Early Life
Alexander Rutherford was born February 2, 1857, near Ormond, Ontario on his family's dairy farm. His parents, James (1817–1891) and Elspet "Elizabeth" (1818–1901) Cameron Rutherford, had immigrated from Scotland two years previous. They joined the Baptist Church, and his father joined the Liberal Party of Canada and served for a time on the Osgoode village council. Rutherford attended public school locally and, after rejecting dairy farming as a vocation, enrolled in a Metcalfe high school. After graduating in 1874, he attended the Canadian Literary Institute, a Baptist college in Woodstock. He graduated from there in 1876, and taught for a year in Osgoode before going to Montreal to study arts and civil law at McGill University. He was awarded degrees in both in 1881, and joined the Ottawa law firm of Scott, McTavish and McCracken where he was articled for four years under the tutelage of Richard William Scott. Called to the Ontario bar in 1885, he became a junior partner in the firm of Hodgins, Kidd and Rutherford with responsibility for its Kemptville office for ten years. He also established a moneylending business there. During this time, his social circle grew to include William Cameron Edwards. Through Edwards, Rutherford was introduced to the Birkett family, which included former Member of Parliament Thomas Birkett. Rutherford married Birkett's niece, Mattie Birkett, in December 1888. The couple had three children: Cecil (born in 1890), Hazel (born in 1893), and Marjorie (born in 1903, but died sixteen months later). Rutherford had a traditional view of gender roles, and was happy to leave most child-rearing responsibilities to his wife.
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