearly.
In 2019 a conference room on the first floor of the Adron Doran University Center at Morehead State University was named the Robert and Orene Wright Rutherford Conference Room.
......................................................
Children not listed below: Jeffrey Brent Rutherford.
He would put in a full day's work in the mines and then come home to work in the garden until dark. When harvest season came around, he and his family worked to can many products (tomatoes, tomato juice, soup mix, green beans, dried shuck beans, chow chow, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, creamed corn, peaches, crab apple jelly and preserves, black berry jam, and polk greens). He would stay up at night until 1-2 AM making sure the fire under the #2 washtub was hot enough to boil and seal the mason jars.
In the mid-50s Robert and Orene did not have vehicle and Robert could not drive. Otto Buell, his brother-in-law, picked-up Robert at Insull and drove a little ways up the hollow to Blue Diamond, just outside of Pathfork, Harlan County, KY. It was the mid-night shift and only he and Otto were working in a coal mine less than three feet high. Air was provided to the back of the mine by a pump system in a wooden shed outside. The shed caught fired and the mine began to fill with smoke. Crawling out as quickly as they could, Otto collapsed. Robert moved Otto onto his own back and crawled both outside with Otto still unresponsive. Since Robert could not drive he ran and walked one mile to get help. Otto lived. Such was the life of a miner.
He loved his family and the Lord dearly.
In 2019 a conference room on the first floor of the Adron Doran University Center at Morehead State University was named the Robert and Orene Wright Rutherford Conference Room.
......................................................
Children not listed below: Jeffrey Brent Rutherford.
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