George W. Rust

George W. Rust
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Page district
In office September 7, 1863 – March 15, 1865
Preceded by
Succeeded by	n/a
Personal details
Born	(1815-04-07)April 7, 1815 Loudoun County, Virginia, US
Died	May 12, 1888(1888-05-12) (aged 73) Baltimore, Maryland, US
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Mary Mahala Wood
Alma mater	Jefferson Medical College
Profession	medical doctor, politician
Military service
Allegiance	Virginia  Confederate States

George W. Rust (April 7, 1815 – May 12, 1888) was a nineteenth-century Virginia doctor and plantation owner who during the American Civil War served in various Confederate hospitals, as well as the Virginia House of Delegates from September 7, 1863 until the war's end, and later in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868.

Early and family life[]

The son of Albert and Annie Rust, born after the War of 1812, he studied medicine in Philadelphia and received a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1846.

He married Mary Mahala Wood on November 16, 1847. They had one daughter, Julia Rust Wharton (1848-1878) who died in childbirth. Relatives included General George Rust who had also served in the Virginia General Assembly as well as operated several plantations and became Superintendent of the U.S. Arsenel in Harper's Ferry in the 1830s. Another relative, Albert Rust moved to Arkansas and became a Confederate General during that war.

Career[]

Dr. Rust practiced medicine in Luray, Page County, Virginia both before and after the American Civil War. He owned slaves before the war began, as had many of his relatives. In November 1861, Dr. Rust went to Mount Jackson in Page County, Virginia where he became a contract physician at the Confederate Military hospital. By September 1862, he had accepted a position and became Acting Assistant Surgeon of the General Hospital at Lynchburg. He was also elected to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent Page County in 1863, and served part-time, although he had moved further south to Lynchburg.

After Virginia ceded defeat, Dr. Rust took the required loyalty oath and was elected a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868, representing Page and Shenandoah Counties. A Conservative as was Moses Walton, who also represented the same counties and was a lifelong resident of the Shenandoah Valley, Dr. Rust opposed various penalties that the majority proposed to impose upon former Confederates.

Death[]

Rust died in Luray in 1888, survived by his widow, son-in-law Rev. (a former lawyer and Confederate who became a Baptist minister, author and head chaplain of Confederate Veterans), and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Luray.^[1]

References[]