J F Rutherford - Schoolteacher?

From the Franklin County Tribune (Union, Missouri) for 15 August 1941, page 1.

In case the cutting does not reproduce well on all devices, this is the transcript.

UNION BUSINESS MAN PUPIL JEHOVAH LEADER - December 28, 1887 – “Lee strive to reach the top. Apply yourself closely to the reading of good books, and you will succeed. Your Teacher, J.F. Rutherford.” This is the inscription written in a class or memory book belonging to Lee Rapp of this city by the present leader of Jehovah’s witnesses, Judge Rutherford. Mr. Rapp was 14 years of age when he attended the Big Buffalo School in Benton County. Judge Rutherford was the teacher of the four-months school which was held in a one room log home.

JFR would have been 18 years old at the time, and just two years later he went into law. The person interviewed, Lee Preston Rapp (1873-1958), had an obituary in the Franklin County Tribune when he died. It noted: “He received his education in Morgan County where he was born.” So the location fits where J F Rutherford was based at the time.

Editorial note

The title has a question mark because Lee Rapp’s story is unverified, although I have no reason to doubt it. When this material was first published (in part) elsewhere, I was asked how on earth I discovered this story. The answer is the way most “great discoveries” are made. It was by accident. I was looking for something else at the time…